According to the AP, Phillies pitcher Adam Eaton has a herniated disk according to MRI and CAT scan results, though he still plans on being ready to play when the season starts.

Who’s more likely to actually be able to pitch come opening day, Eaten or Duque? Throw Hampton down in Atlanta into the mix and its at least comforting to know that everyone in the East is struggling with their pitchers and health. Between the three of us we could almost put together a rotation of pitchers who claim they’ll be ready by April that we all know won’t be.

Philadelphia Magazine’s A.J. Daulerio writes on his Daily Examiner blog that the Philadelphia Phillies may lead the majors in lap dances this season. The possibly not-safe for work link that follows shows some of the talent the Phillies are boasting off the field.

Well done gentlemen. You’ve got a shoulder, or a lap perhaps, to cry on when your season begins to crumble.

Buster Olney now reports that Phillies closer Brad Lidge will miss from three to six weeks following an upcoming surgery tommorow on the knee he hurt throwing his first pitch of batting practice.

The pitchers injury bar is raised Mike Hampton, call or fold?

Olney believes the Phils will use Tom Gordon to fill Lidge’s spot till he can return, most likely in late April.

A quick blow already to Philly, that struggled with injuries all of last season, especially in their bullpen.

This is great…

Former Met Anna Benson and her husband Kris, who I believe is a starting pitcher, might be headed to Philly according to the guys over at Yahoo Sports. They report Kris has thrown for the Phillies twice and is looking for a one year contract.

Benson came to the Mets from the Pirates and pitched in 39 games over two seasons as a Met, with a 4.23 ERA while amassing a 14-12 record. He was traded to the O’s for Jorge Julio and some nobody named after a state.

As noted on Metsblog, some guy named Rich Hofmann (leave off the last “f” for “fuming”) spewed some good old fashioned NY hate on philly.com. The sub head says it all.

“New York disgustingly canonizes new ace before he even pitches”

Here are a few more gems:

“In the realm of the nauseating, this was even worse than Eli Manning and the fellas parading the Lombardi Trophy through the Canyon of Heroes (because the Giants earned it, after all). You really had to see the way they welcomed Johan Santana to the New York Mets to believe it…”

“And then the PR guy attempted to shut down the last shutterbugs and begin the news conference by announcing, ‘Johan, your public awaits.’

At which point, I gagged on some vomit.”

Hey, Jay Horowitz is Mr. PR Guy to you pal.

“The Mets … just spent up to $150 million on one of those green Christmas-tree things you hang from the rearview mirror. They would hate to find out that it failed to mask the stench of 7/17*.

By 7/17*, Rich is referring to the Mets collapse, but of course the obvious question is which “stench” smells worse 7/17*, or the effort of losing three straight to the Rockies in the playoffs. Real impressive. So much for NL East momentum.

It gets better. Our favorite coffee swilling “ex-Sports Reporter” Bill Conlin of the Philadelphia Daily News feels that Santana alone won’t heal all of the Mets problems.

“Fortunately, the team behind Santana will be basically the same one that went into the tank last September and helped the Phillies win their first East title since 1993 with only 89 victories. Rag-armed catcher Paul Lo Duca has been replaced by defensively superior Brian Schneider. But, really, do last season’s .235 and 54 RBI terrify you? First baseman Carlos Delgado played a lot older than 35 last season. Moises Alou turns 42 in July. The leftfielder hit .341, but 89 of his 112 hits were singles, and it takes a triple to score him. Luis Castillo had one homer and 38 RBI in 135 games between the Twins and Mets. The guy’s a Hoover at second, however.”

And by “Hoover” he means like himself at the buffet table.

What troubles me is that I don’t want to get into this NY/Philly thing, we were burned by it last year. Let’s face it, the Phils ARE the team to beat, but what on earth have THEY done to improve? Brad Lidge? Maybe if teams in Philly actually won something the media would know how to handle it instead of exhibiting their inferiority complex on paper. But then, we couldn’t have any fun with them now would we?

Hat tip to Andrew Smith for sifting through Philly sports rummage.

Jayson Stark of ESPN.com reports that the Phillies have agreed to terms with 3B Pedro Feliz on a two-year contract.

Feliz batted .253 with 20 home runs and 72 RBIs last season with the San Francisco Giants.

Solid pickup for the Phillies for the short-term. For what it’s worth, Feliz is a career .260 hitter against the Mets in just 96 at-bats.

According to si.com, the Phillies sold 28-year old OF Chris Roberson to the Orioles yesterday.

Alright, were definitely scrapping for news but after the way the Phillies embarrassed us out of the playoffs last year we should be keeping an eye on their every move.

Ken Rosenthal at FoxSports.com is reporting that the Phillies have come to terms on a two year deal with OF Geoff Jenkins. The deal is worth $13 million with an option for a third year.

Phillies GM Pat Gillick had this to say on the signing. “He can play right or left field and will give (manager) Charlie (Manuel) lineup options on an everyday basis.”

Jenkins has a lifetime .277 average which saw a significant drop to .255 last season. In 132 games played, he hit 21 homeruns while driving in 64 runs for the Brewers.

Jenkins will pretty much be replacing Aaron Rowand in the outfield and in the lineup, although this move will presumably shift Shane Victorino to CF.  Although Jenkins’ offensive numbers have been down over recent years, you have to be a little concerned that his numbers will improve because of the homerun friendly park he will be playing 81 games in.