Phillies Off-Season 2024-2025 (Hot Stove)

[zambonir]

Sox would have had the very first waiver claim so there must have been multiple teams clamoring for some fringe veteran depth. Maybe Sox hope they can turn him into another Turnbull and then get deadline value.

[fish]

He’s got decent stuff. I just can’t believe the white Sox traded anything for Gilbert.

https://www.mlb.com/video/aaron-combs-fans-six-batters

[phillychuck]

Combs has average to average-minus fastball velocity, but has two really good breaking pitches, including a very effective slider. Couldn't find the plate in A-ball this year, but still struck out almost 15 batters per 9 IP in a small relief sample. This trade indicates the Phils might have wanted him in the draft, too., and saw something they thought they could fix.

[Matt_Winkelman]

Until Jerry Reinsdorf dies it is safe to assume stupidity in every move the White Sox make. It is a wildly outrageous price to pay for a guy who is 31 and mostly suited as a AAA swing man. Combs isn’t an outrageously good prospect, but it feels like he is someone the draft dude saw upside in and pro side didn’t, it sort of feels like their pro side believes pitchers should be a certain archetype and he wasn’t. The Phillies have some flaws in their drafting pitcher archetype, but their pro side is often on the same page while also having a Rays level of looking for things that are different or weird, and in this case, the curveball is very much something that is different (it is very high spin and has huge vertical and horizontal movement)

[fish]

His arm motion is a bit like Kerkering. Interesting to see him throwing a curveball from that slot. I’m sure he’s going to get the sweeper introduced to him right quick.

[zambonir]

Pretty remarkable stat, what happens if you take Turnbull out?

The Phillies received 171 1/3 innings in 39 starts last season from pitchers not named Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, Cristopher Sánchez or Ranger Suárez. Those 171 1/3 innings yielded a 6.36 ERA — even when including Spencer Turnbull’s 1.78 ERA in 35 1/3 innings — with a whopping 42 homers allowed. That experience has shaped the Phillies’ offseason.

Phillies notes: Rotation plans, outfield scenarios, roster talk, and is the...

[bkox]

Pretty remarkable stat, what happens if you take Turnbull out?

7.54 ERA. 121 ERs in 140 IP.

[andyb]

I feel pretty good with Joe Ross in a 2-inning relief role that can probably go 3+ in a quasi bullpen game if needed. Turnbull obviously did that for us but Ross has a little more relief experience. Just need to get through the first couple of months of the season with the 5 starters plus Ross. Then hopefully Painter can fill in any holes. I do love the fact that they are planning to conserve Painter's innings at the beginning of the year rather than be faced with shutdown questions at the end.

[zambonir]

And yet surprisingly, a 13-11 W-L record for the six guys who made a total of 36 starts (Kerkering made 2 and Banks 1). I assume the other 15 decisions did not skew quite as well.

[zambonir]

The question is, given Banks and Kerkering are the only guys with options, are they really going to carry Walker (or Tyler Phillips) as the 8th guy for a while, or make that a flex spot.

[andyb]

I think they go with the best reliever for that spot and it is almost 99% likely to not be Walker. Phillips is more of an option but really is not that good that they probably just risk losing him to waivers if he is beat out by somebody like Lazar (who I know does have options and because of that would lose his spot initially to someone without them).

[zambonir]

I'm just not convinced they are really going to DFA (or be able to trade) Walker, and they may not even want to (he's still depth, and not just for this year). In which case they bury him. But at the same time all the other moves suggest they don't have a spot for him, especially once Painter arrives.

I suppose he is still just one spring training injury away from being in the rotation ahead of Phillips or Johnson, if he looks serviceable.

[phillychuck]

Phillips was traded for an A-level prospect yesterday, so he's out of the picture.

[zambonir]

No, that was Gilbert

[phillychuck]

Yeah, aren't they the same guy?

Oops. I left the conversation visible...

[andyb]

Some reasonably positive Fangraphs takes on recent deals:

Jesús (Luzardo) Is a Phillie

Phillies Go for Talent Over Fit by Signing Max Kepler

[Callison]

IMHO, the Kepler piece is nearly an apology. Kepler looks a lot like Merrifield and Hays, the apt comparison at the end.

OTOH, it shows the Phils aren't intimidated by injuries, which puts Luis Robert Jr. under consideration. Scribes have observed he won't come cheap and may not turn into a star afterall. How interested should the Phils be?

What other hitters should the Phils consider? Been hoping for a hitter since losing to the Mets. But what is there to hope for? Let us hear from the cognocenti.

[zambonir]

There is no hope for anything or anybody. At least until July. They went for pitching instead. They're not going to trade Crawford (or Bohm or Marsh) for anyone this off-season, and seems pretty unlikely they'd turn around and blow past the threshold for anyone let alone a Bregman).

[EDmuch]

Rooker.

[andyb]

Kepler is not Merrifield. Merrifield was coming off 3 largely mediocre years and was 35 when the Phillies signed him. Kepler is coming off one mediocre year that can be explained by injury and is only 32. He is also a better defensive player than Merrifield. Big difference here.