2019 Phillies Season Discussion

[zambonir]

This could all be avoided if our front office made decent moves in the past 5-8 years and we had minor league depth similar to the Braves.

That's true, but there's no one left that you can call to complain about it unfortunately (except for Gillick). Several of them are even dead.

[andyb]

I think they give it 3-4 weeks before they decide if they have to replace Cutch with a veteran CF. Lots of questions to answer:

• Is Haseley ready to contribute
• Can Franco play well enough to let Kingery play CF
• Will Quinn come back?
• Will Herrera come back?

We should know the answers to some of this in 3-4 weeks. If they need to fill the whole I don't think they wait for the trading deadline. It would have been nice to figure out a way to have kept Altherr in hindsight.

[flyers19rw]

It’s a lot to ask of Hasely to step up and handle CF two years after being drafted. However other players have done it so we’ll just have to see how it goes. He’s handled AA and AAA ball well this season.
Franco is another situation. He just doesn’t produce on a consistent basis. The swing is the thing and he can’t get it under control. I give him credit for improving his physique and glove but he needs to do the same with his bat. Time to move him on and let another organization see if they can get him to figure it out.
Quinn has had his chances but he can’t stay well. It’s happened too often. Time to turn the page.
Herrera is finished in this town after his issue. I see that Urias had the charges against him dropped and the Dodgers are trying to let the issue slide by with the pitcher going into some counseling on gender/behavior management issues. I doubt if the Phillies are going to be so patient or understanding with Herrera.

[tom81]

Anyone else having flashbacks to Arizona in 2001 when Leiberthall blew out his knee at 1st base? Lots of bad injury luck this year, hope a couple of guys step up and pull this team through this. This is a real gut check time.

[Austinfan]

Shame is McCutchen has been a very durable player, which is why I liked the signing.
I expect he'll be back by April, almost 10 months and LF isn't that demanding.
He doesn't have to worry about Haseley "Wally Pipping" him unless Quinn finds his way to Lourdes.

[zambonir]

Herrera is finished in this town after his issue. I see that Urias had the charges against him dropped and the Dodgers are trying to let the issue slide by with the pitcher going into some counseling on gender/behavior management issues. I doubt if the Phillies are going to be so patient or understanding with Herrera.

You might be right but there's no real evidence to suggest this. Granted, Brett Myers was a long time ago but Jesmuel Valentin played for us just last year, and he was an eminently cuttable fringe prospect at the time of his arrest. Truth is if the Phillies dump Herrera it will mostly be because he can't play. If he was an all-star he wouldn't go anywhere. Even Toronto probably would have kept Osuna if they weren't already deadline sellers last year.

And the Dodgers didn't mandate Urias's counseling, the court did. He's also not (as of yet) suspended. Herrera probably will be, I think his incident was worse. But it wasn't worse than Addison Russell, who Maddon also handled poorly. I can definitely see the Phillies finding their way to backing Herrera up, especially if he has no trade value (that's a lot of dead money). They're going to help him, he has to learn and mature, he needs a support system, etc. and so forth. Totally sounds like Gabe, really. (I mean, he was with the Dodgers and we saw what happened there, and the Phillies didn't care.)

[Austinfan]

There's also the problem of depriving someone of their livelihood, it's one thing to require counseling, etc. as a condition of employment, but burying him might be problematic.
They'll give Herrera a "second chance," but he'll be on a short leash and will have to toe the line.

[zambonir]

Well, they can't bury him, and paying someone $20 million not to come to work is hardly depriving someone of his livelihood... which is what could happen if they truly want him gone no matter what.

Otherwise he will either be back this year in a limited role (assuming no jail time or an unusually long suspension) or he'll get traded for someone else's problem (as Osuna was for Giles, which ended up working out for Toronto).

Does he have options? That would be the worst possible scenario IMO, if you're trying to take some kind of moral stand, stashing him with your minor leaguers in a smaller city isn't exactly doing your civic duty.

[LoneStarPhan]

First, they need to let the judicial system and MLB's investigation play out and see what the results are from those. Assuming both are satisfied, perhaps with a MLB suspension, then the Phillies should give Herrera the chance to come back to the team. It may require some rehab time in the minors if he is suspended. I think most of us believe in giving people a second chance. Counseling and other conditions of behavior might well be a part of his return. Based on how that all goes, we can see if Herrera has a future with the Phillies, another team, or if he ends up never really getting back to where we thought he would be by now.

Meanwhile, the Phillies have to move on without counting on him this season. Any help he can provide later this season will be a bonus. Everything will be looked at after the season ends and they will have to determine what they do at that time.

[phillychuck]

Look at the video of the play. Segura fell down after swinging, stumbled trying to get back up, then ran hard to 1B. It wasn't him dogging the play, and that interpretation is due to the PBP man who did not actually watch that part of the play.

[andyb]

Eflin confirmed to start Friday BTW:

Matt Gelb (MattGelb)

[andyb]

Braves apparently out on Kimbrel but we are still in the mix:

In wake of Cutch injury, Phils 'in on everything'

[zambonir]

The dynamic where you're not only trying to improve your team, but prevent the competition (I guess in this case the Cubs?) from doing so is a tricky one.

[bkox]

Matt Gelb (MattGelb)

[zambonir]

What time do you think the Kimbrel signing will be announced?

[andyb]

Well the draft is done and tomorrow is an off day. What else is Klentak going to do tomorrow?

[tom81]

Trade for Will Smith? A lefty lights out relief pitcher would fit the equation perfectly.

[bkox]

Jim Salisbury (JSalisburyNBCS)

Jim Salisbury (JSalisburyNBCS)

[zambonir]

Where’s the plane?

[zambonir]

oh well

Ken Rosenthal (Ken_Rosenthal)