Phillies’ Long-Overdue Ruben Amaro Jr. Firing Opens Door for New Era

It finally happened—Ruben Amaro Jr. is out as general manager of the Philadelphia Phillies. And, at long last, there’s a chance for a new direction in the City of Brotherly Love.

We’ll get to that new direction shortly. But first, it’s necessary to perform a brief autopsy of the Amaro regime.

The team announced his firing Thursday, per Todd Zolecki of MLB.com, one day after the Phillies were eliminated from postseason contention.

Of course, in reality, the Phils have been out of contention for months and even years. Yes, they advanced to the World Series in 2009 in Amaro’s first season as GM, made it to the National League Championship Series in 2010 and won the NL East in 2011.

Since then, however, Philadelphia has missed the playoffs for four consecutive seasons. This year, it’s sunk to a new low with the worst record in baseball.

Much of the blame for that stretch of futility rests squarely on Amaro’s shoulders.

First, there’s his noted aversion to analytics in an era when advanced stats and player evaluation have become the norm.

For his part, Amaro didn’t even have an analytics department until after the 2013 season, when the Phillies added Scott Freedman as a consultant from MLB‘s Labor Relations Department. Even then, Amaro sounded skeptical. “I don’t know if it’s going to change the way we do business,” he said at the time, per Zolecki. 

That attitude helps explain Amaro’s head-scratching tendency to keep aging players past their sell-by dates.

Take the infield core of shortstop Jimmy Rollins, second baseman Chase Utley and first baseman Ryan Howard.

Yes, they helped the Phillies win a championship in 2008 and contributed to the success of Amaro’s early years as GM.

But Amaro re-signed Rollins to a three-year deal with a vesting option for a fourth year after the 2011 season, agreeing to pay the veteran through his age-36 campaign. And, much more infamously, he handed a five-year, $125 million extension to Howard in 2010, a full two seasons before the first baseman’s existing contract was set to expire.

Hindsight is 20/20. But considering how far Howard’s stock has fallen in the intervening years, that will go down as one of the more boneheaded baseball decisions in recent memory.

Then there was the string of big-money deals and extensions Amaro handed to starters Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee and closer Jonathan Papelbon.

Yes, all three contributed, spectacularly so in the cases of Lee and Halladay. But all three ultimately became albatrosses, as Halladay and Lee succumbed to injury and decline and Papelbon curdled into a distracting malcontent.

Even when Amaro engineered deals as the rebuild finally lurched forward, it often seemed like too little, too late.

To pick one example: We’ll never know what the Phillies could have gotten for Utley at the deadline last year, when he made the All-Star team, rather than this season, when he was a recently injured shell of his former self and yielded a couple of interesting but unspectacular prospects from the Los Angeles Dodgers.

But it would’ve behooved the Phillies to find out (granted, Utley did have a no-trade clause).

The same holds for Papelbon and, to a much lesser extent, Cole Hamels, both of whom Amaro shipped out this summer but whose names popped up in frequent rumors last year as well.

Writing for FoxSports.com, Mitch Goldich summed it up neatly.

“One of the common criticisms levied against Amaro is that he doesn’t seem to have a plan,” Goldich noted. “I’d argue it might be more hopeless than that. That even if he did have a plan, there’s no guarantee he’d have the discipline to stick to it. Even when he knew the right thing to do, he couldn’t help himself.”

We could go on re-counting blunders (the lopsided swap that sent Hunter Pence to the San Francisco Giants in 2012, for example, or the time Amaro said grumbling fans “don’t understand the game,” per Jim Salisbury of CSN Philly). But you get the picture. Amaro is gone, none too soon, and the door is open for something new.

What will that be? And whom should the Phils slide into the general manager’s chair?

Whoever takes over won’t have to worry much about cutting the fat. With the trades (late or not) of Rollins, Papelbon, Utley and Hamels, as well as outfielder Ben Revere, Philadelphia doesn’t have many more pieces to move. (Howard, with his .228 average and $25 million owed next season, isn’t going anywhere.)

You could argue the Phillies would’ve been better served bringing in a new GM to oversee their trade-deadline machinations instead of keeping Amaro on board through July and August. 

In a way, though, this will allow Amaro’s successor to hit the ground running. Even if they didn’t always net the biggest possible return, the Phillies restocked a farm system that ESPN’s Keith Law ranked No. 25 in baseball before the season.

In particular, the trio of prospects acquired in the Hamels deal—right-hander Jake Thompson, outfielder Nick Williams and catcher Jorge Alfaro—should help a once-barren system bear fruit.

Add third baseman Maikel Franco, right-hander Aaron Nola and closer Ken Giles, plus shortstop J.P. Crawford—the Phils’ No. 1 prospect, according to MLB.com—and you have an emerging core any executive should be able to build around.

The new GM will also have money to play with, as CBS Sports’ Mike Axisa noted:

In fact, the Phillies only have about $65 million in salary on the books next year according to Cot’s Baseball Contracts. This is a club that has run payrolls north of $165 million every season since 2011. The Phillies aren’t hurting for money, they’ve always been a super high payroll team, so they’ll have the resources to go out and sign some big free agents this winter.

That could include a front-line starter such as David Price or Johnny Cueto, or a bat like outfielder Justin Upton.

Handing big contracts to veterans, though, was how Amaro dug his grave. That’s not to say the Phillies shouldn’t go after expensive free agents, but first they need to bring in a GM with the acumen to make the right moves.

And, yes, they need someone who embraces analytics as an essential facet of baseball in the year 2015 and doesn’t look at them as some newfangled fad.

Scott Proefrock, who served as assistant general manager for Amaro’s entire tenure, was named acting GM. But he’s merely a placeholder.

In fact, as Matt Breen, Jake Kaplan and Justin Klugh reported for Philly.com, “The new GM will be handpicked by [Andy] MacPhail, who will succeed Pat Gillick as team president after this season.”

And MacPhail insists he’ll give his hire some breathing room, per John Clark of CSN Philly:

MacPhail will have plenty of names to choose from, but here’s an interesting one: J.J. Picollo.

Picollo has been with the Kansas City Royals since 2006, working his way up from director of player development to his current role as assistant GM. At age 44, he has the relative youth mixed with a player-development background, which can help shepherd a franchise out of the rebuilding darkness.

In addition to Picollo, Kaplan floated a handful of names, including 34-year-old Los Angeles Angels assistant GM Matt Klentak, 38-year-old St. Louis Cardinals assistant GM Michael Girsch and Miami Marlins director of pro scouting Jeff McAvoy, also 38, who’s spent time with the analytically inclined Tampa Bay Rays and Houston Astros.

No matter what, Philadelphia should target a candidate who combines freshness with meaningful experience and brings a track record of making sound, evidenced-based decisions, relying more on advanced scouting and numbers and less on gut.

Someone, in other words, who has a plan.

And so we’re back to taking shots at Amaro. Really, though, this is a moment to celebrate for Phillies fans. After years of frustration and futility, a new era is about to arrive.

Whether it’ll be successful, and how quickly, remains to be seen. But already, there’s something brewing in southeastern Pennsylvania—a feeling folks there haven’t had in a while: hope.

 

All statistics current as of Sept. 10 and courtesy of MLB.com unless otherwise noted.

Read more Philadelphia Phillies news on BleacherReport.com

Ruben Tejada Hits Inside-the-Park HR After Domonic Brown Flips over Side Wall

New York Mets shortstop Ruben Tejada drove a shot down the right field line of Citi Field in the second inning of Wednesday’s 9-4 win over the Philadelphia Phillies for an inside-the-park home run after Domonic Brown botched the catch.

The Phillies right fielder was racing toward the ball with enough momentum to send him over the side wall after missing it:

The two-run homer gave the Mets a 3-0 lead over Philadelphia.

[MLB]

Read more Philadelphia Phillies news on BleacherReport.com

Planning the Perfect Philadelphia Phillies Rebuild After July Sell-Off

OK, now the Philadelphia Phillies can get serious about rebuilding.

When they finally set their minds on doing so last winter, they were making a decision that was long overdue. Old, expensive players bogged down their roster, and their farm system was widely considered to be one of baseball’s worst. Clearly, it was going to take time to get the club’s rebuild on the right track.

Or not, as it turns out.

Over the winter, the Phillies bolstered their farm system by trading Antonio Bastardo, Jimmy Rollins and Marlon Byrd. During this year’s trade-deadline swap meet, they further bolstered their farm by dealing Cole Hamels, Jonathan Papelbon and Ben Revere.

So, that old, expensive roster? It’s not so old and expensive anymore. And that fledgling farm system? MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki notes that it’s looking pretty good:

Including the prospects the Phillies received in December…they have added 12 Minor League players to the organization in the past seven months, including 10 that rank among the Top 24 in their system and three in the Top 69 in baseball, according to MLBPipeline.com.

As general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said: “You’ve got to give quality to get quality. We think we did that.”

He’s not wrong, you know. And now that Amaro has what he needs to proceed, he could end the Phillies’ rebuild in short order.

But rather than wait to see how that pans out, let’s use our imagination and chart what would be the perfect rebuilding course going forward.

To do so, we’ll imagine when the Phillies’ best young talent will arrive in the majors. We’ll also imagine which players the Phillies could bring in from outside the organization. And we’ll assume there’s a sense of urgency at play, with a goal in mind to put a legit contender on the field by 2018.

Mind you, for brevity’s sake, we’ll have to paint with broad strokes. And in the interest of full disclosure, your humble narrator admits that he is not Nostradamus. Odds are, what the Phillies end up trotting out in 2018 will look decidedly different from what’s about to be dreamed up in this space.

But if you’re in the mood for a fantasy with at least a hint of plausibility, read on.

 

2015 Winter and 2016 Season

One thing the Phillies can look forward to this winter is a whole bunch of money coming off the books. In Cliff Lee and Chase Utley alone, $40 million is about to vanish from Philly’s payroll.

But though Philadelphia could use this as an excuse to go wild in free agency, it shouldn’t. With multiyear free-agent contracts, you can really only count on getting good value in the short term. The Phillies won’t be ready to take such risks just yet.

Instead, they should take a page out of the textbook for Rebuilding 101 and stockpile cheap veterans looking for an opportunity to turn their careers around, with the idea being to hope they can do just that before they’re flipped for young talent in midseason trades.

On this front, a top pursuit could be current Washington Nationals shortstop Ian Desmond, who could be open to spending his age-30 season rebuilding his value at a hitter-friendly home like Citizens Bank Park. Elsewhere, players such as Matt Joyce, Steve Pearce, Bobby Parnell and Bud Norris could also be open to rebuilding their value in Philly.

As the 2016 campaign goes along, whether these players can attract the attention of other clubs during trade season will be one of the top storylines in Philadelphia. The honor of the top storyline, however, will belong to the club’s growing youth movement.

In 22-year-old third baseman Maikel Franco, 23-year-old center fielder Odubel Herrera, 22-year-old right-hander Aaron Nola and 24-year-old right-hander Ken Giles, the Phillies are poised to move into 2016 with four quality young building blocks. By the end of the year, they could add five more to the big league club.

Those would be all-around shortstop J.P. Crawford, multitalented left fielder Nick Williams, slugging catcher Jorge Alfaro, power right-hander Jake Thompson and ground-ball-magnet right-hander Zach Eflin. MLB.com pegs them as five of the Phillies’ top 10 prospects, and Crawford (No. 6), Thompson (No. 60), Williams (No. 64) and Alfaro (No. 69) are also considered to be four of the best prospects in all of baseball. And of those five names, four are virtual locks to debut in the majors before the end of 2016.

The one wild card is Alfaro, as he’ll be ready next season only if his defense catches up with his offense. What the Phillies could and should do, however, is shorten Alfaro‘s path to the majors by converting him into a right fielder. It’s a position that would take it easier on his surgically repaired left ankle and would be a better fit for his bat, his plus arm strength and his strong overall athleticism

If all goes well—and remember, you’re playing along here—the 2016 season will see the Phillies establish an impressive core of young players while also replenishing their farm system’s ranks by making more trades. Throw in a bottom-10 record that would ensure top-draft-pick protection, and the Phillies’ 2016 season will have been successful without being too successful.

After all, the real work would still only be getting started.

 

2016 Winter and 2017 Season

After waving goodbye to a chunk of payroll following the 2015 campaign, the Phillies are due to watch even more money come off the books after 2016 with Ryan Howard and Carlos Ruiz’s contracts likely ending (both have team options).

Once they’re gone, the Phillies will be in a very strong position to advance their rebuild. They’ll have a solid core of young players in place, tons of payroll flexibility and a gigantic $2.5 billion TV contract with which to make the most of that flexibility.

Time to go to town in free agency? To the extent that a seemingly weak free-agent class will allow, yes.

A top priority should be signing an impact bat to go with the club’s gaggle of young position players. To this end, Philly should target the speed, power and defense of center fielder Carlos Gomez. It’ll take a lot of money to sign him, but that won’t be a problem. And as Business Insider can show, the relatively small amount of fair territory for Gomez to cover at CBP could be a deal-maker for both sides.

As a bonus, signing Gomez could be a way to kill two birds with one stone. The Phillies could use his acquisition as an excuse to move Herrera from center field back to second base, which could be quite the defensive upgrade. Whereas Herrera is nothing special in center field, Baseball America notes that he was named the best defensive second baseman in the Texas League in 2014.

After Gomez, the Phillies could move on an impact starter to flesh out their rotation. But since they should want nothing to do with the flimsy health and inconsistent production of Stephen Strasburg or Andrew Cashner, they should instead settle for upgrading their bullpen with one of the market’s elite closers. That list is set to include Aroldis Chapman, Greg Holland, Drew Storen and Kenley Jansen.

Of those options, Jansen would be a good choice for a multiyear contract. Whereas the others could see their success fade as their velocity does, Jansen’s Mariano Rivera-esque cutter is his ticket to age like, well, Mariano Rivera.

After adding Gomez and Jansen, the Phillies should next look to add a replacement catcher for Ruiz. Signing Jason Castro for his elite framing skills and ability to handle pitchers would be the easy option. But he’ll be on the wrong side of 30 and with an iffy injury history.

If the Phillies are going to think defense first for Ruiz’s replacement, they’d be better off targeting somebody younger in a trade. With this in mind, here’s a name: 23-year-old Christian Vazquez.

Though he only played in 55 games with the Boston Red Sox as a rookie in 2014, that was all Vazquez needed to establish himself as an other-worldly pitch-framer and running-game manager. Tommy John surgery has put his career on hold, but 2016 should see him re-establish himself as a valuable asset.

But he’s also likely to be an expendable asset, as Blake Swihart is widely considered Boston’s catcher of the future. If that future materializes more solidly in 2016 than it has in 2015, the Red Sox are likely to be open to shopping Vazquez. With what should still be a good farm system, the Phillies will have the pieces to deal if it comes to that.

With Gomez, Jansen and Vazquez joining the budding young core the Phillies established in 2016, the 2017 season would figure to be their first big step back toward relevance. 

And the following winter, it would be time to close the gap.

 

2017 Winter and 2018 Season

Though the Phillies will have spent big on free agents in the winter of 2016, they should still have plenty of payroll flexibility and revenue for another splurge after 2017.

This is good, because that winter’s free-agent class is shaping up to be a doozy that could help the Phillies fill their remaining needs.

One of those would be at first base, where the Phillies would still need an heir for Howard. Fortunately for them, their options on the open market are due to include Eric Hosmer, Brandon Belt and Lucas Duda. Between the three, Hosmer makes the most sense. Beyond his being the most likely of the three to actually hit free agency, he’s also the youngest (currently 25) and arguably the most well-rounded of the three.

Securing Hosmer would just leave the Phillies the need to round out their pitching staff, and the open market could help them there, too.

Among the starters poised to hit free agency after 2017 are Lance Lynn, Tyson Ross, Michael Pineda, Chris Tillman and Henderson Alvarez. Of those five, Ross would stand out due to his light workload history and how his heavy emphasis on ground balls and strikeouts would play at CBP.

After Ross, another welcome addition would be a power left-hander to pair with Jansen and Giles in the bullpen. As it happens, Jake McGee and his power fastball are set to hit the market that winter. He’d be a perfect option to round out the back end of the Phillies bullpen.

With Hosmer, Ross and McGee aboard, the Phillies would need just one more thing: a tried-and-true ace to join Ross, Nola, Thompson and Eflin in their rotation. And since we’re imagining the Phillies’ “perfect” rebuild, let’s talk about Sonny Gray.

Oakland A’s assistant general manager David Forst recently said (h/t Joe Stiglich of CSN Bay Area) that Gray is the closest thing the A’s have to an “untouchable” player. But that could change once he starts getting expensive, and that’s going to happen very soon. Gray will be eligible for arbitration for the first time after 2016 and for a second time after 2017.

By then, he could be due for too big a raise for Oakland’s pocketbooks, forcing the A’s to do their usual thing by dangling Gray on the trade market. Due to past trades and high draft picks in 2016 and 2017, the Phillies should still have enough young talent to strike a deal and bring Gray to Philadelphia.

If so, the Phillies would head into 2018 with the following roster:

After brushing up against it in 2017, the Phillies could easily take a roster like that and bring about a decisive end to their rebuild. And with it, the beginning of a new Phillies dynasty would arrive.

Or so we can imagine, anyway.

As easy as it is to picture everything falling neatly into place for them, odds are the Phillies will have to contend with numerous bumps in the road over the next couple of years. These will make putting an end to their rebuild that much tougher.

For now, though, there’s comfort to be taken in the list of possibilities for the Phillies. With their rebuild finally on the right track, it’s a long list.

 

Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com and FanGraphs unless otherwise noted/linked.

If you want to talk baseball, hit me up on Twitter.

 

Read more Philadelphia Phillies news on BleacherReport.com

MLB Trade Talk: Latest Buzz Surrounding Cole Hamels

With the MLB All-Star break coming to a close and the trade deadline quickly approaching, there has recently been a lot of trade talk surrounding Philadelphia Phillies ace Cole Hamels.

Hamels’ name has been thrown around in trade rumors for what seems like years now, but with the Phillies currently a league-worst 29-62, the time to trade Hamels appears to be right now. With the addition of the second wild card and the parity that is plaguing baseball, there may be more buyers at the deadline than in recent seasons. 

CSNPhilly.com’s Corey Seidman speculates that the Blue Jays, Red Sox, Yankees, Rangers, Angels, Cubs, Dodgers, Giants, Orioles and Astros are all potential suitors for Hamels.

Hamels, who is due $70.5 million over the next three seasons after 2015, also has a team option of $20 million in 2019. Although the ability to potentially control Hamels through 2019 appears to be a positive, Seidman reported the opposite.  

“Whether or not it’s posturing, these clubs have at least so far been hesitant to trade impact prospects and take on Hamels’ hefty salary,” wrote Seidman. “It’s silly, though, because Hamels’ remaining contract is about half of what it would cost to sign David Price or [Johnny] Cueto this offseason.” 

Aaron Gleeman of NBC Sports echoed Seidman‘s optimism regarding Hamels and made a case why teams should attempt to land the lefty. 

“He’s not just a second-half pickup,” Gleeman wrote. “Hamels would anchor a rotation for three-and-a-half seasons and that’s nearly impossible to acquire via free agency without making a $100 million-plus commitment.”

Still, some Phillies fans just want to see Hamels gone so they can start their long, overdue rebuilding process. The Phillies will likely miss the postseason for the fourth consecutive season and appear headed to their second straight last-place finish in the National League East. 

Hamels has struggled of late, prompting some to believe that his trade value is plummeting. He gave up a season-high nine runs against the Giants in his final start before the All-Star break, raising his season ERA to 3.63. 

Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. has made curious decisions and comments over the past few seasons, prompting him to fall out of favor among the fans. So much so that someone is offering their first-born child in exchange for his firing:

The Phillies are a mess and badly need to have a fire sale. Hamels is undoubtedly their best trade chip and would garner the best package from a contender. If they could land a few prospects in exchange for their 31-year-old ace, who is seemingly rotting away on an awful team, they could have a chance to start trending in a positive direction in 2016.

Bob Brookover of Philly.com noted that a potential trade of Hamels may be the only thing left for Phillies fans to look forward to in 2015. 

“The package the Phillies get in return for Hamels will be the most interesting thing that happens between now and the Oct. 4 season finale against the Miami Marlins,” he wrote.

The Phillies need to let 2015 be their rock bottom. The best way to do that is to trade away their veterans, get younger and free up some money. Dealing Hamels would be the first step toward accomplishing those goals.

After all, it’s improbable that the Phillies will be able to build around Hamels anyway. It will be interesting to see if Amaro pulls the trigger and finally kick-starts the painful rebuild over the coming weeks leading up to the trade deadline. 

Read more Philadelphia Phillies news on BleacherReport.com

Philadelphia Phillies Trade Rumors: Tracking Hot Updates, News and Reaction

The Philadelphia Phillies, with a 29-62 record, are one of the few teams in Major League Baseball firmly out of contention, so they could look to deal some of their veteran players in hopes of building for the future.

While fans never want to have a losing season, being one of the only legitimate sellers in the league is a powerful thing. Philadelphia has some attractive assets, and with many teams looking to improve for a potential postseason run, the Phillies have the ability to control the market.

The Phillies front office will have to decide just how committed they are to dealing certain players. The club’s high asking prices have scared other teams off in recent years, but now that it has a chance to conduct a bidding war, it may be more willing to deal.

Keep coming back throughout July to see what rumors the Phillies are involved in and what deals they make before the July 31 trade deadline passes.

Begin Slideshow

Phillies Set Franchise Record with 62 Losses Before All-Star Break

The Philadelphia Phillies set an unwanted record during the season’s first half, losing 62 games before the All-Star break for the first time in franchise history, per Sportsnet Stats.

Although there was no expectation of the team being competitive this season, the Phillies have arguably still been somewhat disappointing, as they’re in a league of their own when it comes to futility.

Sitting at 29-62 through 91 games, the Phillies have a miserable .319 winning percentage, putting them more than 100 percentage points below MLB‘s second-worst team, the 38-52 Milwaukee Brewers (.422).

The Phillies have scored a National League-worst 309 runs and allowed an MLB-high 468 runs. Only the Chicago White Sox have plated fewer runs, and even the Colorado Rockies—who play at Coors Field—have surrendered fewer.

The White Sox have MLB’s second-worst run differential at minus-73, while the Phillies have more than doubled the negative output, sitting at minus-160 heading into the second half.

They aren’t just the worst team this season, but possibly the worst team MLB has seen since the 2003 Detroit Tigers finished 43-119 for a .265 winning percentage.

And the franchise already has 14 100-loss seasons in its largely woeful history, having reached that mark in 1904, 1921, 1923, 1927, 1928, 1930, 1936, five consecutive seasons from 1938 to 1942, 1945 and 1961.

With the team presumably trying to trade the few veteran players it still has left, the Phillies are all but guaranteed to finish with baseball’s worst record and a 100-loss season.

If not for the strong performance of rookie third baseman Maikel Franco, it would truly be a lost season.

Read more Philadelphia Phillies news on BleacherReport.com

Why the Los Angeles Dodgers Are the Best Team for Cole Hamels

It’s only fitting that a player whom his teammates call “Hollywood” will wind up in Los Angeles. 

Cole Hamels, the Philadelphia Phillies‘ ace pitcher and one of the biggest names on the trade market, is a near-lock to be moved by MLB‘s July 31 trade deadline. The only question is where the former World Series MVP will finish his season. 

The Dodgers represent the best possible marriage: Hamels, a Southern California native, and a first-place club. 

Already armed with a rotation featuring two former Cy Young Award winners in Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke, Los Angeles is reportedly seeking starting pitching depth for the latter part of this season. 

Hamels’ 3.02 ERA and 119 strikeouts in 113.1 innings pitched this year look mighty attractive compared to what the Dodgers have dealt with. 

Outside of Kershaw and Greinke, the the team’s starting rotation has been a trainwreck. Hyun-jin Ryu and Brandon McCarthy both suffered season-ending injuries and their replacements haven’t been much better. Second-year man Mike Bolsinger owns a 4.79 ERA over his last five starts, and Carlos Frias had a 5.40 ERA in his eight previous outings before hitting the disabled list himself. 

ESPN.com’s Anthony Witrado offered some insight into the Dodgers’ rotation woes: 

President of baseball operations Andrew Friedman and general manager Farhan Zaidi are presumably active on the pitching trade market, but until they pull the trigger on their first in-season blockbuster move, the Dodgers have to solve their back-end rotation problems.

That could mean Brandon Beachy, coming off two Tommy John surgeries, is brought into the fold. 

When your answer is a guy who hasn’t pitched in an MLB game since 2013, you might have a problem. 

Enter Hamels, a quick-fix solution for Los Angeles—a franchise five games up on the defending champion San Francisco Giants and looking to win the tough National League West for a third-straight year. 

Coincidentally, Hamels, who’s played the entirety of his 10-year career in Philadelphia, openly wants to pitch for a contender in the future, via Bob Nightengale of USA TODAY Sports:

“I just want to win,” Hamels told USA TODAY Sports in his first interview since the end of the 2014 season. “That’s all. That’s all any competitor wants.

“And I know it’s not going to happen here.

“This isn’t what I expected. It’s not what the Phillies expected, either.

“But it’s reality.”

Hamels’ 5-6 record through 17 starts is evidence to that. The Phillies’ offense has failed to score in eight of those outings. 

In fact, Philadelphia gives its best starting pitcher the worst run support—2.39 runs per start—among all 96 qualified starters in the entire MLB this season. 

It’s no wonder Hamels wants out, especially after team president Pat Gillick recently admitted the franchise will be in rebuilding mode until at least 2018. 

Los Angeles, meanwhile, provides more than enough run support for its starters. In 2015, its offense ranks fourth in the NL in runs scored (355), first in home runs (106) and first in wins above replacement (16.7). 

The expensive value of Hamels’ current contract, though, remains one of the biggest issues for Philadelphia in moving the three-time All-Star. 

Earning $23.5 million this season, the left-hander is owed $67.5 million more over the following three years with a club option of an additional $20 million in 2019.

Although the Phillies are open to eating most of Hamels’ remaining salary, according to WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford, the Dodgers can easily cover the balance when compared to other franchises. 

The team entered this season with the league’s highest payroll at over $272 million, making them no stranger to spending in order to improve their roster. 

After dishing out expensive contracts in the past to Kershaw, Greinke, Andre Ethier, Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford, it’s reasonable to suggest the Dodgers are more than willing to pay the price for another star.  

Jimmy Rollins, the Phillies’ franchise hit-leader who was traded to the Dodgers in December, recently spoke about a possible reunion with Hamels in Los Angeles, via CSN Philly’s Jim Salisbury: 

“That would be nice,” he said. “That would be nice. Cole would be close to home. We know what type of pitcher he is, especially in big games. He wants those games. You have two big-game pitchers that are already here, so that would be three, and that’s one heck of a combination.”

Of course there are other possible destinations for Hamels, including Texas, Chicago, Houston, Toronto and New York among others. 

However, these clubs—all contenders in their own right—aren’t as good a fit as Los Angeles for a pitcher desperate to leave town. 

Either way, Hamels Watch 2015 is in full effect this month as the baseball world waits for Philadelphia’s impending deal. 

 

 

Dan is a featured writer for B/R’s Advanced Program in Sports Media. You can follow him @dan_servodidio. He also thinks Hamels should have been traded years ago. 

Read more Philadelphia Phillies news on BleacherReport.com

Andy MacPhail Should Make the Philadelphia Phillies Contenders Again

When Andy MacPhail was introduced Monday as the Philadelphia Phillies‘ next president of baseball operations, the 62-year-old executive knew what he was getting into. A former general manager of the Minnesota Twins and president of the Chicago Cubs and Baltimore Orioles, MacPhail is no stranger to rebuilding efforts. 

At the beginning of next season, the veteran executive will be tasked with just that as he inherits a Phillies team with the worst record in Major League Baseball (27-53) in the midst of its fourth straight year missing the postseason. 

Although he will serve as a “special assistant” to current team president Pat Gillick for the next three months, MacPhail will assume control of the organization at the season’s end. 

If the Phillies want to get back to their winning ways that saw five consecutive National League East crowns from 2007 to 2011 and a franchise-record 102 wins in the latter year, there might not be a better man for the job than MacPhail, whose resume includes three decades’ worth of rebuilding experience. 

MacPhail took over as the Twins’ GM in 1985 and promptly built a national contender that would win World Series titles in 1987, their first in 63 years, and 1991. 

Next it was on to Chicago where, in 1994 as president and CEO of the Cubs, he took over a historically cursed franchise—one run so poorly that Greg Maddux left in free agency and Ryne Sandberg retired midseason before MacPhail could do anything about it. 

In 2003, his construction was rewarded when the Cubs won their first postseason series since the infamous 1908 World Series and came a Steve Bartman interference away from reaching the Fall Classic. 

MacPhail then went to Baltimore, serving as team president from 2007 to 2011, where he helped plant the seeds to national contention though smart trades and a specific attention to sabermetrics. In 2012, the Orioles reached the playoffs after 14 straight losing seasons in the vaunted AL East. 

In each of his three previous stints in the league, MacPhail had to take over franchises that had become baseball’s bottom-feeders and turn them into title contenders. When it comes to the Phillies’ situation, he’s been there and done that. 

Monday’s introductory press conference saw Phillies co-owner John Middleton stress the importance of MacPhail’s embrace to analytics and sabermetrics in rebuilding an MLB team, something that the organization, led by current Philadelphia GM Ruben Amaro Jr., has notoriously ignored. 

MacPhail was vehement about his approach to the new age of baseball scouting and development, via CSN Philly’s Corey Seidman:

I can assure you, as you probably already know, sabermetrics is something of intense interest to ownership. When it comes to that sort of thing, I believe you look at everything, absolutely everything. Why would you exclude any information? You’re gonna try to do every piece of homework you can to push the odds of being successful in your favor — every stat, every formula.

This is a tactic the Phillies haven’t warmed up to yet. In an ESPN feature this past February, the franchise was 122nd, dead last, in a ranking of every team in the four major sports based on strength and commitment to analytics. 

MacPhail believes it’s important to combine the scouting and league experience he has with the revolutionary analytics-driven statistics of the MLB today, via Seidman: 

I think it’s absolutely essential that you marry [sabermetrics] with the best human intelligence you can. Bodies change, weaknesses get exposed and then they get exploited. People make adjustments. Maybe they can hit a curveball that they couldn’t a year ago. You need to look at every single facet when you’re making player evaluations. No stone goes unturned.

Many Philadelphia-area fans and media members know all too well what MacPhail is talking about. A little less than a decade ago, first baseman Ryan Howard slugged a league-leading 58 home runs and 149 RBI en route to NL MVP honors in just his second full season in the majors. 

Last season, a 34-year-old Howard hit just .223 with 23 homers and an MLB-high 190 strikeouts. Talk about bodies changing and weaknesses getting exposed. 

MacPhail has a lot to address and evaluate in these next three months in all facets of team personnel. With Amaro’s contract expiring at the season’s end and following Sandberg’s recent resignation, the Phillies’ new president could bring in a new GM and manager to lead the 2016 Phillies. 

The players are a whole other issue. 

The combination of aging veterans (Howard, second baseman Chase Utley and catcher Carlos Ruiz) and potential trade bait (starting pitcher Cole Hamels and closer Jonathan Papelbon) pose MacPhail with the challenge of rebuilding a core of a team that wants to desperately contend again. 

As we saw in Minnesota, Chicago and Baltimore, though, this is no large task for one Andy MacPhail. He’s done it with three other franchises in three separate decades, and Philadelphia is just his latest project. 

 

Dan is a featured writer in B/R’s Advanced Program in Sports Media. You can follow him on Twitter @dan_servodidio. He also thinks the Phillies are desperate for help. 

Read more Philadelphia Phillies news on BleacherReport.com

Pete Mackanin Named Phillies Interim Manager for Remainder of Season

The Philadelphia Phillies have announced on their Twitter that Pete Mackanin will remain the club’s interim manager for the rest of the 2015 season. 

Mackanin, formerly the team’s third base coach, was appointed interim manager after Ryne Sandberg resigned on Friday, June 26, with the Phillies starting the season 26-48. Sandberg was 119-159 from 2013-2015 in Philadelphia.  

A former infielder for the Texas Rangers, Phillies, Montreal Expos and Minnesota Twins, Mackanin played nine seasons in the major leagues. According to Rob Maaddi of the Associated Press (via ABC News), he managed parts of two seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2005 and the Cincinnati Reds in 2007. He is 53-53 in those stints. 

Entering Tuesday night, the Phillies are 27-51, 16.0 games behind the National League East-leading Washington Nationals. They have three more games at home against the Milwaukee Brewers before embarking on a 10-game road trip before the All-Star break.    

Read more Philadelphia Phillies news on BleacherReport.com

Rookie Phenom Maikel Franco Gives Phillies the Next Franchise Centerpiece

The Philadelphia Phillies are such a mess that when their manager quit last week, their players barely seemed to care. They’re such a mess that they recently went out in search of someone to fix the situation (hello, Andy MacPhail).

There’s going to be a new manager in place of Ryne Sandberg, and you’ve got to believe there’s going to be a new general manager, too. They’re going to need a whole bunch of new players.

It’s going to take time, but it’s far from an impossible task. The Phillies should add some real talent when they finally trade Cole Hamels.

And they already have a guy who should be the star of the future. Maybe the star of the present, too.

Maikel Franco is breaking in with a Phillies team that is awful, but so did Mike Schmidt (who debuted with a 97-loss club in 1972). So did Jimmy Rollins (who debuted with a 97-loss squad in 2000).

Franco actually debuted last September, with a club that was on the way to 89 losses. He’s getting plenty familiar with losing this year, but at 22, he’s young enough to become part of the next Phillies winner.

Plenty good enough, too.

He’s “a legitimate middle-of-the-order bat,” said one rival scout who has followed Franco’s career since 2013, when he homered 16 times in just 65 games at Single-A Clearwater. “He has great bat speed, and great power to all fields. The first at-bat I ever saw him take, he hit it over the Tiki Bar in left field [in Clearwater]. The next at-bat, he hit it off the right field wall.”

The National League is starting to see the same thing. And the American League, too, because when he homered three times and drove in 10 runs in back-to-back games last week, it was at Yankee Stadium.

He was the first Phillie to drive in five runs in consecutive games, the first Yankee opponent to drive in five runs in consecutive games and one of only five active players with two straight five-RBI games anywhere. The other four: Alex Rodriguez, Bryce Harper, Robinson Cano and Carlos Beltran.

Franco spent the first five weeks of the season in the minor leagues, but he’s still driven in more runs than any Phillie but Ryan Howard. Franco had been in the big leagues less than a month this season when Sandberg moved him to the third spot in the lineup. When Sandberg resigned last Friday, interim manager Pete Mackanin kept Franco in the same spot.

The Phillies seem to know what they have. Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com related a conversation between Phillies bench coach Larry Bowa and Reds first base coach Billy Hatcher.

“We’ve got a stud at third!” Bowa told Hatcher.

There have been times when the Phillies and others wondered if Franco would stay at third. For all his talent, Franco is not fast, and Salisbury writes that the Phillies had thoughts of making him a catcher. Others thought he might end up at first base (where he played twice last week).

The scout who has followed Franco’s career insists he’ll be fine at third because of his great hands, quick feet and a “cannon” arm.

No matter what, it seems certain that Franco will be a fixture in the Phillies lineup as it evolves over the next few years. The Phillies aren’t loaded with big prospects, but with Franco and shortstop J.P. Crawford (currently at Double-A Reading), they should have the left side of the infield covered.

Teams can turn around quickly in this baseball era, especially clubs with the financial resources the Phillies have. The Tigers went from 119 losses to the World Series in just three years, and they didn’t have anyone on the 2003 team who was as promising as Franco is now.

They didn’t have anyone with Hamels’ trade value, either.

Look at the Phillies now, and it’s hard to imagine they could be a World Series team in three years, or even twice that. But look at Maikel Franco now, and it’s easy to imagine that he’ll be a big part of the next Phillies team that wins.

 

Danny Knobler covers Major League Baseball as a national columnist for Bleacher Report.

Follow Danny on Twitter and talk baseball. 

Read more Philadelphia Phillies news on BleacherReport.com

« Previous Page — Next Page »