Ryan Howard- A little too late??

     

   With Ryan Howard now back in the lineup and the Phils playing well, as good as it is 5to see is it just too late? To be 14 games back on July 20th just might be too much for this Phils team to make up. Especially if Ruben Amaro is planning in shipping Cole Hamels anywhere. I understand that 14 games isn't exactly the biggest deficit to overcome but this team just doesn't seem to have the drive and passion that they used to. I don't know what happened if it was maybe losing Jayson Werth or breaking up the chemistry or just simply that this team is aging. Howards 31, Jimmys 32, Chase is 32 and Polanco is 36. The bad part is that the Phils don't even have a strong farm system, and how much can we truly trust the farm system? We bring up a guy from there and he gets popped with a hot test and gets banged for 50 games in his rookie year, his ROOKIE year. That's just embarrassing. Shane Victorino will NOT be here come the July 31 trade deadline and I for one am all for it, He was an integral part of the 2008 World Series Championship but in the last year and a half has severely underperformed. How long can Ruben watch him come up in a key spot in the game and strike out on a 58' curve ball. Which leaves Pierre to play up the middle. I'm hoping that they can turn it around but I'm not going to be surprised to see no playoff baseball in this town for the first time in a while.