Thursday Stuff

Shaq in PHX:
-An unlikely scenario, but it is now officially official. Shaquille O’Neal is a Sun. When news broke, about 99% of sports fans wondered what the hell was going on. We now know the motives behind the trade. Basically, Shawn Marion wanted out, and Steve Kerr is looking to an old-school approach to try and get his team over the top. It’s a risky endeavor to say the least, but we won’t know how it works until the playoffs start. As we saw last night against New Orleans, the Suns did not miss a step, putting up 130 points. Hopefully Shaq can give them 25-28 minute per game down the stretch and be half of the force in the middle that he was. The more I think about it, the more I believe the Suns will be able to incorporate him into their style of play. You can’t ignore what Shawn Marion did for this club however. He will be sorely missed. If Shaq stays healthy and can hit that next gear, then this just may work. But let’s not jump to conclusions just yet. He needs to show he is in shape and that his body is not completely broken. If he can give decent minutes, we might be singing Steve Kerr’s praises. If not, it may go down as one of the head-scratchers of all time.

Phillies:
-So the Phillies are looking at free agent pitcher Kris Benson. Odd move perhaps? Benson has a losing record during his (68-73, 4.34 ERA) and is quite fragile. Of course, the market is shady on starting pitching in the major leagues, and teams like the Phillies will do whatever they can to get someone to eat innings. The Phillies are interested, but it remains to be seen what they will offer him. If you had to choose between Benson and Adam Eaton, whom would you go with? That seems to be the same state of mind the Phillies brass has entered here with this possible move. Signing Benson obviously gives them a little bit of flexibility, something they sorely needed last year. This might not be an amazing move by the Phillies, but one that could pay some sort of dividends this season. If Benson is your 5th starter and gives you a something like 12-10, 4.20 ERA, then we should all rejoice. You know Adam Eaton is going to give up a ton of runs if he is in the rotations, so why not take a chance. It looks like the Phils might. Good luck boys.