2020 Phillies Spring Training News, Notes & Discussion

[Philsmania]

Pitchers and catchers report today!

[julio]

Spring has sprung,
The grass is ris.
I wonder where the birdies is.

[el-pietro]

I dunno about Spring. It snowed here today. It does not dampen my excitement for another year of mediocre Phillies baseball though!

[Philsmania]

It snowed in Cork?

[el-pietro]

It did, pretty much on and off all day, but it was not cold enough to stick.

[flyers19rw]

A month ago, Steaks wrote that the Realmuto arb decision would come out during the first two weeks of February. We’re there now. Any rumors/news? My hope is that as soon as that decision is made, that the Phillies can get a long term deal ironed out with him.

[julio]

Arbitration hearings are held February 3 through February 21. I don't know specifically when Realmuto's hearing is scheduled...

[zambonir]

Yeah we'll hear about the arbitration soon. Also, owners are 3-0 in hearings so far. Not impossible they settle if JT doesn't think he can win.

But they can't officially finalize his extension until the season starts, for CBT reasons. Presumably they'll hold talks during spring training.

And while it would be a little nerve-wracking if he's not locked up shortly after Opening Day, there's no reason he couldn't be signed up until July, unless he takes one of those "I don't want to think about my next contract during the season" positions. They didn't sign Hamels until July 25 (of course Hamels would have been traded had they not, and then was anyway. Hopefully the Phillies will be too good for that to be a consideration with JT, now or in two years).

[Philsmania]

According to today's Inquirer, Knapp tweaked his ribcage and De los Santos and Arano won't start throwing for about three weeks.

[Lawman]

I wonder whether Knapp is a candidate for release, and they use Grullon as the backup catcher?

[kmc1019]

Knapp would be released by any other major league team, yet the Phillies seem to eternally value his "clubhouse" assets over production from the roster spot he has occupied for the past few years. A team could go for a strong-hit, weak-defense backup catcher or a weak-hit, strong-defense backup catcher - but with Knapp the Phillies get the worst of both worlds.

[allentown]

Again, what is the benefit of releasing Knapp. It is good to have players in reserve. Knapp seems an obvious candidate for stashing on the 60-day DL. Knapp is ok as a backup catcher and actually hit a tad better in 2019 than in 2018. Would a rookie Grullon put up better than a .642 OPS. I doubt it, but we'll get to find out, because I doubt Knapp starts the year on the 26-man roster.

[kmc1019]

There are probably 20-25 backup catchers better than Knapp. My point is not to release him, but to draw from a bigger pool beyond Knapp and Grullon and stop accepting the mediocrity that has characterized that position for the Phillies in recent years.

[zambonir]

Knapp is everyone's fave whipping boy. He has improved behind the plate (he seemed to handle a few specific pitchers well). His bat is still a little disappointing but they like the switch-hitting. The sort of major league minimum or minor league free agents out there they might replace him with are not really any better. The ones who actually are strong-hit weak defense or weak-hit strong defense are, if not starters, $3 million players. But let's see what Devi or Bethancourt have. And Knapp still has an option so he's not going anywhere unless they can't afford to pay him.

I don't think a "tweaked" ribcage swinging the bat suggests Knapp won't be ready in six weeks, though it is the kind of word you use to underplay something more serious. 60-day seems a little dramatic (though an interesting tactical move perhaps). But then he'd actually miss all of spring training and April. No reason to think he's that hurt based on initial report.

[andyb]

Between Knapp and Grullon I think we are just fine at backup catcher. Knapp actually had a decent OBP last year so he was not a complete loss on offense. The team also likes how he handles pitchers and we will get a fresh opinion on that with Girardi. Grullon has more power but probably has a sub-300 OBP, meaning he has similar value.

With a starter playing a heavy workload backup catcher is just less important for the Phillies. Pretty sure we'd make a trade in the event of injury to JT, but then we would get someone probably too expensive for the club's backup needs.

[Dirk41]

McPhail talking to the media and streaming on Facebook. Making excuses, grasping at straws..... Just feels like this front office is on the way out

[VoteForKalas]

McPhail talking to the media and streaming on Facebook. Making excuses, grasping at straws..... Just feels like this front office is on the way out

I agree, his recent talk, for example, about going over the luxury tax threshold was confusing. He now says they would go over the threshold to bring in talent to compete for a wild card berth when after last season it was clearly stated by Middleton that would not be the case.

I think there is recognition by MacPhail & Klentak that this roster is not good enough to meet Middleton's expectations of a deep playoff run and thus there will be changes in leadership after this season. They have failed to build the farm system, mismanaged the payroll and thus hampered their flexibility to improve the team. I think they know everything has to break right for them to stick around much longer.

[Dirk41]

Their moves also seem to be contradictory. Why sign Wheeler and Didi? Like the signings, but they aren't going to move the needle past the Nats or Braves. The MLB Network did their Top 100 players countdown this week and the Top 20 was absolutely loaded with Nats and Braves. Who is exactly calling the shots?

[zambonir]

I think they got caught unaware of the changing market. They went into the off-season thinking they'd be able to add more players w/o hitting the tax. Many of us thought that too: sign Hamels for cheap, save money by going after Wheeler rather than Cole or Strasburg, and Didi rather than Rendon or Moustakas (who they might have wanted if he was affordable). Add one reliever. And then maybe even a spare bat. Bring back Smyly on a minor league deal.

When Middleton said that last year, he was theoretically talking about adding that last, Halladay-like high-$ piece to a serious contending team. When MacPhail said that yesterday he was recognizing that to even make a couple of modest trade deadline moves they are going to have to pay the tax. They may yet have to pay it now (wouldn't take much: lose both arbitration cases, have two infielders and one relievers with seven figure salaries and incentives make the team. In the end it's possible they will go with a rookie over Liriano (especially now that they've signed Hunter) and a light-hitting utility guy over Harrison or Walker just to save $2 million).

If they fail this year it will be most interesting to see if MacPhail is held accountable. But for now I also buy what they are selling: that last year's team legit had 87-90 win talent, so the new additions/manager should keep this year's team at that level too. It could just go wrong (again) so easily.

Middleton doesn't escape blame here though. He pushed for more spending and an accelerated timetable. Having failed to improve that much last year to even expect a "deep playoff run" this year rather than simply making the wild card (which most people assumed was the ceiling last year, though the Nats obviously did a lot more with it) is a lot to ask - and probably did require paying the tax and/or trading away prospects.

Who knows, Kris Bryant still hasn't been traded.

[allentown]

All of that is true. Worse in my mind was the zero sense of urgency fro MacPhail and Klentak, who took way too long to put their baseball-side professionals in place and have presided over constant churn. As you say, even the ultimate goals and the spending available to make the last push to achieving those goals is total confusion. Organizational strategy and tactics seem in constant flux. This past international signing season was simply embarrassing, really harkening back to the draft when we failed to sign two top-ten-rounds college kids and then turned them in to the NCAA. Other organizations have been on the hot seat for cheating to get talent and win games and that ends up being embarrassing, but our embarrassments are just stupidity and personal pique. I'm glad we have a new manager and okay that he's Girardi, but given our dearth of success in both majors and minors, I think the Phillies needed to hire a new GM to pick a new manager. Klentak has never impressed even a little bit. Why is he still here. Now when Klentak goes, likely after this season, we will be constrained in who we can hire, because the new guy won't get to pick his own manager.