FanPost

An offseason to do list



The Phillies had a great season and an amazing postseason run. Back to reality, that means nothing in 2023. The facts of the regular season remain. The Phillies were a flawed team. They were a game below .500 on the road and were aided by a 16-3 record vs the Nats and 12-7 vs the Marlins. With a more balanced schedule, they will not have as many games vs those bottom feeders. DD can and won’t sit on that postseason run and hope it happens again. There are two areas I think he must address, 1 he should address, and 1 I hope he addresses.


What he must address

What he must address:

SP

The starting pitching depth was problematic in the playoff, however, there is hope on the horizon in Painter, Able, and McGarry. Not all three will hit, but they need to be given an opportunity at some point. There is also Falter and Sanchez as in-house options. Neither will develop to be top-tier options, but they do provide something Phillies teams have not had in recent years, depth. This also doesn’t force them to shop in the top tier of FA like deGrom who will most likely get record AAV for a SP. They should look more at a player like Verlander who has ties to DD and is up in age so he would only take a 2 yr deal enabling a prospect to work under him and learn from him. He would be my ideal SP, but I doubt he leaves Houston. Eovaldi and David Price also have ties with DD and could be vets for the rotation, but neither inspires confidence. If the price is right, possibly, but I would be intrigued by the unknown Kodai Senga. There are mixed reports, but he will be turning 30 in January and looks to be a middle-of-the-rotation pitcher with upside. If they took a flier on him it would be a low-pressure situation in a rotation with Wheeler, Nola, and Ranger. If he performs, he could slot up in the rotation when Nola potentially exits after the 2023 season. The other option is to trade for a guy like Pablo Lopez. He is younger than Kodai, but it would be a similar situation. For the Phillies and every MLB team, starting pitching is at the top of the to-do list.

MIF/SS

In short, this lineup needs Turner. The fit is too good to ignore (a sentiment echoed by 29 other teams). Stott was a big defensive upgrade from Didi and help solidify the infield. However, a 43 yr old Rollins probably would have been a defensive upgrade. That is not meant as a slight at Stott, I just don’t see a gold glove in his future at SS. With the rule change, you need more range and I think many teams will deploy SSs at both MIF positions. Turner has shown the ability to perform in the playoffs, play in a hostile east coast environment, and shown all 5 tools. The same could be said of Correa, but I question his long-term health, specifically his back. You could also say the same about Swanson, but I question his consistency. He has too many up-and-down seasons and only 3 seasons of an OPS+ over 100 and tops out at 115. Ignoring Turner's 44 at-bats in 2015, he has never had a season under 100 OPS+

He’s the table setter this team needs and can provide balance at the top of the lineup. Without Turner in the leadoff spot, I think Stott would be the best choice moving forward. But if that is the case how do you space out Stott, Harper, and Schwarber? You want Harper and Schwarber up to bat as much as possible. Would you go 1, 3, 5? Other teams would still like that with the three-batter rule. Turner at SS and at leadoff makes too much sense for it not to happen.


What he should address:

The OF.

Huh? We have Schwarber, Vierling, Castellanos, Marsh, and Harper coming back, why do we need an OF. I’m not sure if we start the season with Harper. He played through a lot and probably did some further damage to his arm. That leaves the first part of the season to give some playing time to someone who wants to play in Philadelphia, Masataka Yoshida. Schwarber and Castellanos could rotate at DH and LF, Marsh in CF, and Masataka Yoshida in RF. If he hits, Topper will find a place for him to play and injuries happen every year. And just for reference, the number of Phillies who played the OF in 2022 include - Kyle Schwarber, Nick Castellanos, Matt Vierling, Odubel Herrera, Brandon Marsh, Mickey Moniak, Nick Maton, Roman Quinn, Bryce Harper, Dalton Guthrie, Bradley Zimmer, Simon Muzziotti, Yairo Munoz, Edmundo Sosa, Oscar Mercado, and Garrett Stubbs.

I think a Yoshida signing is more contingent on Haper news than anything else, but an area I would listen on. Even if Yoshida is not in the cards, I think 4th OF with an upside should be on DD’s to-do list.


Area I hope he addresses

IF defense

Yes, I will agree Bohm worked extremely hard and made major strides in his IF defense. That does not mean he is a good defender at third. At his best, he is a below avg 3rd baseman. Due to his poor reactions, he plays deeper at third and gives up many soft IF base hits. He still has footwork issues that make potential DP balls into FC. And once he does make a mistake, he ends up in quicksand. And even though he didn’t do it as much later in the season, there were times in which he took his defense to the plate.

On the other corner is Hoskins, who I thought was an ideal DH candidate before DD signed 2 others and we ended up with Harper at DH. He is one of the worst 1st basemen in baseball which is amazing since the Phillies employ one of the most GB-heavy staff in MLB. He does not angle himself well to receive throws, fields the ball off to the side way too much, and has difficulty reading the long hop on whether he should come in on the ball or wait back.

I think both players have value. They are capable MLB players but the team was the 6th best team in the NL last year a full 14 games behind the Braves. They need to get better and this is one area in which they can.

A defensive upgrade at 1st and 3rd for a pitching staff that was once again top three in the league in minimizing hard contact would do wonders for run prevention. The balance though is at what point do the defensive upgrade and offensive downgrade offset. Carlos Santana and Ryan McMahon grade out as tremendous defensive upgrades, but does that give the Phillies a better shot at winning? I doubt it. So a balance would have to be there for a move to make sense. I don’t know if a move is out there, but I hope there is and I hope DD can find it.