Phillies Might Be Saying Goodbye To Roy Oswalt And Brad Lidge

The Philadelphia Phillies have made the playoffs five years in a row with mainly the same players as the principal contributors. Some commentators mentioned the fact that this Phillies team appears to be aging; teams that have that happen during a playoff run of several years need to retool if they want to continue postseason play.

The Phillies officially declined the 2012 options for the contracts of right-handed pitchers Brad Lidge and Roy Oswalt, the club announced today.

"While we will not pick up either of their options, we will remain in contact with representatives for both players about the possibility of bringing them back for the 2012 season," said Senior Vice President & General Manager Ruben Amaro Jr. "Brad and Roy both made significant contributions to the Phillies over the past several seasons."

So that leaves the door open to the possible return for both Lidge and Oswalt, but buried in Amaro's statement is the implication that the Phillies are going to have to get younger in order to hold off the Braves, and perhaps even an improved Nationals team, in the NL East in 2012.