Welcome to Cotham City

The Phillies have signed something called a Caleb Cotham to be the team's new pitching coach, replacing Bryan Price, who retired rather than deal with the nightmare of a bullpen for another season.

Cotham is highly regarded, apparently, having pitched for manager Joe Girardi during his time with the Yankees. Cotham was an assistant with the Reds for the last couple of years. He is a graduate of Vanderbilt University, the pitching mecca of college baseball. In a statement released by the Phillies, Girardi had this to say about his new, 33-year-old pitching coach:

Meanwhile, the Phillies are still looking for a president of baseball operations, and probably the best one on the planet does not have a job. Theo Epstein, who brought World Series titles to the Red Sox and Cubs, stepped down to spend more time with his family. Well, if owner John Middleton pays him enough, he can move his family into Citizens Bank Park and he can see them all the time.

And there's some good news and bad news to report. The good news is that JT Realmuto has not signed with the Mets. Yet. The bad news is he hasn't re-signed with the Phillies, either. Stay tuned.  

Let It Go

Phillies owner John Middleton has a net worth of $3.4 billion, according to Forbes. The Phillies franchise is valued at an estimated at $2 billion. And Middleton is complaining that the team lost $100 million in the pandemic-shortened season. Bullshit.

Middleton didn't lose anything. He just missed out on earning that $100 million. It's not like it's money out of his pocket. But it's why the team is crying poor, offering buyouts to longtime employees and cutting staff. And why they're probably not going to sign  JT Realmuto to a long-term contract.

If Middleton is so worried about the money, he should just sell the team. Why whine about $100 million when you can earn $2 billion? Sell the team to Comcast or some other deep-pocketed corporation. After the Phils lost the 2009 World Series to the Yankees, he was quoted as saying "I want my damn trophy back." He sure as hell isn't acting like he wants it back.

Yeah, nobody knows if fans will be allowed in the stands in 2021, and nobody knows how long the season will be. And the agreement with the Players Association ends after the 2021 season. There could be a labor stoppage. But I say it again. If Middleton is so worried about "losing" $100 million, he should sell the damn team so we the fans can have a shot of getting the trophy back.

Nice Knowing You, JT

In a move that's unsurprising to absolutely nobody, JT Realmuto has rejected the Phillies $18.9 million qualifying offer, making him a free agent. Get ready for Steve Cohen, the bazillionaire new owner of the New York Mets, to open his wallet and pay the catcher a huge sum.

The Phillies front office is in disarray, with GM Matt Klentak stepping aside, Ned Rice holding the interim GM title, and team president Andy McPhail doesn't think any GM candidate would be willing to uproot his family and move to Philadelphia in the middle of a global pandemic.

The Phillies blew this big time. They should have worked on a contract extension for Realmuto as soon as they traded for him. Now, they're likely to have nothing to show for the trade except for a compensatory draft pick. Meanwhile, the Mets will have an all-star catcher and former Phillies top pitching prospect will haunt them for years to come. 

Phillies fan shouldn't boo JT when he comes to bat against them as a member of the Mets. They should direct their anger toward the suite level, where Phillies executives completely bungled the situation. Get ready for a catching tandem of Andrew Knapp and Rafael Marchan, because the way the Phillies are talking, they're not going to spend anything to get a free agent like James McCann or the 700-year-old Yadier Molina. 

The Phillies can blame the pandemic all they want for their tight-fistedness. But this was set in motion during spring training 2019. What a freaking mess. (Photo by The Philadelphia Inquirer)

Not Great, Bob

We interrupt your regularly scheduled Phillies blog to bring you the latest Sixers uniform. And it kinda sucks. 

The team was on a roll, hiring Doc Rivers as head coach and Daryl Morey as president of basketball operations. But then they dropped the new uniforms, which features about the 13th most recognizable landmark in the city. The Liberty Bell and Independence Hall I guess were too easy to associate with a team named after the American Revolution. 

So they went with Boathouse Row. Which has zero ties to the organization, unless you count people stuck in traffic on the way to the game staring at it across the river. The color scheme is an homage to the Allen Iverson days of the early 2000s. I didn't like those, either. I loved the simple, block letter PHILA design of the last few years.

Ben Simmons helped design these bad boys. He should have not been allowed to do so until he made five jumpshots in a game for five straight games. There is one thing I do like. They snuck in a little Trust the Process Easter egg in the form of the letters TTP. Well played. 

Election Robbery, ROY Edition

Alec Bohm got robbed. 

The Phillies rookie third baseman did not win NL Rookie of the Year tonight. Instead, the honor went to Brewers reliever Devin Williams, who pitched a total of 27 innings. Yes, they were dominant innings, but there were only 27 of them. He allowed one earned run. If there was a Rookie Pitcher of the Year Award, Williams wins, hands down.

Bohm, who finished second in the voting tied with the Padres Jake Cronenworth, was everything he was advertised to be and more. Bohm hit .338 with an .881 OPS in 44 games over 160 at bats. He hit 4 homers and drove in 23 runs and played a solid third base. 

Bohm looks like he's the real deal. He should fill the Phillies void at third base for years to come. But he should have a Rookie of the Year Award on his resume. 

Phils Make Offer

The Phillies, as expected, have made a qualifying contract offers to free agent JT Realmuto. A qualifying offer is a one-year contract offer worth the average salary of the game's top 125 players, which works out to $18.9 million. They did not make an offer to shortstop Didi Gregorius.

The player can accept the offer and remain with his team for another year, or decline it and become a free agent. If the player declines the offer, his former team receives a compensatory draft pick. Players have 10 days to decide whether or not to accept the offer. 

Realmuto will almost certainly decline the offer as he looks to become the highest-paid catcher in MLB history. He's probably looking for a minimum of a five-year, $125 million deal. I expect the Mets, and their new owner with deep pockets, to be prime pursuers for JT, along with the Yankees and maybe even the Nationals. Realmuto is reportedly not interested in playing in New York, but money talks. Phillies owner John Middleton better open his wallet and offer "stupid money" to keep JT.

I loved Didi at shortstop for the Phils. But it looks like they're intent on saving money and going with some combination of Jean Segura and Scott Kingery at second and short. I hope Kingery is recovered from COVID and his absolutely dreadful 2020 season.

Late last week, the Phils declined options on relievers Hector Neris and David Phelps. And they also declined the option on oft-injured reliever David Robertson. He gets $2 million to go away. I'd go away for half of that. Ten percent even. 

Infielder Phil Gosselin and relievers Adam Morgan, Blake Parker, and Heath Hembree have been outrighted off the 40-man roster and have elected free agency. They also added pitcher Johan Quezada, who they picked up on a waiver claim.