Phils Owner Can't Find His Wallet

Max Scherzer signs with the Mets for $143 million and the Phils claim a guy off waivers from the Braves. Sounds about right.

Mets owner Steve Cohen wants to win. Badly. So he opened up the vault and paid for Scherzer, Sterling Marte, Mark Cahna, and Eduardo Escobar. Meanwhile, Phillies owner John Middleton is acting like he lost his wallet. 

The Phillies have so many holes to fill–LF, CF, bullpen, the left side of the infield–that it's unconscionable they've done NOTHING to improve the team but make a bunch of waiver claims and release Roman Quinn. And lose Hector Neris.

For a guy who claims to hunger for another World Series trophy, Middleton sure has a funny way of going about it. If he doesn't want to spend, that's fine. Then sell the damn team. His $18 million investment in the team in 1994 is now worth a shade more than $2 billion. 

It's almost as embarrassing as former Phils president Bill Giles claiming the Phils were a small market team back in the day. Bryce Harper, JT Realmuto, and Zach Wheeler should all summon their collective Ben Simmons and demand to be traded if the owner isn't going to make a good-faith effort to improve the team.

Do Something, Dombo!

While Phillies President Dave Dombrowski has been scouring the gutters for relievers, Mets owner Steve Cohen opened his rather sizable checkbook and made the New Yorkers a lot better.

In the last 24 hours, the Mets have signed outfielders Sterling Marte and Mark Cahna and infielder Eduardo Escobar. Marte hit .310 with an .841 OPS while playing excellent defense for Oakland. Cahna is an on-base machine and Escobar is a versatile infielder who hit 28 homers in 2021.

Marte would have solved the Phillies search for a center fielder and leadoff guy, but the Mets signed him for four years and $78 million, which to me seems kind of insane for a 33-year-old outfielder. Speed is a big part of Marte's game, and you don't know how fast he'll still be in the third and fourth years of that contract. 

Look for the Phils to counter this weekend or before the Dec. 1 deadline for a new agreement between players and owners which will most likely result in a lockout. More on that in a future post. I fully expect the Phils to overpay for the oft-injured but supremely talented Byron Buxton from the Twins. He's played 140 games only once in his seven-year big league career, and averages about 70 games a season because of injuries. Think of him as a much more talented Roman Quinn.

I like the idea of a healthy Byron Buxton in Philly. But he's missed time over the years with a sprained thumb, knee contusion, back spasms, migraines, groin strain, strained wrist, fractured toe, sprained foot, and concussion symptoms. Last season he only played in 61 games because of a hip strain, hamstring issues, and a broken hand. 

Does healthy Byron Buxton even exist? Who knows? But the Mets have gotten better this weekend, and the Phillies have done squat. 

Original Recipe Phanatic is Back!

The Phillie Phanatic will look like himself again under the terms of a settlement the team reached with the  creature's creators, it was reported Monday.

The Phillies had to alter the Phanatic's appearance or risk losing the beloved mascot. They made his butt bigger, changed his eyes, and gave him wings. Wings!

But all is well with the world, and the original look Phanatic should return to a ballpark near you next spring. The Phanatic still acted like himself, but with the new look, something just seemed off. Maybe it's all those years of missing the playoffs. Those of you old enough to remember the New Coke debacle understand–there's nothing like the original.

Earlier Starts

The Phillies announced today that home games in April, May, and September will begin at 6:45 p.m. instead of 7:05, probably to give school kids a little extra time to watch before bed.

They should have done better than that and have all games start at 6:30 p.m., given that games routinely last more than three hours. 

And the following players join the illustrious Former Phillies Club after they were outright, making them free agents–Andrew Knapp, Ronald Torreyes, Odubel Herrera (YAY!), Travis Jankowski, Ramon Rosso, and J.D. Hammer.

Knapp was due to make $1.5 million in arbitration, which is way too much for a guy who can't hit. Manager Joe Girardi loves Torreyes, so I wouldn't be surprised to see him offered a minor league deal and a spring training invite. 

One more Phillies-related thing to note. The Dodgers have extended a qualifying offer to super utility man Chris Taylor, who would look so good in Phillies pinstripes. The offer means Taylor can accept the one-year, $18.4 million deal, or become a free agent. But if he becomes a free agent, the team that signs him will lose a draft pick. 

Taylor can fill just about every position need the Phillies have right now–center, left, and shortstop. I thought the Phils might be able to get him for three years and $50 million, but his price might have gone up with the $18.4 million available to him. Taylor has to decide what he's doing by Nov. 17.

The Cleansing Begins

There hasn't been a whole lot of Phillies news to write about lately, which explains the huge gap between posts. But there is news now that the Braves have won the World Series and the off season has officially begun.

The Phillies have declined options on Andrew McCutchen and Odubel Herrera for next season, meaning the team is officially in the market for a couple of outfielders. Cutch is a great guy but couldn't hit righties to save his life this season. And you all know how I feel about Herrera. Good riddance. 

There's a couple of ways the Phils could go in the outfield. They can try defensively challenged infielders Alec Bohm or Didi Gregorius in left field. Or they can open up the vault and shove a pile of money at Chris Taylor or Nick Castellanos. But this being the Phils, I expect them to go the discount route, claiming with so much money going to Bryce Harper, JT Realmuto, and Zach Wheeler, they simply can't afford any big shiny pieces. Which is a load of crap.

And speaking of Harper, I fully expect him to be named National League MVP next week. He was already named NL Outstanding Player by his peers. And he deserved it. 

I saw some stuff on Twitter today saying the Phils should offer Braves first baseman and soon-to-be free agent Freddie Freeman any amount of money he wants and a penthouse in Center City to join the Phils. There's no way in hell Freeman signs here. Why would he leave a championship team, the same team he's been with his entire career, to come to Philadelphia? It's not happening. It's like Gretchen Wieners and "fetch."