J.P Crawford
Aaron Nola
Maikel Franco
Ken Giles
Jesse Biddle
Roman Quinn
Cam Perkins
Kelly Dugan
Aaron Altherr
Dylan Cozens
Zach Green
Matt Imhof
Severino Gonzalez
Cameron Rupp
Andrew Pullin
Cord Sandberg
Aaron Brown
Luis Encarnacion
Shane Watson
Carlos Tocci
Just Missed: Knapp, Grullen,Hiciano
Tuesday, June 17, 2014
June 17th
The Phillies are in last place in the division 5.5 Back of the Bravo's. An exciting 13 inning win last night may give one enough pause to not write this season off.
I don't write it off or at least I don't want to write it off but unlike the Dodgers of last year we have no Puig to call on to shock our offensive system. Sad really because the pitching has kind of held up. Cole is throwing very well and so is Burnett. One might try to imagine a scenario where Lee comes back fully healthy and again allows this offense to stay in more games than they should.
The bullpen has stabilized nicely with Diekman and the call up of Ken Giles and his 100 MPH cheese cannon. Papelbon has evolved his stuff to close out games with 91-92 and a good Change-Up.
So why are the Phillies last in the division? Well they are 12th in the NL in OPS for starters and really bad OPS wise in CF, LF and 3B. The glass half full would say their second halves cannot be as bad as their first half and maybe that could vault them back in the race.
But time is looming like a big dark cloud. We just had the 7th pick in the draft and used that pick on Aaron Nola. A kid everyone says is polished enough to be in the rotation as early as late this season. We used subsequent picks on a high percentage of younger college players. Those tea leaves say the front office is poised to turn over the roster wherever they have an opportunity. Last years 1st round pick J.P. Crawford is progressing nicely and on track to be the everyday SS at some point in 2016.
The current regime's track record for bringing back players is not good. We have nothing to show for the trade of Cliff Lee to Seattle, nothing to show for the trade of Pence to the Giants and that hurts considering what we gave up to get Hunter. Loosely you might say Ethan Martin has a chance to contribute as a result of the Victorino deal but that's zilch for the caliber of players those guys were when dealt.
Now if you are considering trading the franchises best SS and best 2B of all time you better not miss on either. Neither player commands a haul of prospects but each should land a single solid prospect from the acquiring club or you simply hold onto them. No one in the farm is ready this year or next to be the everyday player. You make those moves and you get Brignac or Cedeno at SS and Cesar Hernandez at second for the rest of the season.
The list of pieces or assets is a nice one for the acquiring clubs out there: Burnett, Byrd, Papelbon, Chooch possibly. Those names will help contenders but you have to question who would give up what for any of those guys. Your scouts really have to dig deep into the leagues farms to come up with a gem or two.
Finally there will be the elephant in the room. What do you do with Cole Hamels the best pitcher you have ever developed out of your system from draft to WS MVP (IMO). He surely would return a significant package. Not an easy decision because it is very difficult to build a world champion caliber starting rotation and Hamels clearly is the type of pitcher that can be highly effective for many years to come at 30 years of age. You better get quality and quantity if you do.
I don't write it off or at least I don't want to write it off but unlike the Dodgers of last year we have no Puig to call on to shock our offensive system. Sad really because the pitching has kind of held up. Cole is throwing very well and so is Burnett. One might try to imagine a scenario where Lee comes back fully healthy and again allows this offense to stay in more games than they should.
The bullpen has stabilized nicely with Diekman and the call up of Ken Giles and his 100 MPH cheese cannon. Papelbon has evolved his stuff to close out games with 91-92 and a good Change-Up.
So why are the Phillies last in the division? Well they are 12th in the NL in OPS for starters and really bad OPS wise in CF, LF and 3B. The glass half full would say their second halves cannot be as bad as their first half and maybe that could vault them back in the race.
But time is looming like a big dark cloud. We just had the 7th pick in the draft and used that pick on Aaron Nola. A kid everyone says is polished enough to be in the rotation as early as late this season. We used subsequent picks on a high percentage of younger college players. Those tea leaves say the front office is poised to turn over the roster wherever they have an opportunity. Last years 1st round pick J.P. Crawford is progressing nicely and on track to be the everyday SS at some point in 2016.
The current regime's track record for bringing back players is not good. We have nothing to show for the trade of Cliff Lee to Seattle, nothing to show for the trade of Pence to the Giants and that hurts considering what we gave up to get Hunter. Loosely you might say Ethan Martin has a chance to contribute as a result of the Victorino deal but that's zilch for the caliber of players those guys were when dealt.
Now if you are considering trading the franchises best SS and best 2B of all time you better not miss on either. Neither player commands a haul of prospects but each should land a single solid prospect from the acquiring club or you simply hold onto them. No one in the farm is ready this year or next to be the everyday player. You make those moves and you get Brignac or Cedeno at SS and Cesar Hernandez at second for the rest of the season.
The list of pieces or assets is a nice one for the acquiring clubs out there: Burnett, Byrd, Papelbon, Chooch possibly. Those names will help contenders but you have to question who would give up what for any of those guys. Your scouts really have to dig deep into the leagues farms to come up with a gem or two.
Finally there will be the elephant in the room. What do you do with Cole Hamels the best pitcher you have ever developed out of your system from draft to WS MVP (IMO). He surely would return a significant package. Not an easy decision because it is very difficult to build a world champion caliber starting rotation and Hamels clearly is the type of pitcher that can be highly effective for many years to come at 30 years of age. You better get quality and quantity if you do.
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