Santa Delivers, the Streak Lives!

Santa (in the form of my wife) is helping me keep my streak of Phillies Home Opener attendance in tact by gifting be a pair of these bad boys for the 2020 event, which will mark 41 consecutive years. I'll be joined by  my son, who will be attending his 20th straight.

There hasn't been much to blog about lately, but that all changes over the next few weeks. Some dates to consider:

Feb. 11, 2020 - Pitchers and catchers report to Clearwater for Spring Training

Feb. 17, 2020 - First full team spring workout

Feb. 22, 2020 - Phillies open Grapefruit League play against the Tigers 

March 26, 2020 - Phillies season opener in Miami against the Marlins, 4:10 p.m.

April 2, 2020 - Phillies Home Opener against the Brewers, 3:05 p.m.

It's almost time to start obsessing about the Opening Day weather forecast. AccuWeather's 90-day forecast won't show April 2 for another 9 days, so stay tuned. 

Meet the New Guys

Newest Phillies Didi Gregorius and Zack Wheeler were officially introduced today. They didn't make any earth-shattering news, but there are some things worth mentioning.

Manager Joe Girardi was asked where Gregorius will hit in the lineup, and the skipper said "in the middle." He also mentioned wanting to split up left-handed hitters. So here's one way the lineup could look:
McCutchen
Segura
Haprer
Hoskins
Gregorius
Realmuto
Kingery
Haseley

That looks OK to me.

GM Matt Klentak was asked if the team will go over the luxury tax threshold. Klentak gave a non-answer - exploring opportunities and taking things day by day, yada, yada, yada. The thing is, there are two free agent pitchers out there (Dallas Keuchel and Hyun-Jin Ryu) who are miles better than the trio of Eflin, Velasquez, and Pivetta. And they're both lefties, something which the Phils are lacking. Signing better pitchers means better results. Pinning your hopes on three stiffs who haven't lived up to expectations year after year is just stupid.

Maybe new pitching coach Bryan Price can work some magic with one of the unholy trio. But I'd rather take my chances with a known quantity than hoping for the best. And pay the luxury tax. Better pitchers means better results, which means more butts in the seats, which means the pitchers pay for themselves.

The other noteworthy thing was that Gregorius and Wheeler were wearing the new Nike jerseys MLB  teams will be sporting this season. The swoosh on the front looks terrible. It should be on the sleeve, like the Majestic logo was.

Haseley Has a Job

It looks like Adam Haseley will be the Phillies center fielder in 2020. General manager Matt Klentak said so in an interview with NBC Sports Philadelphia. 

Haseley earned it with a solid rookie campaign. He hit .266 with a .720 OPS and 5 homers in 222 at-bats. But what really opened eyes was his defense. He made a number of highlight-reel plays, robbing opponents of home runs. Like this. 

Klentak's announcement sets a couple of things in motion. It unofficially ends the Phillies career of Odubel Herrera, who has been a terrible player over the last few seasons in addition to being charged in a domestic abuse case. The Phillies still owe him millions, but this will be a case of addition by subtraction.

It also means Scott Kingery is the everyday third baseman. Top prospect Alec Bohm will most likely start the season in the minors. If he gets hot early, look for him to get called up and Kingery could move to center if Haseley falters.

But I don't think he will. He's a solid line drive hitter and more power should come as he gets older. The former No. 1 draft pick deserves the job as the starter in center.

Pitchers and catchers report to Clearwater in about 8 weeks and this has been one of those most eventful winters in recent memory. The Phils have gotten better and their opponents have lost key players, most recently the Nationals, who saw Anthony Rendon sign with the Angels last night. It's gonna be a fun year.

Didi a Done Deal

Didi Gregorius is your new Phillies shortstop. He signed a 1-year, $14 million contract today. The signing means Jean Segura moves to second base and for now, Scott Kingery is your third baseman.

Didi played for Joe Girardi with the Yankees, and Girardi loves him. He's apparently a huge positive influence in the clubhouse and is looking to increase his value after an off-year when he was recovering from Tommy John surgery.

He has some power and should be good for at least 20 homers. He's not a big on-base guy, so I look for him to hit anywhere from 5th to 8th in the lineup. He's basically Cesar Hernandez with more power. Yay? And his defense will be better than Segura, whose declining range should be easier to hide at second base.

Here's the way I see the lineup, as of today:
McCutchen - LF
Kingery - 3B
Harper - RF
Hoskins - 1B
Realmuto - C
Gregorius - SS
Segura - 2B
Hasley - CF


This leaves the Phillies about $6 million if they want to stay under the luxury tax. Unless they sign Anthony Rendon or Gerrit Cole. But I have a feeling they'll go for a middling free agent starter like Tanner Roark or Wade Miley to stay away from the tax. Throw in a couple more relievers, and the roster is done.

GM Matt Klentak has been busy over the last few weeks. And this off-season has been a hell of a lot more interesting than last year. And pitchers and catcher report to Clearwater 2 months from tomorrow.

More to Be Rendone?

When word leaked out that the Phillies had signed starter Zack Wheeler to a deal worth $118 million or so, it was widely assumed they were done spending big this winter.

Not so fast.

The #Phillies, luxury tax be damned, are going all in, and plan to pursue free-agent 3B Anthony Rendon. https://t.co/aO2XMU0JPw

— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) December 6, 2019

Whoa. Holy crap. Anthony Rendon and his career .859 OPS sure would look good smack dab in the middle of the Phillies lineup. And signing him would mean being able to use third-base uber prospect Alec Bohm as a trade chip to get some young controllable pitching back. And then there's this little nugget:

Phillies have showed interest in Strasburg and Cole, and seem especially interested in Stras. Possible that interest lessens with the Wheeler signing but Philly seems to be going big again — just low-keying it this time (no “stupid $ talk). @BNightengale links them to Rendon too

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) December 6, 2019

Now that's just crazy talk. One more big signing puts the Phils in luxury tax land. Two more lands them in contract hell for the foreseeable future. But it's fun to think about. These rumors are absolutely Steinbrenner-esque and are going to make the upcoming Winter Meetings even more interesting.

It sure seems like owner John Middleton is ready to spend whatever it takes to get his damn World Series trophy back. And that makes being a fan fun again.

Kind of a Big Deal

At lunch today I learned Cole Hamels was NOT signing with the Phillies. And I was pissed. And then around 230, I found out the Phils signed starting pitcher Zack Wheeler to a 5-year, $118 million deal. Talk about a rollercoaster of a day.  

Hamels reportedly said there were no significant talks about returning to Philadelphia and the Braves stepped up, made a great impression, and got the deal done. 

The Wheeler signing comes with risk. He’s had injury issues in the past, but he had a breakout season in 2019. And he throws hard. Really hard. How hard? Over the last two seasons, he’s thrown 1,111 pitches that were 97 mph or faster. In that same time frame, Phillies starters have thrown 40 pitches of 97 mph or faster.  

This is good news because it means that either Vince Velasquez, Zack Eflin, or Nick Pivetta will no longer be starting games for the Phillies. And it means the Mets are down one quality arm. It’s a win-win-win. 

Wheeler reportedly turned down more money from the White Sox because his wife is from NJ and wanted to be closer to home. Thanks, Mrs. Wheeler!

I was just texting with my dad about the signing and he asked if Wheeler was going to be another Jake Arrieta. Christ, I hope not. Thanks for the buzzkill, dad.  

So to recap, the Phils have signed a top-tier starting pitcher for Cole Hamels-Cliff Lee value. Let’s hope he pitches like them. And stays healthy.  

Nothing Doing

When I saw this tweet from Phillies beat writer Matt Gelb last night, my head exploded a little bit. But before I took fingers to keyboard, I decided to give it a few hours.

The optimist in me wants to give Klentak the benefit of the doubt. He knows what he's doing. And the  key words in the tweet are "in person." Surely he's been on the phone non-stop, calling agents of free agent pitchers and getting an idea of how much they're looking for.

Then there's the Negadelphian me. The one who expects the worst, therefore not being disappointed when something bad happens. Klentak doesn't exactly have a whole lot of credibility right now. He's the one who hired Gabe Kapler, a true Dumpster fire of a decision. He also green-lighted (green-lit?) the promotion of Chris Young to pitching coach while simultaneously kicking Rick Kranitz to the curb. How'd that work out? Phillies pitchers regressed, Young got canned after one season, and Kranitz and his new team won the National League East.

Klentak should be running a shuttle bus between the airport and Citizens Bank Park, bringing in every available pitcher and selling him on a future in Philadelphia. Maybe he could schedule a side trip to owner John Middleton's house, to show the pitchers the huge piles of cash that await them should they decide to sign here.

Publicly admitting that there have been no in-person meetings and none on the calendar doesn't exactly instill confidence in the fans, many of whom are asking Santa for pitchforks and torches to storm the ballpark if the pitching staff doesn't get upgraded in a big, big way.

The Winter Meetings start next Monday in San Diego. I sure hope Klentak and Co. can find the time to meet with some free agents and their people. Because if he comes back to Philadelphia empty-handed, his holiday season is going to be miserable. 

Meet the New Ex-Phillies

As expected, the Phillies have decided not to offer contracts to third baseman Mikael Franco and second baseman Cesar Hernandez. The two were expected to earn a combined $17.5 million in arbitration. 

Losing Franco is a no-brainer.  He’s underperformed and was even shipped to the minors last season. Hernandez is a nice player who led the Phils in hits last season, but he makes too many mental errors in the field and on the bases. The only remarkable thing I can remember about Hernandez was that time he hit a Little League home run. 

That $17.5 million will come in handy, with the Phils rumored to be interested in free agent third baseman Mike Moustakas and shortstop Didi Gregorious. I like the idea of Moustakas, but is Gregorious really that much of an upgrade over Hernandez?

The Phils need pitching and need to spend the money wisely. I’m not sure investing in Didi Gregorious is a sound financial and baseball move.  

And speaking of baseball moves, the Phillies avoided arbitration with backup catcher Andrew Knapp, signing him to a 1-year, $710,000 contract.  

They also claimed reliever Trevor Kelley from the Red Sox. Kelley had an 8.64 ERA last year in 10 games. So he’ll fit right in.