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.
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