The Phillies announced today that Brad Lidge will undergo arthroscopic surgery on his right knee on Monday, rendering it unlikely that the newly acquired closer will be ready to start the regular season. The injury was suffered rather innocuously on Saturday when the pitcher caught his spike in the mound on his first pitch of batting practice.

Lidge had surgery on the same knee in October in order to remove torn cartilage.

Phillies fans must hope they don’t see a whole lot of this in 2008.

Now this is what a GM meeting is supposed to be like! Finally a blockbuster deal.

ESPN is reporting that the Phillies have added a new closer – and no, it isn’t Mariano Rivera. Four years after acquiring Billy Wagner from the Houston Astros, Philly has reeled in his replacement in Houston, trading for Astros closer Brad Lidge in a five-player swap.

Philly also receives infielder Eric Bruntlett, while sending outfielder Michael Bourn, right-hander Geoff Geary and minor league third baseman Mike Costanzo to Houston. The Astros intend to insert Bourn as their center fielder and leadoff hitter – a tall order for a kid with just 127 major league at-bats.

The move was a smart one for Philly. Faced with a paper-thin starting rotation and complete lack of viable options on the free agent or trade market, Lidge will now supplant Brett Myers as closer while Myers returns to a starting role.

ESPN.com’s Keith Law believes the Phils surrendered little more than “three spare parts” in the deal, and that Astros GM Ed Wade (fired from his post as Philadelphia GM in 2005) has “completely misread the market for relievers.” We tend to agree. Particularly if a change of scenery can help restore some of Lidge’s former dominance, this deal could go down as a steal.

In case you haven’t seen it already, the Philadelphia Inquirer has a great gallery of Philly and its fans in absolute elation following their first NL East division title in 14 years. Enjoy.

Via Philly.com:

Hundreds of people packed the west side of City Hall today for a pep rally to celebrate the Phillies winning the National League East title and to cheer them on into the playoffs.
…
Scott Palmer, the team’s mouthpiece who served as the emcee, declared that city officials had determined that this was the biggest pep rally in the city’s history.

There was no way to determine that, but the lunchtime gathering did stop traffic and drew all eyes to the stage where Phillies – past and present – smiled and waved at the adoring masses.

Greeted with cheers of “MVP, MVP” Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins vowed that there would be more parties to follow.

Despite that the Fightin’ Phils still don’t know who they’ll be facing in the NLDS, the Phillies’ playoff schedule has been released with Game 1 coming on Wednesday in Philly against either the San Diego Padres or the Colorado Rockies. The Padres and Rockies square off today in Colorado at 4:37 p.m. PT (7:37 p.m. ET) for a one-game playoff to determine the Wild Card winner.

Game 1   Wednesday, October 3   vs. TBD
Game 2   Thursday, October 4   vs. TBD
Game 3   Saturday, October 6   @ TBD
Game 4   Sunday, October 7   @ TBD
Game 5   Tuesday, October 9   vs. TBD

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