That was actually a reasonable take.
I'm not sure the Phillies will go after the biggest names in 2018-19, rather, with the richest team fighting over the "names." they may swoop down and grab some solid FAs while those team's are involved in bidding wars (i.e., they can't pursue second tier guys until they know tney won or lost the biggest prizes). It's pointless to get into a bidding war with LA, Chicago, Boston or the Yankees if they target someone, you'll not only lose but be frozen out of other opportunities.
A lot depends on how the team plays in 2018 and whether players like Franco bounce back, Kingery and Crawford emerge, Williams and Alfaro show whether they can adjust over a full season, etc.
And whether players like Quinn, Cozens, Tocci, Walding, etc. develop into potential starters or reveal themselves as AAAA at best.
In the same fashion, Klentak may want another season to see how his young pitching progresses, there's no one on the FA market this year you'd project as a #3 or better starter in 2020 (34 year old Darvish? etc.)
So he'll feel no urgency to overpay this offseason on a long-term deal for a guy he might want to dump in 3 years (because by then Kilome, Irvin, Romero, Sixto, Medina, Howard, etc will be knocking on the door).
In the same fashion, with Neris, Garcia, Ramos, Morgan, and arms like Rios, Pinto, Pivetta/Velasquez, etc. bullpen depth may not be a priority in 2-3 years.
I expect multiple moves out of Klentak, but for Andyb and Allentown to be disappointed.
