Why waste a Christmas wish on the Eagles? Phillies, Sixers need all the help they can get
If you had a Philly holiday wish, what would it be? Hint: The Birds are already very good, but the window for the other big teams is closing. Or, hope Rick Tocchet doesn't burn out the Flyers.
Since you’ll most likely be reading this column on Christmas Day, here’s a question in the spirit of the season for Philly sports fans:
What would be your Christmas wish?
Don’t be hasty and just say, “Another Lombardi Trophy.”
Yes, it’s football season, and yes, the Eagles secured a home playoff game last Saturday, but the rest of the teams, in one manner or another, are making strides and could use your help.
The Eagles don’t need it.
They won it all just last season, and they also won seven years ago, and they also went to the Super Bowl three years ago. Their window for winning titles will remain open for at least another two years.
I ran a Twitter/X poll from Monday afternoon through Tuesday evening, which was this column’s deadline.
For me, the Eagles were the last team for whom I’d hope Santa would bring some luck.
What about the Phillies? They’ve only ever won two World Series, the last in 2008, and none since John Middleton began spending like he’s the love child of Nero and Louis XIV. They’re my choice.
And whither The Process, now in its 13th fruitless season?
Finally, no team has tried longer and harder to build a winner than the Flyers, now engaged in an earnest rebuild.
Let’s investigate them all.
Phillies, 52.3%
Most folks agreed: This club needs to eat a whole bushel of apples on Christmas night (a Chinese tradition symbolizing safety and peace). Zack Wheeler is 35. Bryce Harper is 33. Trea Turner and Kyle Schwarber are 32. Tick, tick, tick.
Wheeler, perhaps the best pitcher in franchise history, has said he’s retiring after his contract expires in 2027. Harper will then be 35, Turner and Schwarber 34. The only viable replacement for these stars is starter Cristopher Sánchez, who is 29, and who will demand an astronomical contract in 2031 — when he’s 34.
The realistic window for the Phillies ends when Wheeler walks in two years. As such, Phillies faithful should wish for this:
Wheeler returns from thoracic outlet syndrome surgery in May and is back to normal by August.
Harper outperforms an injury-affected 2025 season that president Dave Dombrowski accurately (if unwisely) said he considered not “elite,” with a .844 OPS, and again produces at an elite level — say, the .937 OPS he averaged in the 10 previous seasons, which was best among all players with at least 5,000 plate appearances.
Turner hits .300, as he has since 2024.
Schwarber matches his average of 46 homers in his four previous Phillies seasons.
Closer Jhoan Duran and setup man José Alvarado are dominant for seven months.
Sánchez is, once again, a horse.
That’s a lot to ask for, but, hey, Christmas comes but once a year.
Eagles 36.7%
A pleasant surprise. I not only thought the Eagles would win the poll with a plurality — say, 45% — I thought that Philly fans wouldn’t be sophisticated enough to accept the logic that makes the Phillies the clear choice.
Apologies.
And good job.
After all, why squander a Christmas wish on a team that doesn’t need it? Thanks to the era of ownership that began with Jeffrey Lurie’s purchase of the team in 1994 — 19 playoff appearances, four Super Bowl appearances, and two titles — the Eagles are, by far, the best team in town. There’s no need for the Birds to put a carp scale in their wallet and carry it around all year (a German/Polish tradition).
The Birds have given Philadelphia the best seven-year run of any team in the city’s history, and there’s no reason to think that run is anywhere close to ending.
Howie Roseman has constructed a roster with contracts that ensure at least two more peak years of Jalen Hurts, Saquon Barkley, A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, Landon Dickerson, Jordan Mailata, Cam Jurgens, Jalen Carter, Zack Baun, Cooper DeJean, and, last but not least, Quinyon Mitchell, who might be the best of them all.
Further, head coach Nick Sirianni and his two best assistants, defensive coordinator Vic Fangio and offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland, aren’t going anywhere. No team in Philadelphia, in the NFC East, or in the entire NFL is better positioned for continued success than the Eagles.
Don’t waste a wish on them.
Flyers, 8.9%
This a great result for a team that hasn’t made the playoffs since the first time Trump was president.
Dan Vladař has a top-10 2.39 goals-against average, which, if the season ended today, would be the best GAA for a starting Flyers goalie in a decade. Similarly, the Flyers haven’t sent a defenseman to the All-Star game since Kimmo Timonen in 2012.
These are institutional issues that cannot be undone no matter how many spider webs you use to decorate the tree (a Ukrainian tradition and the origin of tinsel).
That said, Vladař, having a career year, is under contract through next season. The team has hovered around the playoff bubble all season. They should lock up Trevor Zegras, a 24-year-old trade gamble who can be a restricted free agent after this season but who leads them in goals and assists.
The wish: Vladař stays steady, Zegras continues to produce, and error-prone young talent Matvei Michkov eventually prospers under demanding new coach Rick Tocchet. If that happens, the Flyers’ goal to once again be a perennial playoff team is not unreasonable, beginning this spring.
Sixers, 2.1%
Like all Twitter polls, mine was unscientific, since it mainly drew from the folks who follow me, who obviously possess high degrees of discernment and taste.
Maybe that’s why poll respondents seem to have utterly abandoned the Sixers.
More than any Philly franchise, this bad-luck franchise needs to burn some shoes (a Greek Christmas tradition). I can’t blame the respondents, what with the team’s egregious misevaluations of talent; its mismanagement of the draft, free agency, and player development; not to mention the self-inflicted dramas of Ben Simmons, James Harden, and, of course, Joel Embiid, whose continued entitlement and incredible fragility has exhausted the patience of the populace.
That said, they’re still ours, and they’re not bad. Tyrese Maxey’s talent and exuberance provide an anchor, the potential of rookie überathlete V.J. Edgecombe, the increased presence of Paul George, an energetic supporting cast, and superb coaching from Nick Nurse have made this edition of the Sixers the most watchable team since The Process began in 2013.
» READ MORE: Sixers takeaways: Winless with their Big Three, Joel Embiid injury scare, and more from loss to Nets
As for the big guy, like him or loathe him, Embiid’s presence makes them markedly better, especially if he is active on the defensive end, which, if you know the game, always has been his greatest value. As of Tuesday, Embiid’s knees had him on pace to play 33 games. The wish:
By the time the season ends in mid-April, the Sixers can get him to 41 games, which is half the schedule. At that point, if he can play every other day, which is a typical playoff schedule, they not only would have a chance to win a playoff round, but they also would have a template for the next two seasons, the final years of George’s monster contract.
But 2%?
Even with a likable young trio, Embiid’s toxic presence has, for most people, ruined the image of the only team I ever cared for (and that, only as a youth).