PHILLY SPORTS CORNER

Here's my current take on Philly sports...

PHILLIES

The roster will be set as early as today or tomorrow. Aaron Nola will not be sent down to the minors, but he should be. He's had a horrible spring. He is either still hurt, which means he should get Tommy John surgery ASAP, or he sucks, which is even worse. Nola was the number 7 pick in the draft several years ago. His game is control, as he doesn't have the stuff to blow hitters away. So far, Nola hasn't justified being that high of a pick. He's on track to be the # 4 or #5 pitcher in the rotation. If he is still struggling around Memorial Day it's time to seriously worry about his future.

Roman Quinn is still in camp. I have hopes he will  go north with the team. He would be the Phils' best lead-off hitter, can steal a base late, or fill-in defensively. Going back to Lehigh Valley isn't totally bad; Quinn would play every day.  Bring some excitement  and bring Quinn up. Guys like Chris Coughlin and Daniel Nava aren't the future.

The 2017 Phillies will be a team striving to reach .500. They are biding their time, watching the prospects percolate at Lehigh Valley until they are ready late summer. The Phils will then try to trade vets like Hellickson, Bucholtz, Saunders and Kendrick for even more prospects.  The kids will play out the season, and the real focus will be on 2018, as the core kids- Crawford, Williams, Hoskins, Cozens and others- come up to Philadlephia to stay..

At least the squad has options now in case of injuries or failure at the big league level. Aside form third base, every position now has depth and potential. That's good news for major leaguers like Hernandez, Galvis and Joseph, who play well to keep their jobs, as prospects push for playing time.  There will be a logjam of talent in Lehigh Valley and Reading, which may make trades a necessity.

Sadly, Phillie fans- along with all Philly sports fans- have become so used to and accepting of mediocrity, average players become more valued than their worth. Take Obdubal Herrera, for example. He has the potential to hit over .300, contend for a batting title, and in general, become a perennial all-star in the league for years to come. And he may achieve all of that. But in reality, he has never been a real .300 hitter, let alone come close to a batting title. He's OK in center field, makes some stupid base-running blunders, and has dogged it at times. Still, the Phillies gave him a big extension on his contract.

Fans will see that guys like Herrera are a dime a dozen, once a real, bona fide hitter breaks the line-up, either in trade,free agency or promotion form the minors. Herrera is basically only holding down center field until either Mike Trout finally comes to town or 18-year-old first overall pick Mickey Moniak is promoted to Philly in a few years.

The Phils lost all 3 games last season in Cincinnati to open the season. Winning at least 2 out of 3 before facing the rival Nationals and Mets at home would get the team off to a good start, something rare with the Phillies. Wouldn't a 10-3 start bring some hope and excitement to a franchise starving for excitement and attention? At least make it interesting until the kids come up later in the summer.

Manager Pete Mckannin deserves a contract extension with what the front office has given him. Extend the manager and allow him to see what he can do with young, upcoming talent rather than the over-the-hill slop the Phillies have paraded out for the last few years under Mckannon.

EAGLES-

The owners meetings start today in Arizona, and Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie is due to speak Tuesday night, the first time he has publicly spoken in over a year. Of course, he won't tell fans who the Birds  will take in the draft. But it will be interesting to hear what his expectations are for this season and beyond..

The issue over the Eagles switching back to kelly green uniforms may be temporarily dead. But fans do care, and you would think the Eagles could make tons of money in merchandise is they made kelly green at least their alternate color in a few games. Will Lurie be asked about it, and how will he respond?

Beat writer Jeff McKlaine of the Philadelphia Daily News doesn't think the team will use it's first round pick on a running back. Wide receiver, maybe. Corner back or defensive end, more likely. His thinking is that the Eagles rarely value running back that high, plus with the position being so deep in the 2017 draft, the Birds could get a quality guy in the later rounds.  Although I like the vision of an explosive, home run hitter like Delvin Cook teamed with Wentz, Jeffery and Smith, it makes more sense to build up the secondary with early picks. A young wide-out is also a must, especially since both Jeffery and Smith are on one-year deals.

If Mike Williams is available, the Eagles should grab him. But I wouldn't be surprised if they took speedy WR John Ross too. The Eagles would view him as another DeSean Jackson, and combined with the bigger receivers, would give the team an explosive set of receivers.

I'm still surprised more cuts haven't happened. Guys like Kendricks and Kelce should be gone. But maybe GM Howie Rossman is waiting to see if there is any draft day interest in trades.

Doug Pederson should get at least another year as head coach. If the team backslides after this year, with an easier schedule and free agent helps, Pederson's job should seriously be looked at.

FLYERS-

Despite the impressive 6-3 win at Pittsburgh over the weekend, let's face reality- the Flyers will not make the playoffs this year, which has to be a major disappointment. Coach Dave Hakstol shows little emotion and some of his moves have been questionable. The team doesn't seem to have any plan with their goaltenders. There is no #1 guy. And the Flyers traded away the best goalie in the league in Columbus Blue Jacket Sergie Bobroski. Why haven't the fans and media criticized the team more for that mis-judgement in talent evaluation?

As their aging vets play out the season, the Flyers have to seriously think about their future, the prospects ready to break into Philly, and who is really steering this ship after Ed Snider passed away.

In my opinon, Hakstol needs to go, replaced by a solid, more experienced NHL coach who would not only work well with the vets, but will groom the kids as well.

SIXERS-

The team needs to seriously re-evaluate their medical staff. Embiid is out for the year, his surgery delayed, which make effect next season; Simmond sis out all year from a broken foot, yet is seen before games dunking with the bad foot; Okafor continues to have knee pain, even a year after knee surgery. Forget about projections for the future, if the process is working or not, if the team is still tanking game, and the upcoming high draft picks. If their core young stars can't stay healthy, all is lost.

It's going to take a lot for me to trust Sixer management again. No matter what they say about the health of a player, can you really believe them? It looks like they will get at least one top 5 draft pick this June. They can;t screw that up again. Most of all, take someone healthy, who doesn't have a history of injuries.

Brett Brown deserves another year to reap the fruits of the long process. If the process fails, he will too, and the 76ers will need to start all over -again.

NCAA BASKETBALL-

Who could have ever foreseen the Final Four of Oregon, North Carolina, South Carolina and Gonzaga? Certainly, Villanova and/or Duke were in most fan's brackets. North Carolina is the easy choice now to win the national championship, so I'm going to say Gonzaga wins it all.