Phillies Hot Stove Discussion 2021-22

[fish]

Oddly, He gets on base at a much better clip vs righties, and a really bad hitter at home. Road (away from Oakland) Cahna is a pretty decent player.

[julio]

[EDmuch]

What are Canha's splits on righties versus lefties? That was Cutch's issue. Plus Canha can play center, Cutch cannot. Canha has to be compared to other available center fielders, not Cutch. And if you discount Marte and Taylor Canha looks decent. Plus he probably will not seek a long term deal. I think he could be signed for 2-3 years and be ready to step aside when and if Rojas becomes available. And if Muzzoti makes it to the majors quickly, Canha could still be a reliable player off the bench.

[EDmuch]

One of the things that some tend to discount is the need to have a credible bench, not one populated by minor league long shots.

[zambonir]

Canha is definitely worth looking at. There are other FAs like him (not necessarily CFs) too beyond the big names. And also trade possibilities.

Not sure what you're getting at with the bench. What you need is to have young players who are good enough to be on the bench. Torreyes and Jankowski really should have been Kingery and Haseley, and Torreyes wasn't even better than Maton (worse offensively and same WAR in 3x as many PAs). Miller was great; problem is he might not be a bench player (he was basically a starter for the Cardinals, albeit as DH). And so it is with most bench players. They are either flawed, or they should be starting, so finding the minor leaguers and AAAA guys who can actually make a contribution is crucial.

[julio]

What are Canha's splits on righties versus lefties? That was Cutch's issue. Plus Canha can play center, Cutch cannot. Canha has to be compared to other available center fielders, not Cutch. And if you discount Marte and Taylor Canha looks decent. Plus he probably will not seek a long term deal. I think he could be signed for 2-3 years and be ready to step aside when and if Rojas becomes available. And if Muzzoti makes it to the majors quickly, Canha could still be a reliable player off the bench.

If you want to see splits, baseball-reference.com has them.

I looked at b-r to see what Canha looked like, and noticed that his overall performance in 2021 was very similar to McCutchen's;

You note that Canha can play center, and he has - but he's apparently predominantly a left fielder at this point in his career (800+ innings in LF in 2021, 188 in CF). Is he good enough defensively in CF to start 130 games there? I don't know; it's not obvious from the stats I can see that he is (or is not).

I don't think it's a great idea to limit your view of "available center fielders" to only the free agents. Canha is a good example of why - there are only a couple real CF's available in the free agent pool, so we're talking about a 33-year-old guy who has played all over the OF (and a bit at 1B), as a potential full-time center fielder - when he has not demonstrated that he can hold down that position on a full-time basis.

[EDmuch]

I agree with your points about Canha. BUT, I am no sure about your concern for the "limit" my view to FA CF. There are ZERO internal candidates. To even think about Moniak or Hasley to bet your starting CF this year is to announce you are not planning to be a contender. Trades??? Fine, but trades could cost prospects and we have few legit prospects to offer in trade. I mean, if Minnesota will trade us Buxton for Moniak and Marchan & Buxton will sign a 3 year $15 million per deal, then go for it. If there is something else available in the trade market, fine. But I do not want to see either Moniak or Haseley in the Phils' dugout in 2022 unless they earn it with scorching performances at LV.

[BostonRoss]

Canha doesn't seem to be a good defensive player. He's been negative every year of his career according to both Fangraphs and baseball-reference.

[zambonir]

I thought this was a reasonably good fantasy baseball exercise. Among its suggestions:

trade Didi to Arizona for Nick Ahmed
sign Chris Taylor
sign Canha
bring Miller back cheap (not realistic especialy if he's going to play more as a DH)
Sign Knebel and re-sign Neris

https://www.philliesnation.com/2021/11/mock-offseason-1-0-phillies-address-most-needs-but-still-need-to-go-over-luxury-tax-threshold/

But, bottom line, we are likely to be disappointed because I doubt this team will go over the luxury tax. Unless they can expend both $ and prospects they still have to fill one of the three holes with either a risky young player (Haseley, Moniak, Kingery) if it's CF or Didi/someone like Galvis if it's SS.
But Dombrowski's supposed to be a wheeler and a dealer

[BostonRoss]

Whenever the Phillies have won a pennant going back to the Whiz Kids, they have had a bad defensive left fielder. So we can live with another one if he hits. On the other hand, all of those Phillies pennant winners have had a good defensive center fielder. Buxton would fit the bill, but it's hard to imagine paying for both him and a big bat in left. Maybe Jackie Bradley Jr. could come cheaply? Or, thinking a bit more outside the box, could the Phils pry Kevin Kiermaier away from the Rays? He has one more year on his contract at about $12M plus a club option, not much for the Phis but a lot to the Rays, and the Rays have several other good outfielders (Arozarena, Meadows, Margot).

[fish]

He had an Utley-an 26 hbp, wow.

[julio]

He [Canha] had an Utley-an 26 hbp, wow.

Yeah. That looks to have been a significant contributor to his OBP - looks like something in the range of 1/4 of the difference between his BA and his OBP, or something like 25 to 30 OBP points. Not necessarily a problem, if he gets hit at this rate consistently (which he appears to), and doesn't lose time to the IL because of it.

His offensive numbers look to have peaked in 2019, which could be a bit of a concern, if the trend of the last three years continues.

[zambonir]

I think Kiermaier is a consideration for sure. Doesn't Bradley have a weird contract for one more year? He was so very bad last year you'd almost want the Brewers to take Didi.

[LoneStarPhan]

While it is true that the Phillies have had good teams with a bad defensive left fielder, they just have to improve their fielding as much as possible. I hope that any players picked up via trade or free agent signings will improve the overall fielding for 2002. Of course, they have to get the best they can under the constraints they will face, so improved fielding in every case may not be possible.

[saycheese]

The surprise to me so far is not many folks are talking about the Phillies adding a starting pitcher. The 5th starting spot was horrible this year. With Eflin not being ready until probably June they really need to address the 5th starter spot. In fact I would prefer they use Gibson as the 5th starter and a get a 3/4 type to guard against Nola not bouncing back. This to me is a huge need. They used bullpen games the last six weeks of the season while in a pennant race. Maybe Crouse can do it, Maybe Medina, Maybe Maybe Maybe.

[bkox]

They used bullpen games the last six weeks of the season while in a pennant race.

Both world series teams used bullpen games... in the world series. Its kinda the norm now.

[saycheese]

Let me rephrase they used bullpen games without much success.

[gmwannabe]

bullpen games, ha. can you imagine a manager coming out to the mound to tell Bob Gibson he is coming out of the game in the 4 th inning!! What the reaction would be.
gm

[Philsmania]

I hope these bullpen games are a fad that passes.

[gmwannabe]

me too!