I think the only easy answer of those questions given is for the last when, with an answer being a resounding YES, the Phils can definitely compete for the NL East title next year.

The other questions, much more difficult, especially the Utley/Howard franchise player tag. To me though, I'd take Howard without thinking twice. Utley's great, but Howard changes the entire strategy a pitcher must use when approaching the middle of the Phillie lineup.

1) I don't think the Phils are going to make. Howard will cool down and then where will they be? I'm rooting for them, though.

2) For the year, I'm going with 64. For his career, he won't break 350. He's just not young enough to rack up truly amazing career numbers and that's a shame because he should have been up at least two years ago. The Phillies have squandered a lot of his value, as well as Utley's. Also, that body is probably not going to age too well.

3) Yes. Howard will be the MVP and

4) I think he'll deserve it.

5) I think Howard is a lot like Thome but, as I said above, is too old to get a chance to put up career numbers similar to what Thome's will look like.

6) Utley would be my first pick for 2B, but Pujols is, has been, and always will be a better player than Howard. And here's the kicker: Pujols is younger!

7) I think yes because the Mets pitching isn't going to look too pretty next year. Glavine just isn't a good bet to continue to look this good and, frankly, Pedro isn't either. The latter won't make more than 26 or 27 starts in a season and is starting to battle chronic, remedyless injuries. Plus, before what seemed to be a resurgence last year (before coming to a more pitcher-friendly park and a MUCH more pitcher friendly ballpark), Pedro's peripherals were starting to erode. The end is near.

Both the Phils and the Mets will score tons of runs next year - a war of attrition.

He should not be the MVP. He is not the best player on his team; that is Utley. He is not the best first baseman in the league; that is Pujols. He is not the best hitter in the league; that is Pujols. He is not the best player in the league; that is Beltran. The MVP should be between Beltran and Pujols.

If the Phillies get the wild card, Howard will get the MVP, and he probably deserves it. Utley should be in the coversation, with Wright, Beltran, and Pujols.
From scratch Id go with Utley. Sluggers at 1b are a dime a dozen, albeit not as prolific as Ryan.

When ESPN radio(in the morning) had their talks going this week about Howard being a 'clean' HR king I found myself getting agitated that they never once mentioned his smallish homefield, to the point that I wanted to see the numbers so I could call in. I was pretty suprised to see the splits so even.

On a (sort of)interesting side note, Im in a head to head fantasy league where you only get players from an actual franchise. Scoring categories are numerous:R, H, HR, RBI, SB, K, TB, E, AVG, OBP, SLG for hitters.
W, L, CG, SV, HR, BB, K, HLD, ERA, WHIP, W, L, CG, SV, HR, BB, K, HLD, ERA, WHIP, K/BB for pitchers.

I joined to have an easy way to follow the White Sox stats and frankly I liked their chances. Well I got the first round bye, and so did the Phillies in a shocker.
the 6 teams that made our play-offs:

(1) Chicago White Sox
(2) PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES
(3) The New York Yankees
(4) New York Mets
(5) The Detroit Tigers
(6) Oakland

Our top two teams may miss the MLB playoffs.

no player had ever hit more than 76 home runs in his first 1,000 at bats" in the 130 years of major league baseball. Howard has 80 - and he still has 135 at-bats to go

that is amazing

Bob R. -

Utley is certainly not the "best" player on the Phillies. I think one could more accurately characterize your view by saying that Utley is more "valuable" given the position he plays. I grant that it is extremely close.

However, the numbers aren't that close when it comes to Pujols. Aside from leading him by substantial margins in HRs and RBIs, Howard is nearly dead even with him on AVG, OBP and SLG and may be ahead of him in those by this time tomorrow morning. Additionally, Howard leads him in all the sabermetric categories - RC, ISO, 2dAVG.

So, to recap. Howard's counting stats are better. His rate stats are dead even and he's got an edge in the sabermetric stats.

Also, that Pujols was hurt should be held against him: not being able to play certainly hurts one's value.

In sum, is Pujols, in general, a better player? Yes. Would I sign him to a 5 year contract over Howard? Yes.

Has Pujols had a better and more valuable season than Howard? No, not thus far.

I would say that Utley IS the best player on the Phillies -- his ability to play second base is part of what makes him, ultimately, a better (not just more valuable, whatever that distinction means) player. Howard is the better hitter. Utely, in his advantages in other facets of the game, including his ability to play the middle infield, at least pulls even.

The distinction between value and skill is simply this: over the course of his career, Mariano Rivera has been more skilled than Mike Mussina. Per batter, he gets more outs and prevents more runs. However, Mussina has thrown many, many more innings and, consequently, gotten many, many more people out and prevented many, many more runs.

The way in which each player has been used has created a gap between how skilled and how valuable each is.

"So, to recap. Howard's counting stats are better. His rate stats are dead even and he's got an edge in the sabermetric stats."

Say what?

EqA: .351 to .340, Pujols
VORP: 75.5 to 74.1, Pujols
WARP3: 11.6 to 8.5 (!), Pujols
WS: 32 to 26, Pujols

The way in which each player has been used has created a gap between how skilled and how valuable each is.

That strikes me as interesting, but completely invalid as a comparison. Mo Rivera pitches less often than Mussina. That's what makes him less valuable, skill aside.

One of Chase Utley's skills is the ability to play the middle infield adequately. It's a skill that Ryan Howard doesn't have. And it can't be discounted -- it's not just how they're used. If you put Ryan Howard at second base, he would be a disaster, regardless of which hand he throws with. The same would be true of Carlos Delgado, or Jason Giambi, or Jim Thome, or David Ortiz, or any of a number of other sluggers. At least two of those guys actually did play more challenging positions in the minors, but were moved to first base because they did not have the skill to do it.

In short, you're just wrong.

C. Joseph -

What you fail to understand is that some skills are less valuable than others. The skill required to drop down a perfect bunt is extremely difficult to acquire and very rare but it also isn't that valuable relative to other skills valued in baseball (like hitting home runs).

Similarly, Utley possesses some skills that Ryan Howard simply does not have. In that sense, Utley is more skilled. However, his possession of those skills does not outweigh the fact that Howard excels to a much greater extent in those skills which both he and Utley jointly possess and which are valued to a greater extent in baseball (basically, everything that goes into hitting).