Here's the Phillies' lineup for Saturday night:
Victorino - rf
Rowand - cf
Utley - 2b
Burrell - lf
Howard - 1b
Coste - c
Nunez - 3b
Sandoval - ss
Hamels - p
Yeah, the Phillies are facing left-hander Dontrelle Willis, but is that the real reason Bobby Abreu isn't in the lineup? I guess we'll find out sooner rather than later.
Meanwhile, the trade of David Bell to the Brewers sounded a clarion bell that there are more moves coming. Clearly a salary dump -- the Phillies save $1.8 million on the remainder of Bell's salary this year -- it's safe to assume that the Phillies are pulling the plug on the remainder of 2006 kind of like they did in 2002 when Scott Rolen was sent to St. Louis. Sure, there was more involved there, but the feeling around the ballpark is that something is happening.
Then again, you never know.