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By Jeff Todd | at
Email a copy of 'Offseason Outlook: Philadelphia Phillies' to a friend
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Not Xabial
Wrong Miguel Gonzalez linked.
Jeff Todd
Fixed. Auto-linker.
A'sfaninUK
Blanco was so under-the-radar good last year he actually has a bit of trade value to a team who needs an INF who can help hit lefties – Oakland might be interested.
Philadelphia needs to go full Astros and punt this year, don’t sign anyone unless its a bargain guy looking to play every day. They need play Howard & Ruiz every day and just hope they’re good enough to have a team ask for either of them in a trade – with the Phils throwing in money on Howard. Getting a prospect of any kind back for both of them would be a small victory. I guess stacking up on Korean and other players would be an interesting direction too. Pretty curious as to what the front office decides to do with them, barring a spectacular prospect climb, they aren’t going to compete until 2017 at the very earliest, but more likely 2018-19.
Brixton
The Phillies are done giving Ruiz everyday ABs. No one is gonna trade for Ruiz considering hes below average at every aspect of baseball. Howard too.
Rupp is gonna catch until one of Knapp or Alfaro are up.
Ruf is gonna platoon with someone (probably Brock Stassi or a FA) at 1B.
A team that can afford a 200M+ payroll and has a top 7-8 farm system doesn’t need to punt. They’re obviously not going to compete, but Altherr, Herrera and Franco can all put up 3+ WAR seasons. So they’re going to continue to play and develop.
mike156
The Phillies would need to get very lucky to unload Howard–even if you don’t believe in WAR (or, negative WAR) it’s fascinating how much his hitting skills have eroded. At his peak, he had two seasons of over 100 walks. He managed 27 last year in 503 PA. And he’s completely useless against left-handers. Maybe there’s a spot for him on a team that can platoon at DH. So, maybe you play him early in the season and hope to catch lightening in a bottle, but I think other than that, he’s dead money and shouldn’t impact how you manage a roster.
Jeff Todd
It really won’t have much impact at all, but teams are always careful with how they handle veteran players, especially franchise icon types with a high profile. Might save a couple mil if an AL teams wants him for left-handed power.
AndThisGameBelongsToMySanDiegoPadres
Just let his contract run out. He’s only signed for one more year and Philly isn’t going to contend in 2016 anyway.
stymeedone
Might be fun to put the new Phil GM in touch with Preller and watch the two teams rebuild.
evan 8
This is my first post and it may be obvious, but what is CBP?
Jeff Todd
Welcome! Citizens Bank Park.
evan 8
Ah, that is pretty obvious. Thanks!
jett
I think the Phils can challenge for the division in 2017 as long as guys stay healthy. While no certainty, the Phils have a young core, there’s been a part of me that’s been saying for a year or so that the Phillies can be a dark horse to sign Heyward. With the new TV contract kicking in, I could see them at least enticing Heyward with a 10y/$200+m deal with an opt out after 4-5 years. They’ll follow the same blueprint of signing veterans with comeback potential to fill holes and flip come mid-summer. I think potentially two guys who can be dominoes in the rebuild if they put together a strong early 2016 campaign are Cody Asche and Jimmy Corders. Asche is an obvious trade candidate as a team could use his glove at 3rd (maybe Oakland?) and Cordero has always had a big arm and if he can harness some control or get a breaking ball over I think it’d be easier for the Phillies to sell-high on Giles. I could include Tirado here too but it looks like the Phillies are gonna continue their course to stretch him back out into a SP. Sell high on Giles, keep the kids healthy, and define a clear blueprint on building a team. Philly will stay patient as long as they see the Phils show what they didn’t show in the dark days of RAJ’s tenure, show people they know what they’re doing.
PhilliesPhan08
I don’t see them signing any qualified free agents this off-season and forfeiting the 1st pick in the 2nd round, and more importantly, the allotment bonus that comes with that pick.
Donnie B
I agree with you with Heyward being an option that the Phillies should really consider going hard after. The rebuilding took a good turn with the trades of 8 veterans for 14 Prospects. Now is the year to dip some of that money they have into Free Agents. I agree that they should not go crazy, but to add Heyward would be a huge addition considering his age and experience. I also agree with the 10yr/200+ Mil with a 4th or 5th year opt-out option.
I also read that the Angels 2 most pressing needs are for a 3B and a LF. One or the other needed as a Lefty Hitter as well. To me, all signs point to Cody Asche that fits the lefty hitting 3B they want. As for Giles, if they can sell high on him, they need to look into that then.
The Phillies will need at least 2 Free Agent Starters, and more than likely, it would best be served by signing three. While none of the 1st tier FA’s will be signed, I think the Phillies should look to sign a TOR Pitcher like Kazmir or Zimmermann.
The other 2 spots can be among these Pitchers:
Norris – Latos – Beachy – Hill – Cahill – Fister
I really hope if the Phillies are stuck with Howard this year, then please play him on a “true” LH/RH platoon with Ruf. A pleasant surprise would be by having Tommy Joseph (now converted to 1B) stay healthy and hit as he is capable of and claim the 1B position (he’s still just 24)
Rupp should catch 70% of the games and Ruiz 30% and 2017 should see either Alfaro or Knapp as the starting Catcher.
I like Sweeney over Hernandez at 2B – but when you look at the 2B/SS positions, having Sweeney – Hernandez – Galvis – Blanco all able to play multiple positions (and they all are switch-hitters) it will give the manager the opportunity to play all four with plenty of AB’s for all.
So, with all that said.. The Phillies finished 34-37 the second half of the season last year despite Pitchers (Harang, Williams, Buchanan, Asher and De Fratus) going a combined 5-20 with an ERA well over 6.00.
I have to believe that the Phillies can strive for .500 this year, and do it with of course the right additions, a healthy team and some better luck.
Go Phillies!
suddendepth
You can stick a fork in Joseph as a 1B option. They don’t have the luxury of waiting his full concussion recovery out. Think of Justin Morneau as a cautionary tale. The new Phils regime didn’t even find Joseph worthy of keeping a 40 man roster spot. I suspect they’ll do exactly what they did in 2015, with a more pure LH/RH split duty.
I think you’re right about Rupp. He did the job and finished the second half pretty strong. Hopefully he continues the offensive trend. His defense has always been solid. I love his hands when handling pitches and framing.
Klentak will likely avoid QO guys like Zimmermann, etc. There’s no way they give up the penalty 2nd rounder to sign someone useless for this bridge season. The only way that would make sense is if the team decides to aggressively target multiple QO guys and stops caring about the single 2nd round loss. I just think the pick is too high to throw away.
PhilliesPhan08
Not just the pick, but the allotment bonus that comes with that pick. No way the Phillies are forfeiting any of their bonus pool to sign a free agent this off season, so any Phillies fan who thinks they should Heyward, Zimmerman, or any other qualified free agent needs to either come back to reality or pass the joint around to everyone else.