Phillies Transformation 2005 to 2008 Finale

Part 4 of series. How did the 2005 Phillies become the 2008 World Champion Phillies?

Rob Tejeda (2004 Bowman)
Tejeda was signed by the Phillies in 1998 and was finally called up in 2005. He was 4-3 with the Phillies in 2005 before being traded to the Rangers with Jack Blalock for David Dellucci. Blalock is Hank Blalock's brother and is apparently playing in Italy this year. Dellucci spend 2006 with the Phillies as an outfielder. He hit .292 and with 13 home runs in 132 games. He was a free agent at the end of 2006 and doesn't seem to have played since. No impact for Tejeda on the 2008 team.

Jim Thome (2005 Prime Parches Portraits Team Logo Patch)

Jim was in the 3rd and last year of a $36.5 million contract with the Phillies. He was hurt most of the season so the Phillies had to turn to a guy named Ryan Howard to fill in at 1st base.

Michael Tucker (2005 Topps Update)
Tucker was acquired by the Phillies in August 2005 from the Giants for Kelvin Pichardo. He had 18 at bats for the Phillies hitting .222. Then he was released at the end of the season. I uploaded the cards for this post a few weeks ago and I must have had some reason for showing the back of this card instead of the front but I'll be darned if I can remember what it was.

Ugueth Urbina (2005 Topps Update)
Urbina was acquired in another mid-season trade, this one with the Tigers for Olacido Polanco. He was also a free agent at the end of the season. He was 4-3 with one save as a reliever in 2005 for the Phillies.

Chase Utley (2005 Fleer Authentix)
After 2 years of sharing 2nd base with Placido Polanco Utley became the Phillies staring 2nd baseman in 2005. He responded with a .291 season and 28 home runs. 2006-2008 were excellent years for Chase as he established himself as one of the best 2nd basemen in the league. He earned a Silver Slugger award and was on the All-Star team each year. He was a big part of the 2005 team, a huge part of the 2008 World Series team and continues to be a great player.

Shane Victorino (2007 Topps Heritage)
Shane was drafted by the Phillies from the Dodgers in the 2004 Rule V draft. He only appeared in 24 games in 2005 but became a started in 2006. He was one of the core players on the 2008 team.

Billy Wagner (2005 Donruss)
Wagner signed a 2-year $17 million contract with the Phillies in 2004. He was coming off some big years with the Astros (he saved 44 games for the Astros in 2003) but never really caught on with the Phillies. He was hurt part of the time as well. He saved 21 games in 2004 and 38 in 2005. He signed a 3-year, $31.5 million deal with the Mets after the 2005 season. He did pretty well with the Mets but I'm not sure what has happened to him. He has no stats for 2009. Billy had no impact on the 2008 Phillies.

Randy Woolf (2005 Bowman)
Randy was 6-4 in 13 starts with an ERA of 4.39 for the 2005 Phillies. He was 4-0 in limited action in 2006 and then became a free agent, signing with the Dodgers. No impact on the 2008 Phillies.

Tim Worrell (2005 Topps Heritage)
At 37, Todd was one of the oldest Phillies in 2005. He saved 19 games for the Phillies in 2003 but he only appeared in 19 games in 2005 before being traded to the D-backs for Matt Kata. Kata appeared in 10 games in 2005. He's knocked around since then and in 2008 was playing minor league ball in the Pirates system. This year he's with the Astros. No impact on the 2008 team.

So where does that leave us? Of the 40 men who played some part of the season with the 2005 Phillies, only 7 were still with the team in 2008. These were Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins, Pat Burrell, Shane Victorino, Brett Myers and Ryan Madson. In 2005, the offensive core of the 2008 Phillies was already with the team. All they had to do was just about completely revamp the pitching staff.