Here’s the latest from around the NL East…
- The top three prospects involved in trades this offseason were all acquired by the Braves, Baseball America’s J.J. Cooper writes. Dansby Swanson, Sean Newcomb and Aaron Blair sit atop Cooper’s ranking of the top 25 prospects who were dealt this winter. Swanson and Blair came to Atlanta as part of the Shelby Miller trade with Arizona while Newcomb was part of the package that came to the Braves in the Andrelton Simmons deal with the Angels.
- With the Phillies embarking on a full-fledged rebuild, it wouldn’t have made sense for the club to sign a major free agent simply in the name of boosting attendance, MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki writes as part of a reader mailbag. The organization has shown that it will spend heavily to support a contender, so Zolecki doesn’t doubt that the big signings will follow once a young core of talent is again in place.
- Zolecki also gives his take on the Ken Giles trade, opining that the Phillies did well in landing five young starting pitchers given the cost of pitching in today’s game. Developing even one mid-range arm out of the quintet will provide the Phils with more value than having a star closer would in a rebuilding season. When the Phillies are ready to contend again, Zolecki notes, it will also be much easier (and cheaper) to find another closer than it would be to add rotation help.
- The Mets haven’t yet decided on which internal candidates will receive Spring Training invitations to their big league camp, ESPN New York’s Adam Rubin reports (via Twitter). In a follow-up tweet, Rubin gives his take on which players will be invited.
- In NL East news from earlier today, the Braves are trying to trade at least one of Michael Bourn or Nick Swisher.
Give the Braves another year or 2, and all this talent could be busting out there seams with serious cash to play with. They definitely have to be in the best position among teams looking towards the future!
Then again we have the likes of the Orioles who had their prized pitching prospects go down with injuries. Yes they seem to be stacked on paper but baseball isn’t an exact science.
Which is why I used the word ‘could’.
The Cubs were in a very similar position a few years ago… Carrying many of the top 50 prospects in farm systems and look where they are now. Watch out for them in I’d say 4 years. Until then it’s looking very ugly for the Braves
I don’t agree that the Phillies shouldn’t sign any of the big name Free Agents, especially Justin Upton who is only 28, and the Phillies will be in contention in just 2 years. The 2018 FA pool will be where the Phillies spend big, but it doesn’t hurt with adding some of the new FA’s now.. Phillies have $125 Million coming in from Comcast and Revenue Sharing (The Comcast is $100 Million for the next 25 years) – Spending none of that just goes into the owners pockets… They are a Big Market team playing like a small market team..
Adding Upton and getting into the International Market would show the fans that they are committed to winning, and not just rebuilding. We all know the salary threshold is $189 Million this year, and starting next year, goes to $220 Million. The Phillies payroll this year will top out around 80-85 Million, Next year it goes down to 40 million, and come 2018 – Zero long term contracts will remain, having just players on 1 year deals left.
They can still sign Upton and Chen and all of a sudden, the Phillies become respectable. THIS Year, and even with the team we have now, a .500 season isn’t hard to imagine.
One thing is for certain… they will be fun to watch again as most of the team is made up of 1st and 2nd year players. and they all are being “tested” to see if they are worthy to keep a roster spot. Motivation will not be something that will need to be preached.
Phils have a stable of young, cheap arms on the way. No real “ace” it seems but a handful of solid cost controlled starters. Franko and Herrera have a lot of upside and are cheap. If they spend big on a reliable bat and top pitcher in 2018 they could have a good run in the NL east for a few years again
In 2016, 15 teams in the biggest maket won’t revive revenue sharing. That means the Phillies only receive a refund on what they would have received. So you you use the 34% revenue sharing I guess tax on advertisement (which in this case we are only talking tv contract) and the Phillies loose $34 mill. But then again they get back the refund for what every single team would get. Plus there is a new cba that has to be negotiated at the end of the year so no one knows the luxury tax threshold. Just food for thought
The Phils aren’t going to give up 2 draft picks when they’re rebuilding. They don’t care about now they care about 2018 and on
They shouldn’t mind giving up their 2nd round pick for Upton, and then sign Fister on a 1 year deal and flip him in July for 2 prospects better than the 2nd round pick they would lose with Upton…
I see both sides to this argument… but its unlikely that they Phililies are going to be able to flip upton in July, in the early part of his deal . He will be overpaid, and the Phillies would have to dive even deeper into that scenario to sign him,. Plus, his contract would limit the return.
The issue I have will the Phillies using their financial strength so early in the rebuild is that they will be the like the 2010/2011 Phillies vs the 2007-2009 Phillies. Basically, they will be closer to a time bomb with the “Salary Cap” .. .yes I know MLB doesnt officially have one.. but it does for the Phillies. Look back at the 08 team, they had two waves of prospects come through before they got to where they were…. Abreu, Rolen, Burrell, RollinsLieby, Wolf, and Myers…. some left and they added in Ultey, Howard, Hamels, Ruiz, Madson…. They won’t be good until the 2nd wave of prospects comes through… then you go out and trade/sign a Lee/Halladay/Pence…. etc… The Phillies are on that first wave of players, lets see who sticks, and who is for real in the second wave. The 3rd wave is what never came for them during the last run, and THAT is what was needed to sustain the run … with the combination of proven home grown talent and their high salaries..
Recieve