Phillies Hot Stove, Winter 2023-24

[zambonir]

Yeah and Marsh should also play CF against some LHP. More so than if he's in LF where you might have a better offensive option. Pache probably wouldn't start more than 1-2x a week regardless.

Having now read the article it's interesting that the premise is that neither Marsh nor Rojas are considered "everyday players" yet. I didn't realize just how sparingly Marsh actually played last year (a mere 404 ABs and 96 of those were against LHP). He was also injured but not for that long.

[andyb]

The name most often mentioned is Merrifield but that seems as much based on past interest than anything new. I would be wary of overpaying for him because of his age. The 2 year contracts for him are projecting somewhere in the $15-$20 million range and if we are going close to 10 per year I would prefer the younger Senzel who has a little upside left if he could stay healthy. Senzel is not a great CF (still more of a 3B) but as I said I think I want offense first.

[zambonir]

Yeah I just don't see why they would prioritize positional flexibility or CF ability over a better bat. Merrifield's has been weak for four of the last five seasons. He makes up for it with his other qualities but those aren't the qualities the Phillies need.

Sosa matched him in both WAR and OPS+ last season.

I would think Senzel is a cheap one-year signing, with incentives and maybe an option. I don't know if he's the guy either but there are plenty of other candidates.

Still would like to see LHB who can play 3B too.

[Austinfan]

One year "show me" deals make sense for the Phillies, buy time for some prospects to grow up.

[zambonir]

I think it's gonna be all or nothing - a marginal upgrade bench/platoon player on a one-year deal or a somewhat significant trade. I don't really see any of the major FAs as being the right fit or worth the three-year deals. But Dombrowski's style is to make a big move, usually right after you think he's done (arguably he did that twice last year with the bullpen).

[VoteForKalas]

Barely a luke warm stove right now for the Phillies and across the league. I guess everyone is waiting for the next big signing to break the dam.

[andyb]

It is a little slow but the winter meetings are next week. Execs and agents should hit the hotels Saturday or Sunday so things should pick up.

[zambonir]

Yup it's about to get busy, though if Yamamoto waits until Christmas some of the other pitching free agents (and teams with pitching to trade) might hit the brakes as well. Nola was a major outlier, both for this year and in most years. Turner and Walker both signed during the meetings last year.

[zambonir]

If the Angels are smart, they’ll trade Mike Trout. If the Phillies are smart,...

[andyb]

Athletic highlighting future front office and coaching stars includes Mattingly and Cotham. And buried at the end our former Tampa assistant GM Anirudh Kilambi.

Dombrowski's best legacy might not be the big free agent moves, but the smart people he brought into the organization and figuring out how to do that without disrupting the continuity as much as say Klentak did.

Baseball names on the rise: 12 potential future stars in management and coaching

[fish]

If you were to tell me i had to choose between Mattingly and Fuld to keep, I'd say Mattingly...mostly because I don't know what Sam Fuld does or how to even objectively gauge his performance.

I love Cotham as much as Mattingly, but I wonder what his ceiling is or what he wants to be. Manager? GM? that doesn't seem nearly as interesting as what he does now with his strengths.

[Austinfan]

To be fair to Klentak, he had to fix an "ole boys" club, Briere has the same issue with the Flyers. It takes time to get honest evaluations and identify the dead wood. Then overcome organizational inertia.

[Philsmania]

Athletic highlighting future front office and coaching stars includes Mattingly and Cotham. And buried at the end our former Tampa assistant GM Anirudh Kilambi.

Dombrowski's best legacy might not be the big free agent moves, but the smart people he brought into the organization and figuring out how to do that without disrupting the continuity as much as say Klentak did.

Baseball names on the rise: 12 potential future stars in management and coaching

The Phillies were so ossified under Amaro--who frequently expressed disdain for analytics--that anybody would have been a disrupter. Truth be told, Klentak also kept a lot of Amaro's people his first couple of years. It wasn't until he hired Kapler when he tried the disrupter route. Klentak's development and scouting hires were not good (nor were Kapler's ML coaching staff hires, for that matter) and as much as he and Kapler talked about "value at the margins", his attention to marginal details--namely the bullpen and bench--was abysmal. Therein lay his failure. Dombrowski has done the opposite--hired good people and minded the margins well.

[zambonir]

Hey, Klentak did hire Fuld. And Thomson! (And Kapler's staff also included Dusty and Dickerson and Paco Figueroa, it was only the pitching and hitting coaches who were a mess.)

I think Fuld is probably one more job cycle away from clearly becoming the next PBO (i.e. if he turns down another opportunity next year it means he knows the succession plan is in place). And he probably gets as much credit for the hires (including Cotham/Kaplan, Mattingly and Kilambi) as Dombrowski. For sure Dombrowski has not only made good hires but has been open-minded about philosophies and judicious in balancing long-term with short-term (at least so far).

[zambonir]

Former Phillies pitcher Jared Hughes (now on the Angels staff) makes that list as well.

[Aquapong]

Any way the Phils get in on Juan Soto? He fits the competitive timeline. A sign and trade deal could make him part of the core for a long time. Can Harper, Turner, and Schwarber convince him to sign something reasonable (for a good player)? If we’re taking his huge salary, it wouldn’t take as much in prospects or players to get it done.

[bkox]

Soto turned down a 15 year $440 million contract from the Nats.. I dont see him giving that big of a discount no matter what Harper and others tell him.

[fish]

Any way the Phils get in on Juan Soto? He fits the competitive timeline.

I guess the question is how much revenue does a playoff Phillies team loaded with players who sell merch bring in? Middleton has shown that how much money he makes isn't his biggest priority- but I would assume a team that put on the show that the 2023 phillies did made him some money. Is it enough to cover Soto? Who knows...unless they get into the race and it becomes public, then I suppose we have that answer.

[Aquapong]

I’m sure the player’s union and Boras will want him to push the market. If we look at him as a rental, we probably have to offload someone to not get draft pick penalties.

[zambonir]

Soto is a rental, period. Do the Phillies have enough to get him? Probably not. Should they get him even if they do? Probably not. But it's certainly the kind of crazy big splash you could see them making. Price would start with Crawford or Rojas and it would still be hard for them to offload Castellanos.