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Here’s a lede:

Not long ago, the Philadelphia Phillies were a formidable team. In 2008, they won their first World Series in 28 years and made the playoffs the next three seasons as well. They had power hitters, slick fielders and a strong rotation.

Now that team is virtually gone, and the Phillies have the worst record in baseball.

On Wednesday, one more key piece left town when second baseman Chase Utley was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers for two prospects.

Phillies fans Wednesday night gave Utley a standing ovation, a salute to his service and a thank you for the team’s glory years.

The past is about all Phillies fans have to cheer these days.

And so on. Nothing you don’t already know in this piece, but yet another reminder how far the mighty have fallen.

Side note: All things considered, things have actually gone well this season. Maikel Franco and Aaron Nola look like the real deal(s). As does Ken Giles. The Hamels trade netted a haul of potential prospects, and they got something for Utley… which is great, especially when you consider that beat writers like Ryan Lawrence were, just a month ago, making fun of people like me for believing that Utley had some trade value remaining:

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Here’s what I wrote on July 7 in a post I updated only because Lawrence and others on Twitter were dismissing the notion that Utley had any trade value:

Fine, fine– Utley has no trade value at the moment. But no good comes from dismissing in that manner. Utley comes back, hits .290 with three home runs for three weeks and looks like some semblance of a real player again (totally plausible), I can’t imagine a contending team wouldn’t take a flyer on him after he clears waivers.

Utley didn’t hit .290 with three home runs upon his return. He hit .484 with one home run and five doubles in eight games. And then he was traded.