Phillies 2016-2017 offseason Discussion

[EastFallowfield]

Galvis and Herrera are gold glove finalists in the NL.

Herrera?!?!?!?! That would be like Abreu winning one in 2005.

Fangraphs has him as third best defensive CFer in NL, and I think there are 3 GG nominees at each position.

They have Abreu at 8th out of 8 RFers in 2005.

[zambonir]

No doubt Herrera's offensive profile helped him out, but yeah: you can only beat the actual other centerfielders, not one's platonic ideal of greatness.

At least nobody can say Freddy got cheap votes 'cause of his bat.

[Slinging_Southpaw]

Another buy very low candidate-Ben Revere.
This would not at all be a popular move, but I can see where this would be an option that should keep Roman
Quinn down at AAA at least at the start of the season. Revere would probably give you what would be the best
case scenario in what we could expect from Quinn. Revere would have to play LF where he is solid, Herrera stays
in CF and Altherr in RF.
Revere will probably get non-tendered, but could easily get locked up trading the Nationals a non-prospect.
If he has a bounce back season, maybe we get a solid prospect in return at the deadline.

[Austinfan]

Just say no to Revere, no power, mediocre OBP, doesn't fit.
Hernandez, Herrera (until Crawford comes up), Franco, Joseph, LH OF, Rupp, RF, Galvis
Don't want Revere batting 2nd and he can't bat elsewhere in this lineup.
Give me a LH hitter like Moss or something to that effect I can stick between Joseph and Rupp. I'll accept a veteran platoon this year if need be.
If Altherr can bounce back he can alternate with Galvis at the bottom of the lineup and keep a LH/RH thing going against RHP.

[donaldorc]

Just say no to Revere, no power, mediocre OBP, doesn't fit.

Agreed. Been there, done that.

[EDmuch]

I cannot believe we are even talking about Revere. I have said repeatedly that the guy we should be looking at is Brandon Moss, a left handed power hitter who can play both left filed and first base. He really is exactly what we need. And he is used to playing on very short term contracts.

[andyb]

The reason to not want Revere is not really performance. It is because we have younger and better versions of what he does in Herrera and likely Quinn. Not sure I am into Brandon Moss at this point because of defense, but that kind of left-handed 1B/LF bat is probably what we should add. Just with better defense.

[zambonir]

Is there really a position player out there that the Phillies are likely to acquire (assuming no multi-year deal) who isn't going to have some warts?

[Austinfan]

It's not a matter of warts, it's a matter of fit.

The Phillies need a short-term LH power hitter at the corner OF spots, at least until they know what they have with Cozens, Williams, Pullin and Quinn - in 3 years (i.e. 2020), Moniak, Randolph and Ortiz will be knocking on the door.

[Slinging_Southpaw]

I certainly don't see why Brandon Moss is getting all this love. He's a bad fielder at any position, can't run, low OBP, he can do one thing, he'll get you an occasional HR. He, like Ryan Howard, would be better off in the AL as a DH.

[EDmuch]

Maybe because we need the HR's.

[julio]

I certainly don't see why Brandon Moss is getting all this love. He's a bad fielder at any position, can't run, low OBP, he can do one thing, he'll get you an occasional HR. He, like Ryan Howard, would be better off in the AL as a DH.

Bad fielder, can't run, low OBP. Hits home runs.

Moss hit one HR per 16.57 plate appearances in 2016, and put up a .784 OPS overall. OBP of .300

Ryan Howard (!) hit one HR per 14.48 plate appearances in 2016, with a .710 OPS overall. OBP of .257

So, with Moss you get a somewhat better (but not good) OPS, and somewhat fewer HR per plate appearance than with Howard.

But...somehow, I don't think that "replacing Ryan Howard in the lineup," with a player who may be marginally better (or not, depending on what you think you need) is, or should be, a priority for the Phillies.

I suppose you could argue that Moss "plays" left field, whereas Howard cannot.

I think we can do better. It's not at all clear that just putting Darin Ruf in LF wouldn't be better than Moss (although he's right-handed) - and I'm no particular fan of Ruf at this stage in his career.

[andyb]

Colby Rasmus could be a buy low candidate who would be a better fit. Bad year last year but he is a year removed from a .789 OPS season. BR likes his defense enough that we was actually a 2.2 WAR player last year. He is left-handed with some power and a platoon split. Not sure if there is a long deal out there for him but he does have some intriguing talent. While it sounds expensive on the surface, a 2 year/$20 million deal might not be bad for him with the potential upside.

I am kind of done with the bad defense guys. We have a young staff and we need to catch the ball because we could have a lot of low scoring games.

[Austinfan]

I don't think people want Moss in particular, rather a LH power bat that can at least platoon and play LF, and maybe two for both corner spots.
Joseph should start every day at 1B, if we need a LH we can give Stassi a shot.
Asche got his shot, fail.
No one else in the organization is ready.

[zambonir]

We'll see if Klentak sticks to his guns in preferring defense, in which case he would sooner bring back Bourjos than put Moss anywhere near his outfield. Rasmus occurred to me as well. I'm still fairly sure that Pete won't get his wish for an impact bat.

So they will all have warts because an actual very good player will not be available to the Phillies, either because he doesn't want to play for them or because he can get a better contract than the Phillies care to give. So you end up with a hitter who can't catch the ball or a defensive guy who can't hit or someone coming off a down year. That's okay. And platoons will help of course. But I don't expect any excitement about new veterans when the roster is finally set. There will almost certainly be a Paredes or Burriss type guy to complain about (especially if Blanco leaves).

You never know what might shake loose on the trade market. That's where they could possibly obtain someone better/longer-term. But they'd have to give something up.

[tom81]

I'd really like to see us look to trade for a left handed corner OF in his arb years that is getting expensive for his small market team. Two that come to mind are Corey Dickerson and Derek Dietrich. Dietrich would be my choice but he will cost a lot given he is in your division and his defensive versatility. You might get Dickerson on the cheap because of the fear he was just a Coors Field monster and his defense is not great.

[EDmuch]

Dickerson is really bad defensively and is low OBP.

[zambonir]

Zolecki mentioned Carlos Gomez and Matt Holliday in his most recent fan Q&A. Not rumors, just suggestions.

[Slinging_Southpaw]

For me, it's been painful waiting on players to finally get a chance while being blocked by a veteran on their way out the door.
The idea of signing someone else to fill that role as "roadblock to the future" seems crazy.
I look at the 2014 Boston Red Sox that went young and had a disastrous season, they panicked a grabbed up who they thought were the two best bats in Free Agency, along with overpaying for a top Cuban prospect(when Jackie Bradley Jr. stumbled).
During the 2015 season, their young players started to come around, now they are the team. The players they signed in panic-mode are simply bad signings and more in the way than anything else.
We should learn from this.
I want no part of any player that a Manager is going to give waaaaaaaaay too much respect to while blocking a younger players playing time.
Strengthen the bench, the bullpen and let the season and the future begin.

[VoteForKalas]

For me, it's been painful waiting on players to finally get a chance while being blocked by a veteran on their way out the door.
The idea of signing someone else to fill that role as "roadblock to the future" seems crazy.
I look at the 2014 Boston Red Sox that went young and had a disastrous season, they panicked a grabbed up who they thought were the two best bats in Free Agency, along with overpaying for a top Cuban prospect(when Jackie Bradley Jr. stumbled).
During the 2015 season, their young players started to come around, now they are the team. The players they signed in panic-mode are simply bad signings and more in the way than anything else.
We should learn from this.
I want no part of any player that a Manager is going to give waaaaaaaaay too much respect to while blocking a younger players playing time.
Strengthen the bench, the bullpen and let the season and the future begin.

Amen, preach on!