Uh-oh, Utley's injured

One aspect of the World Champion Phillies that didn't get much attention is how healthy they were in 2008. Only 11 players were placed on the disabled list - including nobodies, such as Chris Snelling, someone who missed literally a couple games, such as Brad Lidge, and someone who wasn't missed anyway, such as Tom Gordon.

The title defense isn't going as smoothly in this regard. Chase Utley, who denied having a hip injury during the season, has a hip injury. He's having surgery and could be gone until June, or maybe he could be back at the beginning of the season.

We understand playing through it during the season - his numbers may have suffered, but the team won a championship. But why did he wait until more than three weeks after the parade to have this taken care of? You'd think the sooner the surgery, the sooner he's back on the field.

The parade was Oct. 31. Knowing what a gamer and team player he is, why wouldn't he have demanded to be on the surgery table Nov. 1?

Since the Phillies need a serviceable second baseman for a while and the Red Sox need a fourth outfielder to replace Coco Crisp, we should talk about trading Julio Lugo for Greg Golson. Too late. John Mayberry used to be a prospect, but he's 24 and hasn't yet had a full season in AAA. His power numbers are good, but he struggles getting on base.

The Red Sox also acquired an amply sized minor league outfielder today. I've never heard of Paul McAnulty, but you've got to like that he's described as a Matt Stairs type. Baseball Prospectus describes him as "bad-bodied."

Rumor mongering: The pesky rumors persist that the Red Sox may be in on Mark Teixeira and A.J. Burnett. I'd pass. Raul Ibanez has popped up on the Phillies radar. {Unless he has a bull dog we don't know about, bring back Pat Burrell, please.}