Ranking the Philadelphia Phillies’ 25 Most Likely Offseason Moves

General managers and their crew of front office cronies have spent the last month or so sweet-talking free agents and laying the groundwork for major trades. Now, with the annual Winter Meetings rounding into focus, it’s about time they put their money where their mouth is. 

Ruben Amaro Jr. and company came into the offseason knowing that the Philadelphia Phillies have a specific set of needs: center fielder, third baseman and setup man, likely in that order. Until the moment those voids are filled, we can only wonder—who are they going to sign? 

When you look at a team like the Phillies this winter, we can build a ranking of who they are most likely to sign and which free agents are on the other end of the spectrum. They’re operating on a limited budget, are locked into contracts at most positions and have very specific areas of need. 

So with that in mind, let’s rank them. The following list will start at number 25 and list a player that the Phillies are not likely to acquire, culminating in number one—the player that the Phillies are most likely to wind up with when the offseason is over.

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How Will Carlos Ruiz’s Suspension Affect the Philadelphia Phillies?

Carlos Ruiz’s suspension means much more than missing 25 games. The Philadelphia Phillies are losing their field general and leader for the entire month of April.

Philly.com reported that Carlos Ruiz tested positive for the drug Adderall, a substance banned by Major League Baseball.  Jim Salisbury also tweeted this must have been Chooch’s second failing since the first failing does not warrant a suspension.

What does this mean for Phillies?

Unfortunately, this is a blow for the organization.

April games are just as important as September and October. It’s not easy to climb back from the basement of a competitive NL East.

April is also an important month for a pitchers and catchers to find their chemistry.

Even though we are talking about major league players, it still takes time for a pitcher and catcher to develop into regular-season form. Yes, the Phillies have spring training, but the beginning of the regular season is where longer innings occur and every pitch counts.

Chooch missing this first month stalls this process and can potentially weigh heavily on the pitchers’ psyches. Pitchers are known to be fragile creatures and become comfortable with their battery mate.  Anyone remember the Adam Eaton-Chris Coste relationship?

Ruiz’s suspension also means missing a much-needed right-handed batter in the lineup. Simply put, he fit nicely in the fifth spot.  Ruiz safely hit behind Chase Utley and Ryan Howard and had many opportunities to produce runs.The fifth spot could be a “sore spot” come April.

Erik Kratz will likely fill in during Ruiz’s absence, which he is no stranger to doing, but he cannot replace Chooch—even if it’s only for one month.

Last, this is a black eye for the organization. Ruiz appeared to be a clean, intelligent player, but this will taint his career and the Phils organization for some time.

The Phillies are not in panic mode, nor should the club be, but Ruben Amaro Jr. and the organization must now understand the importance and disappointment that comes along with the Ruiz suspension.

In an offseason where the Phillies look to regain elite status, this is a step in the wrong direction.

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Ranking the Top 10 Prospects in the Philadelphia Phillies’ Farm System

Headed into the 2012 season, nobody expected the Phillies to be anything less than a playoff contender, let alone struggle as they did.

By the All-Star break, the team’s postseason aspirations were fading quickly, and a few weeks later, they began clearing house by moving both Hunter Pence and Shane Victorino at the July 31 trade deadline.

However, while their overall season was a disappointment, they did add a few nice pieces to their severely depleted farm system in RHP Ethan Martin and C Tommy Joseph. And it’s a good thing that they did, because a majority of their highly-regarded prospects headed into the season endured a regression.

Although they possess a host of young pitching, as well as a few intriguing position prospects, the organization has only one potential star prospect in left-hander Jesse Biddle. And as you will see, their top 10 has a much different look than it did a year ago.

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10 Reasons Philadelphia Phillies Must Go All-in in 2013

Candidly, it is tough to conceive of a metaphor more expletive-d out than the poker-based conceit of going all-in.

Ever since Chris Moneymaker won the 2003 World Series of Poker, and Texas Hold’em became a game that everyone and his wife thought they could play, “I’m all in!” has become something of an all-purpose American tag line.

Now everyone says it. Church bake sale? “We’re all in—our brownies are going to be the best we have ever made!” Johnny is failing in his seventh-grade math class? The teacher says he has not committed himself to the material and needs to go “all-in.”

The real trouble with all this, of course, is that these ham-handed allusions to the concept of going all-in, of really gambling everything in front of you with no guarantee that it will work out, cheapen the significant gravitas of the expression.

Of all the teams in Major League Baseball looking at 2013, the Philadelphia Phillies are definitely the team that has no choice but to go “all-in.” 

And that is not hyperbole or exaggeration.

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5 Reasons the Phillies Should Trade Their Veterans for Young Stars

The Philadelphia Phillies currently have several veteran players whom they could possibly use as trade bait as the 2013 season approaches.

Take a look at the numbers for just one closer and one starting pitcher: the Phillies owe veterans Cliff Lee and Jonathan Papelbon $38 million dollars for the 2013 season. That is a ton of money for two guys who pitched a combined 281 innings in 2013, or only 19 percent of the total innings pitched during the entire season.

Furthermore, the Phillies are definitely in need of some talented youth to alleviate their dependence on high-priced free agents.

Here are five reasons why the Phillies should trade away a veteran or two in order to acquire some young stars. 

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Quick Trades to Fix Weaknesses of Philadelphia Phillies

The Philadelphia Phillies could soon see their offseason plan begin to take shape, as Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times writes that free agent B.J. Upton would like to make a decision on where he will sign this week.

The Phillies have their share of weaknesses to improve this offseason, such as the outfield, third base and the bullpen, but they are not the only team looking to fix these areas.

If the team misses out on Upton, it will have to compete with a number of teams for fewer available outfielders.  If the team is able to sign one of this offseason’s top free agents, it could look to find quick, low-cost fixes that improve the roster in other areas while not causing the payroll to skyrocket.

Once a larger number of free agents begin signing, the Phillies will need to have their contingency plans in place and ready to go, and some options could include making quick trades before the market thins.

None of these players would be considered flashy acquisitions, but combined with a few expensive free-agent signings, these trades could be the best options for filling the remaining needs.

Here are five players that the Phillies could target in quick trades that would fix the team’s weaknesses heading into next season.

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Phillies Rumors: Fact or Fiction on All the Hottest Rumors in Philadelphia

With the annual Winter Meetings set to kick off on December 3, the rumor mill is about to shift into overdrive, and you don’t want to be caught in the middle of the road when this thing gets going. 

The meetings—designed to give each team’s executives an opportunity to speak with not only each other, but some of the top free agents and their representation—have become a rumor bonanza over the last couple of seasons. The week leading up to the annual meetings is normally all about “laying the groundwork.” 

The Philadelphia Phillies are expected to be among the most active teams over the next couple weeks. They have a huge gap to fill in center field, and until they fill it, you can’t count them 100 percent out on any given player. 

They have the money. They have the need. 

And that’s only the biggest hole in this Phillies roster. They’ll also be in the market for a third baseman and a setup man, as well as on other, smaller fronts, like the corner outfield market. 

With the Winter Meetings quickly rounding into focus, you could call this the “calm before the storm,” but if the rumor mill never takes on a single attribute, it’s calm. Let this slide show serve as a tool of either debunking or confirming the hottest rumors coming out of Philly. 

Each player will either be labeled fact (meaning the Phillies have a legitimate interest and an opportunity to acquire said player in a reasonable fashion) or fiction (bringing said player to town is outside the realm of possibility). 

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Philadelphia Phillies: Jonathan Papelbon Signing a Mistake on Many Levels

Phillies fans breathlessly await this offseason’s big-name acquisition.

After the 2009 season, the Phillies traded for Roy Halladay, committing $60 million to him, per MLB.com.

After the 2010 season, recognizing how foolish they had been in trading Cliff Lee away in the first place, the Phillies brought Lee back for $120 million, per sbnation.com.

Those moves made sense and, for the most part, Halladay and Lee have delivered on their contracts.

Unfortunately, as wise as the Halladay and Lee acquisitions were, the Phillies lost the plot during the 2011 offseason.

The signing of Jonathan Papelbon for $50 million (per ESPN.com) was only marginally defensible when it happened. Now, with three years left on the deal, that decision has turned out to be a serious error in judgment.

Mind you, this is in no way an indictment of Papelbon or his performance. 

Unlike many of the players to whom the Phillies paid eight-figure salaries in 2012, Papelbon did more or less what the Phillies expected him to do.

Papelbon saved 38 games. His earned run average of 2.44 was sterling, as was his 1.06 WHIP. Striking out 92 batters in 70 games was also in line with what the Phillies expected to get from Papelbon when they gave him all that money.

And when you look around the National League, it is hard to identify many closers you would rather have than Papelbon.

Craig Kimbrel is one.

Kimbrel shared the league lead in saves, posted absurdly low numbers for earned run average (1.01) and WHIP (.654) and he is only 24 years of age.

 

Aroldis Chapman, also 24, saved 38 games, but with much better peripheral statistics than Papelbon (1.51 earned run average, .809 WHIP, 122 strikeouts in 71.2 innings pitched).

But Chapman is only a year removed from his predominantly lost 2011 season, when the Reds could not figure out what to do with him and he struggled with injury.

After Kimbrel and Chapman, Papelbon compares favorably with the premier closers in the rest of the National League.

Jason Motte saved 42 games, but 2012 marked the first time in his career that he had ever saved more than nine games, and he is 30 years old. 

Beyond Motte, you see a number of journeymen and league-average types: Joel Hanrahan, John Axford, J.J. Putz, et al.

Given Papelbon’s track record and his solid production in 2012, the Phillies would likely prefer him to any of those closers.

So why is the Papelbon signing such a mistake?

If the San Francisco Giants proved anything in their recent World Series run, it is that Billy Beane’s famous theory that just about anyone can close games is true.

When the Giants won the 2010 World Series, Brian Wilson made a name for himself as a quirky, lights-out closer with a funky beard. 

This season, however, Wilson pitched in two games before needing reconstructive elbow surgery. The Giants’ regular-season saves leader was Santiago Casilla.

But Sergio Romo saved all four games in the 2012 World Series. 

 

Beyond that, the eight figures that Papelbon commanded meant that the Phillies entered 2012 with plans to have inexpensive pitchers bridge games from the pricey starting staff to him.

Jose Contreras, Antonio Bastardo, David Herndon and Michael Stutes were all projected to pitch in the seventh and eighth innings of close games.

Of that group, all but Bastardo got hurt, and Bastardo‘s performance was so poor that by the end of the season he was primarily used in low-leverage situations.

Further, because manager Charlie Manuel was exceptionally loath to use Papelbon for more than one inning, the Phillies were eventually compelled to entrust late inning leads to the likes of B.J. Rosenberg, Jeremy Horst and Joe Savery, with predictable results.

At this point, the Phillies are probably stuck with Papelbon, at least in 2013.

His trade value with $39 million more due over the next three seasons is not going to be great. As such, the Phillies are best served hoping that he will churn out another healthy season of 30-plus saves.

If they had it to do over again, though, the Phillies would probably have Papelbon make his generational money somewhere else.

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Philadelphia Phillies Rumors: Pros and Cons of Acquiring Each Top Winter Target

Ever since before the final pitch of the 2012 World Series was thrown, the hot stove of the Philadelphia Phillies has been burning brightly. Before the regular season even ended, the team had already been connected to top-notch free agents. The rumor mill began to swirl as it always does in the offseason. This year, however, the presence of the big and available names provide quite a large free-agent pool.

The question then is not if, but when, Amaro will eventually jump in and make a splash.

Before we all wake up one morning to find out that Amaro did in fact make the big splash that, let’s face it, has become his and the Phillies’ calling card as of late, let’s take a look at the names MLB Trade Rumors have connected the Phillies to and why they either would or wouldn’t be a good fit with the team.

Here are the pros and cons of each of the top 16 free agent/trade targets the Phillies have been connected to since the start of the offseason.

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Philadelphia Phillies: Why Angel Pagan Would Fit in the Lineup Perfectly

Free-agent center fielder Angel Pagan was expected to return to the San Francisco Giants. After all, they just won a World Series, and Pagan played a significant role on that team.

However, according to Buster Olney of ESPN, the Giants are not sure that they want to give him as long of a contract as he wants.

Of course, these two parties could easily resolve this problem, but if it does not work out, the Philadelphia Phillies need to make a move and sweep up Pagan for their void in center field.

The typical argument against Pagan joining the Philadelphia Phillies is his age. He is 31 years old, and the Phillies have one of the oldest teams in baseball. Many people would argue that they need to look at a younger option like B.J. Upton.

However, this argument is somewhat flawed.

Relying only on age to judge a player would be like an NBA team signing an eight-foot player who has never touched a basketball before. Yes, height is important in basketball just like age is important in baseball, but it is only one dimension. The skills need to be there beyond these unchangeable factors.

Pagan has the type of skill set that would benefit the Philadelphia Phillies.

Last season, he hit .288 with eight home runs, 56 RBI and 29 stolen bases. He also led the National League with 15 triples and rapped out 38 doubles. While he doesn’t seem to have a lot of home run power, he has quite a bit of extra-base-hit power.

The home run power also might develop in Citizens Bank Park, which is much more hitter-friendly than AT&T Park.

That is important because Chase Utley and Ryan Howard exist in the middle of the Philadelphia batting order to drive in runs. Both of these men have the potential to drive in over 100 runs, but they need people on base. Pagan has obviously proven that he can get on base, and that is the easiest way to score runs.

Also, it is significant to note that in his entire career (695 games), Pagan has grounded into only 25 double plays. By putting him in the second slot, Pagan gives the Phillies some safety at the top of the lineup: If leadoff hitter Jimmy Rollins got on base, the bases would rarely be cleared because of Pagan.

Again, Ryan Howard and Chase Utley need people to drive in. Pagan would not eliminate these opportunities.

The Phillies do not need more power from a high-strikeout hitter like Upton in the middle of their lineup. They need people to handle themselves at the top of the order and utilize the power that they already have.

I realize that a lot of this argument relies on the fact that Utley and Howard need to be healthy and return to their normal level of production. And perhaps that is a bit of an assumption. However, just by looking at his statistics, we can see that Pagan gets on base without compromising the offensive attack. Whoever is in the middle of the lineup would benefit from that.

General manager Ruben Amaro Jr. told Jim Salisbury of CSN Philly that Pagan is definitely on his radar, and if the Giants are not able to bring him back, the Philadelphia Phillies need to make a major play for the center fielder.

 

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