Phillies Hot Stove, Winter 2023-24

zambonir 2024-02-20 01:09:10 UTC #1355

That is pretty incredible but I assume that was his choice/mistake (to stay with KC and take an extension on their terms. And then on their part they never pulled the trigger on trading him when he was at peak value, which Tampa and Milwaukee would have done). At least when the Phillies game Howard his insane and unnecessary final contract there was a sense of balancing what he made (or didn't make) at his best.

zambonir 2024-02-20 01:12:06 UTC #1356

Maybe what they wanted to hear but not what all of us wanted to hear. (The story does go on to say he'll start 2-3 times a week. And he wanted to be part of winning, and the atmosphere. But who wouldn't?)

As part of the club’s recruiting process this winter, the Phillies had Rob Thomson engage potential free agents to show how interested they were. The manager is not always involved in this process. But the Phillies wanted to be open with the hitters they pursued.

There weren’t regular at-bats to be had in this potential role.

Some pushed back and looked for better jobs elsewhere. Whit Merrifield, a free agent for the first time in his career at age 35, wanted to be an everyday second baseman. He said he had offers to do that — but from non-contending teams. Earlier this month, Merrifield heard Thomson’s pitch and the warning that came with it. He understood.

Thomson reported back to his boss, Dave Dombrowski. “I loved his response,” Thomson said. Merrifield had said what they wanted to hear.

“I’ll work myself into the lineup,” Merrifield told Thomson.

phillychuck 2024-02-20 01:45:56 UTC #1357

How the heck is he going to work himself into the lineup if Stott and Marsh play well? That is such an unrealistic point of view; why would any manager bench one of his good young players to give at bats to a 35-year-old mercenary?

I'm afraid Merrifield is going to be a problem--either they will play him too much, or he's going to be disruptive if he doesn't get his ABs. Dombrowski said they might play him in LF or at 2B against tough lefties...how many tough lefties do they face each week? One? That's one start each week. He could start once for Bohm, but he's not good third baseman. Where are his other starts? CF? RF? He's not good defensively in either of those positions, either...

schillingfan 2024-02-20 01:54:16 UTC #1358

Paying him too much shouldn’t be a problem unless that dictates his playing time. I thin there is enough between second and third tier that we should be able t acqure the mid-level players at the deadline that DD likes.

bkox 2024-02-20 01:58:12 UTC #1359

Um.. I think we are getting too worried about that statement. Pro athletes are competitive. What do you want him to say.. "I expect to stink enough that they wont want to play me more?"

Here is the thing. Besides the Hoskins injury in the spring.. the Phillies went through the 2023 season with very little injuries to their position players. Only Marsh spent more than a couple weeks on the IL. With an aging roster, the chance that someone isnt going to spend a couple months or more on the IL is probably small. Nowadays it seems almost every team loses at least one regular for at least a month or two.

And even if there are no injuries... if he does play well.. GOOD. that will allow the team to rest their regulars a little more. I still cant believe that Schwarber played 160 games last year. Those legs could prob benefit from a few more off days even with being the DH.

phillychuck 2024-02-20 02:13:20 UTC #1360

Did you forget Harper was out half the year?

As far as Merrifield ABs, let's assume he gets one game each week in LF, three games every five weeks at 2B, one game every 2 weeks at DH or RF. That seems to be about 10 games each month, 60 games in the year, at most 250 or so ABs (barring injury replacement time, assuming PH and late innings offset the slight shortfall). I'm fine with that level of participation, but is that what they're planning? I don't think Merrifield would be on board with that.

bkox 2024-02-20 02:30:22 UTC #1361

Technically that was from a 2022 injury. And um.. He came back May 1st. No where close to half the year

phillychuck 2024-02-20 02:35:49 UTC #1362

Fair response...it only seemed like half the year. Still, missing your best player for a month and then having to ply him out of position or at DH wasn't ideal. And his power evaporated for quite a while...Hopefully it will be better this year.

zambonir 2024-02-20 02:50:54 UTC #1363

I think it is perfectly fine for Merrifield to say he is going to play well enough to earn more playing time. I also think you can interpret "work myself into the lineup" as him saying he will do whatever whenever. But obviously the manager and the GM are drinking the Kool Aid on him (and in the article he does talk about his belief that he can fix some things from last year, and it also says Toronto even thinks they probably should have played him less, i.e. that he did wear out late in the season).

I can't really imagine them sitting Stott often, and in some ways getting Merrifield is a vote of confidence for Rojas, whereas some of the other FAs would have more definitively played LF regularly and pushed Marsh to CF.

At the end of the day this team does tend to cut bait when players fail, regardless of salary (Familia made a decent chunk of change; Harrison and Herrera didn't). Hopefully Merrifield will be useful and valuable and only plays as much as his production - and the health and production of the other players - calls for. Hopefully they won't need to replace him at the trade deadline not because of him but because Marsh and Rojas and the rest of the offense is just humming along.

Because there's a bigger worst-case scenario - that Castellanos or Schwarber or even Turner or Bohm have bad seasons. If that's the case a good Merrifield could come in handy, while a bad one won't.

phillychuck 2024-02-20 03:32:22 UTC #1364

z, I basically agree. However, I would like to believe the Phillies don't think they signed 2017-2020 all-star Whit Merrifield and want to get him 450-500 ABs around the diamond without other injuries.

bkox asked what I expected him to say. I would have hoped for, "I'm here to help the team in whatever way I can. I'll play wherever and whenever they want me to."

Austinfan 2024-02-20 04:02:37 UTC #1365

Merrifield probably got the same money he was going to get elsewhere, but he knows this could be his last season, and he wants to have a shot at a ring. He's not getting that on any team bad enough to sign him to start.

andyb 2024-02-20 07:01:08 UTC #1366

RHP Kaleb Ort (DFA today) has been traded to the Baltimore Orioles in exchange for cash considerations.
— Philadelphia Phillies ( @Phillies ) February 19, 2024

Assume this is the move to clear a spot for Merrifield.

zambonir 2024-02-20 12:20:03 UTC #1367

Well, he said that too. (In fact, the previous quote was not even directly from him, it was what Thomson supposedly told Dombrowski he said.)

“I want to win now. And so I’m here to do whatever I need to do to win and to help this team win.”

zambonir 2024-02-20 12:21:28 UTC #1368

The DFA had already happened with the Merrifield signing, yes. Funny how you get a waiver trade offer for some guys and not others (even if it was just cash. Obviously the Orioles wouldn't have been able to get him in a claim if he really was of interest to a few teams).

zambonir 2024-02-20 13:32:02 UTC #1369

Well that's simultaneously encouraging and discouraging. You'd think the high bid would have at least gotten him to come to town!

Holy crap.

..."after meeting for three hours Dec. 14 with Yamamoto and his agents, and making a presentation that featured a video appearance by Bryce Harper, the Phillies offered more money than any team, according to multiple industry sources. That includes the Dodgers, who… https://t.co/D0LhzWaunD
— John Stolnis ( @JohnStolnis ) February 20, 2024

dicemen99 2024-02-21 04:04:28 UTC #1370

He's pretty much a lock to take Cave's spot on the roster IMO. That he has position versatility shouldn't be viewed as a negative.

He's better than Grichuk and the money difference just doesn't matter - the extra few million will not stop a mid season acquisition.
The other 3 alternatives:

Pham - same age as Merrifield, bounced back off a horrible year, who's to say he continues that at 35. Is only going to eat at bats from two guys you are trying to develop and likely wants a lot of them as he's still not signed and trying to cash in on the bounce back.

Rosario - I can't understand thinking he is better than Merrifield unless you are hoping he can be the player he was 6 years ago. It doesn't matter that he's 32, his last 5 years have been underwhelming. Atlanta declined a $9 million option.

Duvall - the best of the bunch, still the same age as Merrifield. Strikes out a ton, do we really need to add another guy like that? Probably more effective as a straight Cave replacement, but doesn't offer Merrifield s versatility in case of an emergency in the IF. Still hasn't signed, so do we know how much he'll get and if he's willing to accept a reduced role? He had 350 PA last year missing two months.

I can't really buy any alternative besides Duvall and we don't know if he'd take Merrifield s contract and/or role.

Yeah, I'd love to add a younger impact utility player for less than $10M but you are not offering me any. And if the sentiment is that Merrifield would be fine at Grichuks price - again it just doesn't matter. If that younger impact player becomes available, Merrifield s contract will not stand in the way.

andyb 2024-02-21 04:32:05 UTC #1371

There is one other bench spot on the roster even with Merrifield. Sosa, Merrifield, and Stubbs are locks if healthy unless Marchan wins a job. Right now the other spot is between Cave and Pache and probably Dahl. Can't imagine Hall is in the running with Bryce at 1B all the time.

I doubt we go out and get anyone else that costs money now like Pham or Duvall. Cave might actually have the best shot at that last spot though since Merrifield is right-handed. Cave was mediocre last year but Dahl was much worse.

zambonir 2024-02-21 12:54:41 UTC #1372

Yeah I don't see how you carry three RHBs (which Sosa is for all intents and purposes) and a catcher on the bench. Maybe there's someone not named Jake Cave who still gets that spot but right now it's his. The other alternative is you keep Pache and he plays about as often as Castro did in his two months last year. That was already going to be how it worked out for Cave (never playing) as the LH back-up to the LH LF.

I still hope they get a LHB who can play 3B but they seem willing to play Merrifield there, giving us 3 RH 3B yet again.

I just think if Pham's age/decline is a concern so is Merrifleld's, and Grichuck looks to be about the same caliber player too over the last three full years (though admittedly you can dismiss his bigger numbers as Colorado-inflated).

Positional versatility just isn't worth much if you aren't either a great fielder or a very good hitter. Merrifield's skill set involved being the latter, and good enough as a fielder, but his defense has declined even at his best position. If his bat comes back, then sure, he's an upgrade over anyone the Phillies had on their bench last year or in the current mix otherwise. But if it's just okay I think Pache in LF 1-2 days a week is probably better, and just not giving Stott and Marsh days off (other than for rest) is also better.

I accept that this signing is probably still the best way to commit to Johan Rojas. That's the difference between signing a utility guy and signing a LF. But if Merrifield is just an 80 OPS+ bat (he was 82 in 2022 and 94 last year, but 65/37 in August/September) Kody Clemens or Pache really would have been fine - and also would only play 1 or 2 x a week not 3 or 4 because they don't have the high salary/longer baseball card.

schillingfan 2024-02-22 02:11:37 UTC #1373

I’d like to see Hall on the roster. Otheise we have Bohm at first base when Bryce needs rest, which he should get some. Plus it’s nice to have a guy on the bench who can hit for power.

bkeich 2024-02-22 02:40:51 UTC #1374

Yea, but it is hard to have a 1B only on a 4 man bench. If they would be willing to go with 8 relievers instead of 9 (which seems possible to me, but almost no one does it) then the 5th bench spot can be for a hitter.