2018-19 Phillies Off-Season Discussion (2019 version)

[LoneStarPhan]

Yes tomorrow...

but it's always a day away.

[Florida_Sunshine]

I leave for a 5 week trip to Asia in the morning.

My sincere wish is that “tomorrow” comes while I am gone.

[Jeff05]

Holiday or work, Florida_Sunshine?

[schillingfan]

Yes tomorrow...

but it's always a day away.

I sing that to myself!

[zambonir]

I find it pretty unbelievable that Harper would sign before Machado but if it's true the Nats are out and the Giants haven't made a serious run, maybe the Phillies or Padres are ready to pull the trigger? Reading the MacPhail interviews today it's surprising (but not really) how the overall consensus (media/fans) skews so much towards Harper. But that's star power.

[Austinfan]

And the fact that teams aren't throwing stupid money and too many years at FAs doesn't mean the system is broken or there is collusion, in a repeated game, actors converge to an optimal solution, in baseball, everyone has access to pretty similar information, not only about players, but about how past contracts worked out.

If the players want to make changes, the problem isn't free agency but:
1) teams can't roll over cap money like in the NFL, bad teams would then reserve extra money for their good years and pay more for FAs to put them over the top
2) teams don't share a big enough proportion of revenues to enable more teams to bid on FAs

[Florida_Sunshine]

Holiday. With a friend and his Vietnamese wife. VietNam, Cambodia, Thailand, Singapore, Australia, NZ.

[Jeff05]

Five awesome weeks, I'm sure. The people and their cultures, the food and scenery. (Just remembered Anthony Bourdain's adventures in SE Asia, esp.Vietnam). New Zealand was amazing - well, it was three decades ago. All the best.

[Florida_Sunshine]

I like to think of myself as the poor mans Anthony Bourdain. But what you said is pretty much the case. Eating, drinking, being with locals, and photographing my way through Asia. My hope is we have signed MM by the time I get back.

[allentown]

Rosenthal on the demise of the NL East 1st-place Phillies in 2018 (and Kapler's plans for players to manage clubhouse this season):

"But the starting pitching faded, the offense remained maddeningly inconsistent, and the defense turned into a fatal flaw. As if that wasn’t enough, the trade acquisitions of infielder Asdrúbal Cabrera, catcher Wilson Ramos and outfielder José Bautista altered the clubhouse dynamic, and not for the better. Some younger players grew frustrated as they moved into lesser roles.
By the end of the season, the Phillies had lost their way, and Kapler’s initial emphasis on players embracing their individuality appeared to have backfired."

Rosenthal: Kapler’s clubhouse strategy: empower players to...

[zambonir]

the trade acquisitions of infielder Asdrúbal Cabrera, catcher Wilson Ramos and outfielder José Bautista altered the clubhouse dynamic, and not for the better. Some younger players grew frustrated as they moved into lesser roles.

Well I don't recall Kingery being frustrated (and if he was it should have been over his OPS). They traded J.P. Crawford and Alfaro so I guess that tells you what they thought of them if they were pouting. And no one really lost playing time to Bautista (Williams was hurt at one point, as was Quinn of course). Funny how no one even remembers Justin Bour.

If the above is true there was certainly a failure of both managerial and clubhouse leadership. But what was the clubhouse leadership in the first place? Hoskins? Santana?

[bigegypt0417]

PhillyVoice on Twitter

[zambonir]

Hard to know what to think of Bowden. He's certainly an insider. But it's been 10 years since he was with the Nats, no reason to think he has any real insight into them, Harper, or even Boras.

We shall see. A lot of us will certainly be surprised if A) Harper signs first and B) the Phillies prefer him strongly enough to get him the deal that makes him do it. The new Team Boras?

[bigegypt0417]

Twitter has gathered proof!

Dennis on Twitter

[California_Dreamin]

Bowden gets lots of his info from Boras, and has for quite some time. Bowden was also the first writer to mention Will Stewart as the 3rd player in the Realmuto deal. I think Bowden is on to something. Also, a Nats veteran blasted Harper today in the Washington Post and yelled "print it!"

Don't think he is headed back there after that and in fact I believe the Nats knew this or that story would not have seen the light of day. Padres have turned from Harper to Machado, probably because they think they are out.

And the only other competitor was the Giants and they seemed to me to acknowledge they are out on Harper by signing Maybin today, Gentry yesterday and Parra a few days ago. None are on the 40 man roster but Zaidi promised them all spots on the 25 man roster. Maybin is the most interesting one, he was being held at arms length by the Giants while they waited on Harper.

With Boras one never knows but it sure seems like Harper is Philly bound.

[EDmuch]

I think Harper's mental makeup, his competitive fire and desire, is something that is very appealing to both Kapler and Klentak as opposed to Manny's "Joe Cool" approach. I would be very excited to hear that a deal is done with Harper in the next 24-48 hours.

[EDmuch]

CD, I agree you do not sign Maybin, Gentry and Parra if you are going to be signing Harper.

[HopeSpringsEternal]

Here is a link to the Washington Post article that CD refers to:

Perspective | How can the Nats be better without Bryce Harper? It’s fundamental,...

Sorry, I can't remember how to use text to replace the hyperlink.

Winning cures a lot of clubhouse problems, but I think we need to closely watch the chemistry of the 2019 Phillies.

[Philsmania]

Crap, I don't want Harper. Boras playing the Phillies FO like a violin.

[allentown]

It's all after-the-fact rationalization for losing Harper. It the Nationals didn't REALLY want him, they wouldn't have offered him $300 million. That's a whole lot of wanting him, not addition by subtraction.