Phillies 2018 Season News/Notes/Discussion - Part Deux

[allentown]

I still believe it is unlikely that we sign Machado and expect him to be with the Yankees or Dodgers.

Is Kingery really our best defensive IF? More importantly is he really our best defensive SS? He can't play 3B -- doesn't have the arm for it. I can believe he is our best defensive 2B. How good defensively is Crawford at SS?

I will be surprised if Santana is not our starting 1B next season.

[nycphils]

I think it’s possible that we sign Machado, but only if either (1) we pay substantially more than LA or NYY are prepared to pay and/or (2) the LAD are not prepared to move Seager and Turner to different positions and the Yankees are not prepared to move Gregorious in a trade (could happen - he’s 29 and a year away from free agency IIRC) OR Machado is not prepared to play 3B for the NYY or they are not prepared to trade Andujar.

EDIT: edited to insert the intended but all important “not”...

[ButlerBulldog]

OR Machado is prepared to play 3B for the NYY and they are prepared to trade Andujar.

I wouldn’t mind seeing Andujar in a Phillies uniform if the Yankees decided to move him.

[David_Criss]

Re-signing Ramos to a 2-year deal would be awesome imo. That still gives Alfaro plenty of time, too. I had visions of Kingery being a 30-30 contender. I really did. I think he still can be a great asset to this team. In 2015 he played at Lakewood. In 2016, he played for Clearwater and Reading. In 2017 he played for Reading and then 63 games at LeHigh Valley. In retrospect, he should have played this year at AAA then the Philies. The kid has strictly played 2B, with only six exceptions in his short minor league career and that accounts for all of 4 games at 3B and 2 at ss.

Then he is called up and is asked to learn the outfield at the major league level as well as a variety of other positions he has never played since high school, if then....The problem is Hernandez is/was one of the best hitters on the team. My bat might be a little messes up too if I was forced to master different positions at this level and to hit top level pitching, too at the same time.

[mdougherty12]

Kingery was primarily an outfielder for his first 2 seasons in college, so it wasn't something brand new.

[zambonir]

He also didn't play much outfield, I would say going to SS was a much bigger deal, and then being asked to play SS every day instead of moving around wasn't necessarily good for him. But they also almost never let him play 2B.

It's still a very interesting question, I like the idea of Kingery as a Zobrist-type player but that also requires a lot more from the 3B, SS and 2B than we actually got this year.

And even if his trade value isn't that great, sticking with Hernandez for two more seasons isn't necessarily the way to go either. If Kingery is your 2B in 2020 he should probably be your 2B in 2019.

[andyb]

Bowden's top 20 free agents.

Phillies listed as a potential fit for Machado (1), Harper (2), Miller (7), McCutchen (17). Not listed under Patrick Corbin who ranks 6th, but is my sleeper choice for someone to go after. Not sure I see McCutchen as more than a rumor that is past its relevance. Andrew Miller certainly fits what our GM likes in a reliever. He just has a lot of miles on that arm at age 33 for much of a commitment IMO.

Bowden: Scouting the Top 20 impending free agents, and...

[allentown]

A nice selection of non-comp FA out there.

[Austinfan]

I don't see us going for a high priced RP with Neris and SD and Sixto as a possibility if they're worried about a SP workload (he could probably make the Show as a RP sometime next season if he doesn't get TJ surgery). With Hunter coming around, Neshak, Ramos, Arano, Davis, et al, we've got plenty of depth.

Machado is a very long shot, Harper if the price is right (he's not a huge upgrade so we won't offer huge money).
Can't see McCutchen at all, that's the kind of player Klentak likes as a TDL salary dump.

[andyb]

We have very little in left-handed relief though. I am sure that is what Bowden is thinking in terms of fit. Morgan and Davis are pretty mediocre at the moment and there is not much in the pipeline. And with right-handed starters, left-handed relief is even more important to switch up lineups.

[flyers19rw]

Checking this season's team hitting stats versus last years is interesting. Walks are up but so are SOs; BA is down from .250 to .232; the net OBP is about even; slugging is off .012; OPS is down from .723 to .712. Runs are off from 690 to 595, although this season is not over and the runs should rise from 595 but Id out if it will surpass last season's amount.
I'm not sold on what Mallee is doing with hitting. Walks may be up but BA does matter since hits generate more runs than BBs do. There's a reason why Madden dumped Mallee and it was poor situational hitting which led to not enough runs being scored. The Cubs needed more and got that this season with Mallee's departure.

[LoneStarPhan]

Will Leitch of MLB.com has an article on the 30 Players better than their 2018 numbers where he lists one player from each team that is having a down year. Artilce is linked from the Phillies official site and probably all other teams as well.

For the Phillies, he has the following:

Phillies: Scott Kingery
2017 Minors OPS: .889 | 2018 OPS: .607
Fortunately, the Phillies have until 2026 for Kingery to figure out how to hit.

30 players having down years in 2018

[allentown]

Really dumb comment from Will. If it takes until 2026 for Kingery to learn to hit, he will be of no value to the Phillies. He basically has until 2020.

[zambonir]

It's a joke. But I certainly don't look to Leitch for baseball analysis.

[ButlerBulldog]

It's a joke. But I certainly don't look to Leitch for baseball analysis.

Neris would have been a better choice.

[nycphils]

Harper if the price is right (he's not a huge upgrade so we won't offer huge money).

This is totally insane and wrong. Maybe the Phils won’t do it but not because he’s not a big upgrade.

[gmwannabe]

did klentak break what ever karma the phils had with the young team when he traded for the older players? i thought adding cabrera was a pretty good move. we'll see about subtracting kilome. but i think he was passed by some other pitchers in prospect status. and ramos, if he stays healthy was a good upgrade at catcher. but maybe the additions upset the apple cart as far as attitude. don't know, but they have really tanked in the past month or so.
gm

[Austinfan]

Harper is a negative defensive OF, and outside of one big year four years ago, he's a good but not great offensive player.

He's averaged about 3-4 WAR the last three years (BR/FG), that's probably who he is going forward.
So "not a big upgrade."

Sure, there's always the possibility that he rediscovers his 2015 magic, but after three years, the odds are pretty slim, he's had plenty of time to adjust to pitchers adjusting to him.

[mdougherty12]

To be fair, 3-4 WAR is a a fairly big upgrade over the 0-1 WAR that Nick Williams provides.

[EastFallowfield]

Someone compared the stats of Harper and Hoskins this year and noted the similarity. We could certainly use another good hitter in the lineup, because it seems that when Hoskins is in a bad streak the team can't score at all.