Overrated, Overpaid, or Overreacting

The Phillies are right on Atlanta’s heels, and that’s exactly why the cracks feel so loud. We talk through what it means to be only two games back while still watching the same problems pop up: a back-end starter who can’t go deep, a bullpen that gives up crooked numbers, and defense that turns one bad throw into a full-on disaster. If the Phillies want a real MLB playoff run, the margin for mistakes is basically gone, and we lay out what has to tighten up fast and what kind of trade deadline help actually moves the needle.

Then we jump to the Flyers, where Danny Briere is done playing it safe. Claude Giroux heads back to Ottawa, and while that stings, we’re honest about the bigger truth: you don’t build a future around nostalgia. The real fireworks come from the Flyers’ offer sheet for Leo Carlson. We break down why it’s so aggressive, what it costs, and how it puts Anaheim in a brutal spot, whether they match the deal or let a potential franchise center walk.

We close with a “dangerous” Philly sports debate: overrated players. Not “bad,” not “washed,” just the pure gap between reputation and reality. We read listener comments, revisit some all-time disappointment names, and explain why certain contracts still make fans angry years later. Hit play, then subscribe, share the show, and leave a review. Who’s your pick for Philly’s most overrated athlete?

Transcript

Welcome And What’s On Deck

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Welcome back to Brotherly Love Sports. I'm your host, Adam Kern, and we made it to episode 20. So tonight we're talking Phillies trying to chase down Atlanta. The Flyers swinging like absolute maniacs with the Leo Carlson offer sheet. Claude Drew breaking my heart sincerely. And then we're going to get into a bit of a dangerous conversation. Overrated players. And before people start flying off the handles with that one, overrated does not inherently mean bad. It can mean, you know, reputation and reality aren't necessarily aligning. However, some of the players I bring up, we are probably going to be focusing more on the bad.

Phillies Race Tightens As Pitching Wobbles

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So the Phillies have pulled within two games of Atlanta. In their last 10, they are 5-5. And as of the time recording this podcast, they are getting blown out by Cincinnati 11-4 in the bottom of the sixth. Wrangle has so far proven he really isn't better than Painter. So they still yet again need to figure out that bottom rotation starter. He went three and a third, let up three runs on three hits. Struck out five, but he let up two home runs. Tanner Banks came in and was managed one measly out and allowed three home runs, equating for four runs. So the bullpen continues to show me that we can't trust them right now. And all signs indicate if they're going to make any trades, it needs to be right now, two more arms. It seems like the guys that they're even calling up just can't get it done. They're very much alive in the in the race for the pennant and for for the playoffs. But only being two games back, the margin for lazy mistakes is gone. You can't have guys committing errors in the way that they do. And by that I am referencing Trey Turner's egregious error Monday night against the Royals that basically allowed six runs. Granted, he isn't responsible for all of the six runs. Sanchez still needs to make the pitches to get out of the inning, and it just wasn't happening. But the error is like where it starts. They went on to lose that game 15-1, and that just from top to bottom was a terrible game. Offensively, the bats weren't there. Defensively, they allowed a run every single inning. So that was just one to potentially flush from the memory banks. But going back going back to the laziness, they have to tighten it up. Right now, the Phillies, as a team, have a total of 44 errors on the season, which is, I think, 14th in the league. That's not great. You're towards the top middle of most errors committed in the season. They they got to tighten stuff up. And especially Turner, he has 12 of those 44 and leads the team in errors. And the guy that has the second most errors on the team is Bohm with six. So Trey Turner's really trying to trying to win that battle this year. As the season goes on, they need to tighten up all aspects of their defense. Because their starting pitching is not going to be enough to get them deep into the playoffs. Bulpin needs to lock it down, start making some better pitches. Defensively, the fielding has to be better. And the bats need to stay hot. Or at least warm. Not going to win games on a couple hits and one runs. We just don't have the pitching stuff to make that happen anymore. But I digress. Let's

Flyers Drop Nostalgia For Aggression

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move on to the Flyers. Danny Briere has essentially said enough rebuilding, let's get weird. So we'll touch on the disappointing news first. Claude Giroux went back to Ottawa, signed a one-year, two million dollar deal with a full no movement clause, which is disappointing because there was a small part of me that thought, oh, well, maybe if he's available by the trade market and we're still hurting for a center, we can go out and get him. It's alright. I I can honestly live with the fact that he didn't come back here. We need a center. Was he the answer? No. Was he a viable option for this upcoming season? Yes. But to Danny's credit, you're not going to build the future around nostalgia. And that's okay. But the real story is Briere essentially walking into the offseason and just throwing 18 million a year at Leo Carlson. Oh, and by the way, the Ducks have until Friday the 10th to match it or walk. And if they're taking this long to figure it out, I think that the Flyers are going to get Carlson. We're going to lose four first-round picks to do it, but hey, uh, I I like where this is going. I I think Danny felt his seat get a little warm and has decided, you know what, we have enough of the right core group of players. Let's build on it. I think so far they're making all the right moves to make us competitive again. So was the offer sheet insane? Oh yeah. Is it aggressive? Absa fucking Lutley. Is it the kind of move you make when you're tired of being stuck in the you know mushy middle? I would also say yes. If Anaheim matches, the Flyers just forced Anaheim into a massive contract. And good on them because fuck them. Fuck Cutter for not wanting to be here. I just I I love what it'll do to them because it will just pigeonhole them into a contract I don't think they can afford, number one, and number two, they don't want to be in because it's going to screw up any other contracts that they need to pay out to include Cutter. But if they pass, well then we just got a 21-year-old franchise center for what essentially is going to cost us four first-round picks. That's okay. The Carlson is a legit talent. Either way, I think he would look a lot better in Flyers Orange. Alright, let's get on the overrated topic. So

What “Overrated” Actually Means

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this whole segment's really coming up because of Trey Turner's absolute blunder Monday night. And because it's snowballed into six runs and just seemed to have gotten worse, it's that like you're gonna go back to that moment. It's like, you know what? We this is where we lost the game. The offense only scored one run. But it was that play when I when I said earlier about reputation versus reality. The name, Trey Turner, says star. The contract says star. His speed and his bat, sometimes, also say star. But at shortstop, the Philly Phillies need a glove to say reliable. And so far that has not been him. So because of this, on Facebook, we opted to post a question about is Trey the biggest disappointment in Philly sports history, or does somebody else deserve the title? So

Fans Name Philly’s Biggest Letdowns

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here are some of the comments. So John threw a comment on it and said, Namdi Asuma and Andrew Bynum come to mind here. And he was right to say that the situation is different for both of them. Bynum never played a game for the Sixers. And I think the biggest disappointment was at the time the Sixers needed a guy of Bynum's caliber, and the fact that he never set foot on the court was a massive disappointment. But to I guess a little bit of his credit, you can't be disappointed by his play if he doesn't actually play. With Osama, you could Fry says you could say the blame is partially on the defensive scheme for him. Probably that they didn't use him properly. I don't know, by the by the time we got him, maybe he wasn't as good as we all thought he was. Maybe he was just that scheme player, and guys like him, the second they go to a different team, they are completely exposed. Both both answers I I like. Brett Yoff replied, DeMarco Murray, the fireman, Danny Watkins, and Ben Ben Simmons. Look, when we got Murray, I'll be honest, I wasn't overly excited about the signing. It was one of those, like, okay, yeah, cool. Like, he's kind of a power back. Maybe he's just gonna be a short yardage guy. He only played a season here, and he didn't do a whole lot. He uh he was in 15 games, had 193 carries for 700 yards and six touchdowns. Like nothing he did while he was here was spectacular, but I also wouldn't consider him a disappointment solely because I didn't expect a lot from him, so I don't know, you you don't have expectations, you can't be disappointed, I guess. As far as Danny Watkins is concerned, uh again, another guy that was like I barely knew his name. He played a handful of games for for the Eagles in 2011 and 2012, played a single game for Miami and then called it quits. Like uh again, another guy that uh if he was a starter, he wasn't a great one. I mean, nobody really knew who he was. I I honestly forgot about him until Brett brought him up. I will say though, Ben Simmons might be one of the biggest disappointments in all of Philly, Philadelphia history. They spent high draft capital to bring him in for a guy who like when he got here, yeah, played good defense, had a crap attitude, and couldn't shoot a fucking jump shot to save his life. And it's not that he couldn't shoot, it's that he just wouldn't. Which is you're not gonna survive in the NBA just making layups. I mean, if you want to be just a defensive guy, then okay. Maybe you need to communicate that better because what the team and what this fan base expected from him obviously didn't match up with what he was giving us on the court. So for him specifically, I would say bad play equaled overrated player. And then we get to my two names I brought up on this post. I

Maxwell And Huff Under The Microscope

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and I know that there is a litany of players that were before my time of really paying attention to sports, and before I was probably even alive. And by all means, please send them my way. I would love to like put this up to an actual vote and see who takes the crown on this one. But two names I brought up were Byron Maxwell and Bryce Huff. And I felt these two dudes should be paying the Eagles back for the money they essentially stole from the team. So we'll start with Maxwell. Maxwell came from Seattle and was one of the guys that was part of the Legion of Boom up there in elite defense. Like they were they were great for several years. When he came to Philadelphia, I remember feeling the excitement. Like, yes, we got that lockdown corner we so so so needed. And we got the exact opposite out of him. When they signed him, they signed him to a huge six-year, $63 million contract with like $25 mil guaranteed. Like he was paid to be an elite shutdown guy, and he just was never that. He was repeatedly burned by by everybody. So his lackluster play on the field truly soured his relationship, especially with the fans, and it didn't help when he came out and said he pretty much just came here because he was offered the money. That was ugh. With Huff, it was a very similar situation. In 24, they signed him to a three-year, $51 million contract, and he never lived up to the hype. We thought we were getting a good dude off the Jets who like just needed to come to a better defensive scheme, and like he's he's gonna eat. Played one season here, and in that sole season, got two and a half sacks and a total of 13 tackles combined solo and assisted, and had four QB hits. That was not the kind of money we were shelling out for the production we got. Like they after the season, they restructured his contract and just pretty much gave him away to San Francisco because he was worthless. He he did absolutely nothing for us. So the name warranted good money. The on-field play did not. Those two things did not align. But I know there's more players out there. I I could probably spend all episode talking about it, but let me know your thoughts. I'm curious to see who else you think deserves this overrated trophy. And

Question Of The Week And Sign Off

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with that, we move on to the question of the week. So last week I asked Claude Giroux is second all time in Flyers history in points. Who is the only player above him? And that answer was Bobby Clark. I'm sure most people probably knew what knew that one. That was an easy one to probably get. But on to this week's question of the week. And I'm gonna keep this one a little more flyer-centric since they are just going all in with the Leo Carlson offer sheet. Before Leo Carlson, which starred defenseman did the Flyers famously sign to a 14-year, $110 million offer sheet that Nashville matched? I will post this question on social media and I will reveal the answer next week. That's going to be it for episode 20. The Phillies are two games back. The Flyers are trying to commit financial crime in broad daylight. Drew broke our hearts again. And I definitely chose violence by asking who is the most overrated Philly athlete. As always, thank you for listening. Tell a friend, argue with a friend, and please, for the love of all things, Philly, make the damn throw.