Roy Halladay Fan Has No Idea Roy Halladay Is Standing Right Behind Him

Anyone who is in love with sports can appreciate the experience of meeting a favorite athlete: the excitement, the joy—and hopefully, the picture.

Sadly, this fan only got the last part—and he didn’t even notice.

Roy Halladay saw a fan wearing his jersey, stood behind him and took a photo.

Surely the fan has seen this by now, but he probably would have wanted to meet the retired ace.

[Twitter]

Read more Philadelphia Phillies news on BleacherReport.com

Philadelphia Phillies’ Top 10 Prospects for 2015

The Philadelphia Phillies haven’t launched a full-on rebuilding process, at least not yet, but the organization appears to be headed in that direction based on recent trades.

The Phillies have targeted young, projectable pitchers in trades this offseason, acquiring Zach Eflin and Tom Windle from the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Jimmy Rollins deal and then getting right-hander Ben Lively from the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for Marlon Byrd. Those additions give the Phillies some much-needed pitching depth on the farm behind 2014 first-rounder Aaron Nola and former top prospect Jesse Biddle.

J.P. Crawford, the No. 16 overall pick in the 2013 draft, was lauded for his offensive potential and ability to remain at shortstop, but no one could have predicted how advanced the hit tool would be in his first full professional season. Meanwhile, third baseman Maikel Franco overcame a rough first half at Triple-A to reach the major leagues as a September call-up, setting him up for a potential everyday role in 2015.

Beyond that, the Phillies system also stands out for its collection of young, high-upside talent in the low minors, a group that includes center fielder Roman Quinn, catcher Deivi Grullon, left-hander Yoel Mecias and right-hander Franklyn Kilome.

Here are the Phillies’ top 10 prospects for the 2015 season.

Begin Slideshow

What Is Fair Trade Value for Phillies Ace Cole Hamels?

Of the attractive trade chips in the Philadelphia Phillies‘ collection, Cole Hamels is the Action Comics No. 1 of the bunch. He’s the prized possession, and the one available for the highest price. 

Or so they think. But in reality, his trade value is…well, complicated.

Granted, we don’t actually know what Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. is demanding for Hamels. But some hints have appeared on the rumor mill, with two reports in particular standing out.

In early November, Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com reported that the Phillies want “at least three top prospects” for their ace left-hander. More recently, Ryan Lawrence of the Philadelphia Daily News wrote that the team had discussed a deal with the San Diego Padres centered on 2013 American League Rookie of the Year Wil Myers.

Again, these are just rumors. But they do fit with the team’s new rebuilding direction, as well as with recent remarks from manager Ryne Sandberg.

“There’s no way that Ruben’s going to just give away a player,” he said at the winter meetings, via Alex Speier of WEEI.com. “I mean, we’d have to be wowed to give up a guy like Cole Hamels, which would be a wow that would help us with the process and go in the direction that we want to go.”

Getting three top prospects for Hamels? Yeah, that would qualify as a “wow” trade. So would acquiring a guy with Myers’ talent and controllability. (He’s a free agent after 2019.) 

But regarding what Hamels is actually worth, we have to start with the elephant in the room: his contract.

The six-year, $144 million extension Hamels signed in 2012 has four years remaining on it at $23.5 million per year, plus a $6 million buyout on a $20 million option for 2019. As such, he’s owed between $100 million over four years and $114 million over five years.

For the Phillies, the ideal scenario involves moving all of that money and getting the young pieces they desire. But because young players are probably more valuable now than ever before, the Phillies’ best hope of pulling that off lies in convincing buyers that Hamels’ remaining contract is a bargain.

To this end, there’s an obvious target Amaro can point at to sell teams on the idea: Jon Lester.

A couple weeks ago, Lester signed with the Chicago Cubs for six years and $155 million. Amaro can point to that as the going rate for ace left-handers on Lester’s level.

And you know who matches that description as well as anyone? Yup. Hamels.

That Hamels and Lester were born barely a week apart 30 years ago (Lester turns 31 on January 7) helps the comparison, but it goes further. Courtesy of Baseball–Reference.com and FanGraphs, check out how Hamels and Lester stack up throughout their careers and in more recent history:

If you don’t know ERA+, that’s a version of ERA that’s adjusted for ballparks and leagues and placed on a scale of 100. Anything over 100 is above average.

So, in a nutshell: Hamels has been a slightly better pitcher throughout his career and was more or less on par with Lester in 2014. Plain old ERA says he was exactly on par, in fact, as the two southpaws pitched to 2.46 ERAs in 2014.

If you’re Amaro, this is an excuse to point out that Hamels at $23-25 million per year over the next four or five years doesn’t look so bad compared to Lester at around $26 million over the next six years. The money on Hamels’ contract represents a slight discount, with the years representing less overall risk.

However, there’s a problem. While Lester’s contract may be there as an excuse for Amaro to push for what he wants, it’s not hard for prospective buyers to push back. 

Maybe you’ve already spotted one issue with the idea of Hamels’ remaining contract being a discount next to Lester’s deal. But even if it is a discount, it’s not a very big one.

Another way to frame the conversation would be to look at the surplus value Hamels should offer over what he’s due to be paid. FanGraphs’ Jeff Sullivan did that recently, concluding that he projects to offer $23.5 million at most in surplus value. More realistically, his surplus value is in the $10-20 million range.

That’s not a lot of surplus value. Certainly not enough for three top prospects. Maybe not enough for just Myers either. Remember, these are guys who, hypothetically, are going to be really good and really cheap for several years.

So that’s one way we can knock the Hamels-Lester comparison down a peg. We can take things even further by gazing into what the future may hold.

If the Phillies do trade Hamels, his future will more than likely contain different competition. That wouldn’t necessarily be a good thing.

We once again turn to Sullivan, who looped Hamels in with Lester, Max Scherzer and James Shields and found he’s faced by far the weakest hitting opposition since 2012:

On average, since 2012, Cole Hamels has faced a bunch of Everth Cabreras. James Shields has faced a bunch of Eric Hosmers. There’s little difference between the AL guys, but Hamels is far removed. You have to assume this has worked to Hamels’ benefit.

Knowing this, the money remaining on Hamels’ contract suddenly looks like less of a bargain.

Beyond that, there’s also the matter of how Hamels is going to age. That’s where Lester once again works as a helpful comparison point, though not in a flattering way.

Though Hamels has pitched more career innings than Lester, more innings mean more mileage. Also, Baseball Prospectus’ injury records can show that Hamels has more of a history of arm and shoulder trouble than Lester. Pitchers are largely known for being injury risks, but Hamels appears to be more of one than Lester.

As for Hamels’ stuff, the above MLB Network segment trumpets his recent velocity increase in recent years as a good sign going forward. But it’s really as much of a curse as it is a blessing.

We have plenty of history that says velocity becomes harder to muster as pitchers age. Hamels’ new-found velocity should follow the trend eventually. And though he’ll still have his all-world changeup, solid curveball and cutter, he’ll have to alter his pitching style to accommodate his lost velocity.

Lester has already done that.

Whereas Hamels enjoyed a superb season with career-best velocity in 2014, Lester enjoyed his own superb season with his worst velocity since 2007. Grantland’s Shane Ryan did a fine job of breaking down how Lester did that with sudden mastery of location, movement and sequencing. 

All these things are bearing in my mind if I’m a GM eyeing Hamels. While the best-case scenario for the Phillies involves selling him as something of a Lester clone, it’s too easy to debunk the idea.

Now, one thing that could lead prospective buyers to match the Phillies’ lofty demands is leverage.

Amaro seems to think he has a lot of that. He told Bob Nightengale of USA Today in November that he feels “no pressure” and “no necessity” to move Hamels, and he’s right to a certain extent. 

Hamels is under contract for several more years, and the Phillies have more than enough funds to afford his contract. If they can’t get what they want for him this winter, they can tell teams to try again over the summer or next winter.

And yet there is risk involved with the idea of holding on to Hamels.

Beyond the usual risk of his value being hurt by an injury and/or a poor performance in 2015, there’s the specter of how many options there are going to be outside of Hamels next winter. Jordan Zimmermann, Johnny Cueto, David Price, Doug Fister and assorted others are set to be free agents. 

In the meantime, clubs in need of an ace this winter have the option of spending money on Scherzer or Shields rather than giving the Phillies money and talent for Hamels. To boot, the list of teams with the money and young talent required to be in the mix for Hamels is pretty short.

To make a long story short: the idea of Hamels being worth a big haul of young talent on top of his remaining contract is a stretch, and the Phillies lack the leverage to make teams meet their price. If they mean to move his entire contract and get talent back, one top prospect is a more realistic price than three top prospects or an established youngster like Myers.

Mind you, this doesn’t mean the Phillies flat-out can’t get what they want for Hamels this winter.

Because the Phillies do indeed have a lot of money, they can make like the Los Angeles Dodgers did with Matt Kemp and eat a chunk of money to enhance their return for Hamels. If they were to cover, say, $30-40 million of his remaining contract, it’s not hard to imagine them getting what they want.

We’ll see if the Phillies are willing to do that. If they are, we’ll be talking about a fair deal all around.

 

Note: Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com unless otherwise noted/linked.  

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

Read more Philadelphia Phillies news on BleacherReport.com

Cole Hamels Trade Suitors with Chips to Pull off Huge Winter Trade

Cole Hamels is the definition of an ace, having made at least 30 starts in seven consecutive seasons while eclipsing 200 innings all but once during that time frame. During his nine-year career with the Phillies, the left-hander has pitched to a 3.27 ERA (3.48 FIP), 8.53 strikeouts per nine innings and 2.26 walks per nine innings in 1,801.1 innings, good for a 34.4 fWAR.

Hamels, who turns 31 in December, will make $96 million over the final four years of his contract (not including a $20 million vesting option for 2019). He also has a 20-team no-trade clause and nine-team block list in his contract, per Cot’s Baseball Contracts. However, as of now, the only team known not to be included on either list is the Chicago Cubs, according to a tweet from ESPN’s Buster Olney.

In the past, the Phillies have dangled Hamels to both gauge interest and make their asking price known. Most recently, general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. placed Hamels on revocable waivers last August only to have him claimed by the Cubs. However, the Phillies ultimately pulled him back off waivers after but the two teams failed to work out a deal.

Don’t get me wrong, the rebuilding process in Philadelphia should have begun years ago; however, Amaro did make the right decision by holding off on trading Hamels until the offseason. Now, he is prepared to wait and see how the market for free agents Max Scherzer and Jon Lester unfolds before deciding whether to deal his ace left-hander, per Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com.

Unsurprisingly, the Phillies are looking for a flattering return on Hamels (as they should be) in the form of “at least three top prospects,” two of whom are capable of contributing in the major leagues, per Salisbury. At the same time, I’m sure the Phillies might be willing to make an exception if the non-major league-ready players in the proposed deal are that good or play up-the-middle positions.

Most teams lack the talent and depth—and in many cases the payroll flexibility—to meet Philadelphia’s asking price for Hamels, which makes it relatively easy to predict his potential suitors. So far, the Chicago Cubs and Boston Red Sox reportedly have expressed interest in Hamels.

Here’s an idea of what those teams might be able to offer the Phillies for Hamels.

 

Boston Red Sox

The Trade: C Christian Vazquez, RHP Matt Barnes and 2B Sean Coyle

 

The Red Sox possess arguably the best selection of young major league players and prospects among teams that could be interested in Cole Hamels.

Boston is one of the 20 teams on Hamels’ no-trade list, though Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports doesn’t believe it would necessarily be an impediment in a deal between the teams.

“Hamels included the Red Sox on his latest no-trade list, and likely would grant his approval for a deal only if they exercised his $20 million option for 2019,” writes Rosenthal. “At that point, his contract would become less attractive: $110 million over five years.”

The Phillies scouted Boston’s system thoroughly this season, clearly envisioning such a scenario might unfold given the lack of impact arms on the free-agent market. Meanwhile, recent reports have the team looking into three players specifically.

According Rosenthal: “The Phillies are doing background work on [Christian Vazquez’s] makeup, as well as on the makeups of right-hander Matt Barnes and outfielder Mookie Betts.”

Betts appears to be a star in the making as well as a big part of the future for the Red Sox, meaning it’s highly unlikely he’ll be included in any trade this offseason. On the other hand, Barnes and Vazquez, whom both reached the major leagues this past season, are candidates to be moved in a blockbuster deal for Hamels.

Boston has expressed a desire to hold on to Vazquez and top prospect catcher Blake Swihart, per Rosenthal, though neither player has been officially declared off-limits. With Carlos Ruiz entering his age-35 season and lacking internal options behind the plate, it makes sense for the Phillies to target one of Boston’s young catchers. In this case, we’ll say Vazquez.

Vazquez, 24, demonstrated good contact skills as well solid plate discipline with the Red Sox, batting .240/.308/.309 with 10 extra-base hits and 20 RBI over 201 plate appearances.

As you might have inferred from his triple-slash line, Vazquez struggled to drive the ball last season, and based on his lack of power in minor leagues and general tendency to hit the ball on the ground, he’s not going to become a home run threat over night.

Luckily, Vazquez shines on the other side of the ball, as evidenced by his 52 percent caught-stealing rate last season in 54 games behind the plate. Beyond that, he proved to be an advanced receiver—earning his pitchers 103.6 additional strikes—and average blocker.

Meanwhile, right-hander Matt Barnes was Boston’s first-round pick back in 2011, and it seemed as though he’d reach the major leagues quickly after breezing through both Class-A levels the following year behind a 2.86 ERA and 133 strikeouts in 119.2 innings.

After that, however, Barnes, 24, didn’t progress as expected, turning in shaky performances across the Double- and Triple-A levels in back-to-back years.

Thankfully, the 24-year-old figured things out during the final month of the minor league season, as he pitched to a 2.16 ERA and .164 opponents’ batting average over 41.2 innings (six starts) at Triple-A Pawtucket.

Barnes’ strong finish earned him a September promotion to the major leagues. The right-hander made five relief appearances and posted a 4.00 ERA with eight strikeouts over nine innings.

In addition to Vazquez and Barnes, the Red Sox might also offer the Phillies one of its middle infield prospects to potentially seal the deal, in which case second baseman Sean Coyle would make sense given his promising offensive profile and the fact he’ll be blocked by Dustin Pedroia for the foreseeable future.

A 2014 All-Star Futures Game selection, Coyle put up big numbers this season in his first taste of the Double-A level, batting .295/.371/.512 with 16 home runs and 23 doubles in 384 plate appearances while also swiping 13 bags. However, injuries impacted the 22-year-old’s development for the second straight year, as he was limited to only 97 games after playing just 48 in 2013.

Coyle’s track record in the minor leagues—specifically his plate discipline and swing-and-miss tendencies—suggests he won’t hit for average or reach base as well as he did this past season. That being said, his power-speed combination should still result in seasons with double-digit home runs and stolen bases, not to mention upwards of 25 doubles.

 

Chicago Cubs

The Trade: OF Albert Almora, RHP C.J. Edwards and C Victor Caratini

 

The Cubs are in the market for a top-tier starting pitcher this offseason, with free agents Jon Lester and Max Scherzer as well as trade candidate Cole Hamels atop their list.

As previously mentioned, the Cubs claimed Hamels off revocable waivers last August but failed to strike a deal with the Phillies. However, the Cubs knew a trade wouldn’t happen, especially with Philadelphia asking for “three to four top prospects” and the Cubs aggressively stockpiling them; they were simply laying the groundwork for a potential offseason trade.

After Hamels was pulled back off waivers, Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times speculated that the Phillies were asking for shortstop Addison Russell—acquired by the Cubs a month earlier from the A’s in the Jeff Samardzija deal—in return for Hamels. In all likelihood, the Phillies are probably still looking to receive a player package headlined by Russell. That could happen in theory given the Cubs’ depth at the position; however, team president Theo Epstein and general manager Jed Hoyer have mentioned on multiple occasions they don’t plan on trading one of their shortstops anytime soon.

Luckily, the Cubs have a deep collection of high-end prospects and therefore the ability to entice the Phillies with an assortment of player packages.

Specifically, the Cubs make a splash in the trade talks by offering center fielder Albert Almora, the team’s first-round pick in the 2012 draft.

Almora, 20, produced a .270/.291/.392 batting line with 40 extra-base hits (nine home runs) in 529 plate appearances this year and spent the final month and a half of the regular season in Double-A. Though his numbers were slightly disappointing—mostly in terms of his approach and on-base skills—after an impressive 2013 full-season debut, Almora still projects as at least an above-average hitter capable of holding down center field long term.

If all goes as planned with Almora’s development, he could be ready to debut during the 2016 season. However, with Arismendy Alcantara now patrolling center field and likely to remain there having already moved off the infield, a case can be made that Almora is the team’s top prospect trade chip.

In addition to Almora, the Cubs would probably have to deal one of their better pitching prospects to get Hamels, and chances are the Phillies, who lack internal candidates capable of stepping into the starting rotation, will prefer a guy already within striking distance of the major leagues.

Right-hander C.J. Edwards fits that bill, and he’s also a sell-high candidate for the Cubs after an impressive final month of the regular season at Double-A Tennessee and a strong showing in this year’s Arizona Fall League.

The 23-year-old made four starts at Tennessee before landing on the disabled list for three-plus months with a shoulder injury, but he returned to the level in early August to post a 2.30 ERA with 26 strikeouts in 27.1 innings. Making six starts in the AFL, Edwards pitched to a 1.80 ERA and fanned 13 batters in 15 innings.

My only look at Edwards in Arizona was in the Fall Stars Game, when he struck out two batters while working a scoreless third inning in relief of starter Archie Bradley. The wiry right-hander was as sharp as his line suggests, throwing a 91-94 mph fastball that jumped out of his hand due to deception and his usual hard-sweeping, swing-and-miss breaking ball in the low- to mid-80s.

Edwards’ slender 6’2”, 155-pound frame and shoulder injury raises questions about his long-term durability, but the right-hander’s track record of success in the minor leagues speaks to his overall potential.

To round out the deal for Hamels, the Cubs could offer Philadelphia switch-hitting catching prospect Victor Caratini, who was acquired from the Braves at this year’s non-waiver trade deadline in exchange for James Russell and Emilio Bonifacio.

Caratini, a second-round draft pick in 2013, made his full-season debut this year, batting .277/.346/.402 with 32 extra-base hits (five home runs) and a 69-38 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 423 plate appearances between the Braves’ and Cubs’ Low-A affiliates.

The 21-year-old moved back to catcher this season after playing third base almost exclusively in his 2013 professional debut, and he held his own at the position with a 32 percent caught-stealing rate and only eight passed balls.

The big question with Caratini is whether he’ll develop usable power. Right now, he’s mostly a gap-to-gap hitter from both sides of the plate and stands out for his on-base skills thanks to an advanced approach. If he continues down that path and improves his defense along the way, Caratini could be ready for a crack at the major leagues by 2017.

 

All statistics courtesy of Baseball-Reference or FanGraphs unless otherwise noted.

Read more Philadelphia Phillies news on BleacherReport.com

Cole Hamels Trade Rumors: Latest Buzz and Speculation Surrounding Star Pitcher

Philadelphia Phillies ace Cole Hamels has been the subject of numerous trade rumors and reports, as teams look to bolster their rotations with the lefty’s services. 

Thursday, Nov. 13

Amaro Talks Trade Rumors

Bob Nightengale of USA Today talked to general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. about the trade rumors surrounding Cole Hamels: 

“He was neutral when I talked to him,” Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro revealed. “Happy to go. I think he wants to win, but he signed his contract, and he plans on honoring the contract, obviously.”

Nightengale also detailed why the lefty hasn’t been dealt yet:

Teams should be lining up outside the hall of Amaro’s suite at the Arizona Biltmore to make enticing trade proposals for Hamels.

Yet, the cruel reality is that in today’s marketplace, there’s a greater chance of the Yankees retiring Alex Rodriguez‘s number than Hamels pitching in a different uniform on opening day.

The Chicago Cubs covet him. They would rather have him than Max Scherzer, Jon Lester or James Shields.

The trouble is that all Scherzer, Lester and Shields cost you is money. They’re all free agents.

Hamels costs you money — four years and $96 million remaining on his contract — and those coveted prospects.

No one these days wants to part with both.

“You’ve seen in the last several years that those prospects are highly coveted,” Amaro says. “It seems like teams are more apt to just spend money, because it’s just money. It’s not entities that they’re giving up as far as players are concerned, or talent. That’s kind of the trend we’re in.

“At the same time, there’s risk with that. You’re doling out a lot of money. It’s a difficult balance. “But the reality of it is, there isn’t that many elite pitchers out there. So we’ll see what happens.”

 

 

Monday, Nov. 10

The Boston Red Sox have been viewed as a potential landing spot for Philadelphia Phillies ace for months. There’s just one problem: Hamels’ contract specifically forbids the Phillies from trading him to Boston without his permission.   

Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal reported Boston is one of 20 teams named on Hamels’ no-trade clause, though he notes a deal could still be reached:

Hamels, 30, is expected to be one of the biggest names available on the trade market this winter as the Phillies look to retool their aging roster. Jim Salisbury of CSN Philly reported management was looking for at least three quality prospects in return for Hamels, who has been a bastion of consistency despite the poor play around him.

Hamels had a career-best ERA (2.46) and had his eighth straight season between 3.5 and 4.6 wins above replacement, per FanGraphs. Despite his consistency, Hamels is only 17-23 over the last two seasons, garnering some of the worst run support in baseball. The Phillies averaged just 3.43 runs in Hamels’ starts in 2014 and 3.36 in 2013, per ESPN.com.

Philadelphia has missed the playoffs the last two seasons and had its first losing campaign in more than a decade in 2014. Phillies interim CEO Pat Gillick told Corey Seidman of CSN Philly the team won’t contend for at least the next two seasons.

“I think we’re more toward rebuilding than reloading,” Gillick said. “That’s my opinion. I think it’s hard to ask the fans, it’s hard to ask the media, it’s hard to ask, you know, anyone, to be patient. Patience is kind of thin these days. But I think this is going to be more of a rebuilding, more of a restructuring than a reloading.”

Trading Hamels could help that rebuild. Even with a hefty contract, he could be a Cy Young contender if moved to the right club.

 

Follow Tyler Conway (@tylerconway22) on Twitter

Read more Philadelphia Phillies news on BleacherReport.com

Philadelphia Phillies Offseason Tracker: Hottest Free Agency News, Trade Rumors

The Philadelphia Phillies‘ aging roster isn’t making things easy for the front office, so it’s not clear how active the team will be this offseason.

Philadelphia was expected to be one of the most active teams at the trade deadline back in July. Instead, the team did nothing. That may be because they didn’t get any offers that they felt were fair. Many of the team’s veteran players have some type of no-trade clause in their contracts. That makes completing deals that much tougher.

With Chase Utley, Cole Hamels, Cliff Lee and Jonathan Papelbon, the team has some attractive trade chips. It’s just not clear as to how eager the team is to move any of those star players. The club may be more willing to deal some players more than others, but then the finances complicate matters.

The Phillies already have a lot of money committed to the 2015 payroll, and with an aging roster that is less competitive than it was when the big contracts were handed out, the team is in a tough spot right now.

Stay tuned throughout November to see what is going on with the Phillies.

 

*All stats are via MLB.com

Begin Slideshow

Grady Sizemore Re-Signs with Phillies: Contract Details, Comments and Reaction

The Philadelphia Phillies liked Grady Sizemore so much they decided to bring him back.

On Thursday, the team announced it re-signed the 32-year-old outfielder to a one-year, $2 million deal, per Yahoo Sports’ Jeff Passan:

According to SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo, Sizemore’s deal can be worth up to $5 million if he cashes in on various potential bonuses:

Sizemore is the classic case of what could’ve been. In eight years with the Cleveland Indians, he was a three-time All-Star and won two Gold Glove Awards and a Silver Slugger Award. One of the most dynamic players in the league between 2005 and 2008, he was a true five-tool player.

Then injuries derailed Sizemore’s career. He appeared in 210 regular-season games between 2009 and 2011 and failed to play at all in 2012 and 2013.

Sizemore spent parts of the 2014 season with the Boston Red Sox and Philadelphia Phillies. After a rough 52 games with the Sox, he arrived in Philly, where he played in 60 games, hitting three home runs, driving in 12 runs and boasting a slash line of .253/.313/.389.

Hardball Talk’s D.J. Short was a bit underwhelmed that the Phillies viewed re-signing Sizemore as a top task in the offseason:

On the contrary, Rotoworld’s Matthew Pouliot thinks re-signing Sizemore could be a low-risk, high-reward proposition:

Holding onto Sizemore will do nothing to dispel the notion that Philadelphia has become a haven for aging/oft-injured stars.

However, the team isn’t making a massive financial commitment to the outfielder, and in time, he could grow into a serviceable bat in the lineup with average to above-average defense.

Read more Philadelphia Phillies news on BleacherReport.com

Phillies’ Ryan Howard and Marlon Byrd Are 1st Teammates to Strike out 180 Times

Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard and outfielder Marlon Byrd are the first teammates in MLB history to each strike out 180 or more times in a season, per Lee Sinins of Complete Baseball Encyclopedia.

Following Thursday’s game against the Florida Marlins, Howard has an MLB-high 188 strikeouts, while Byrd is tied for second place in the National League at 181 with Washington Nationals shortstop Ian Desmond.

In the American League, only MVP front-runner Mike Trout (181) and Houston Astros first baseman Chris Carter (179) figure to reach 180, though Baltimore Orioles first baseman Chris Davis (173) was well on his way before getting suspended for amphetamine use.

For Howard, the lofty strikeout total comes as no surprise, with this season marking the fifth time he’s piled up 180 or more in one season. Previously, Howard had 180-plus strikeouts in four consecutive seasons from 2006 to 2009, a span that also qualifies as the peak of his now-disappointing career.

In Byrd’s case, the strikeouts come as more of a surprise, as he had previously never topped 144, the total he posted last year. The outfielder’s late-career renaissance has not been hampered by his increased proclivity for the punch-out, as Byrd has more than made up for the lack of contact by posting the two best homer totals of his career in the last two seasons.

Prior to 2013, Byrd never had more than 98 strikeouts or 20 home runs in one season. He then had 144 and 24 last year, only to top both marks in 2014. In addition to his 181 strikeouts, Byrd has 25 home runs heading into the final three games of the season.

Read more Philadelphia Phillies news on BleacherReport.com

Old Core, Crotch-Grabbing Closer and Oodles of Losses Demand Phillies Rebuild

Philadelphia fans did not need Jonathan Papelbon to grab his crotch in their general direction the other day, Roseanne-like, to decide that these Phillies are one unlikeable ballclub.   

No, they delivered that verdict long before Papelbon’s lewd gesture, which swiftly earned him a seven-game suspension. Just two seasons after leading the National League in attendance, the Phillies rank ninth this year. No team has suffered as precipitous a decline: Through 78 home dates, the Phillies are more than a half-million fans off last year’s pace, down 579,350, per Baseball-Reference.com.

No other team is close. Texas is next at 378,785.   

The Phillies, through Thursday night’s series finale in San Diego, were tied for 25th in the majors in on-base percentage (.302), tied for 26th in slugging percentage (.364) and 28th overall in OPS (.666). Runs are harder to come by than smiles at Citizens Bank Park, as a team that won it all in 2008 and returned to the World Series in ’09 has become bloated and rusty.

Ryan Howard, Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley and Carlos Ruiz got big contracts, got old and now need to get gone. Loyalty has backfired on the Phillies, who stubbornly stayed with their core until long after its expiration date. And now they are paying for it.

“Sometimes it’s a tough call to make,” Hall of Fame executive Pat Gillick, now acting as the Phillies’ interim president while David Montgomery undergoes treatment for cancer, tells Bleacher Report. “Actually, our players who have been with us for a period of time have been healthy. Utley, Rollins, Howard. Chooch [Ruiz] was out for a time with a concussion.

“We haven’t scored a lot of runs. Losing Cliff Lee has hurt us, too.

“We’ve got some challenges.”

It has been a rough, rough season in Philadelphia. Montgomery, 68, is especially beloved throughout the Phillies organization and universally liked throughout the industry. He underwent surgery to remove cancer from his jaw in May but continued to work throughout chemotherapy and radiation treatments until diminishing returns caused ownership to call Gillick in from the bullpen and his senior advisor role with the club.

“He needs some good recovery time,” Gillick says. “But he’s doing fine.”

So Gillick, the architect of the ’08 World Series champions, stepped back into active duty and will roll up his sleeves to help clean up the mess. The Phillies have thrown more and more good money around, some $500 million worth over the past three seasons, chasing their glorious recent past.

They are losing ground.

In his first year as manager, another Hall of Famer, Ryne Sandberg, plugs in Darin Ruf, 28, when he can at first, though Howard is guaranteed $60 million over the next two seasons. He currently is second in the majors with 177 strikeouts, and he’s hitting .222 with a career-low .374 slugging percentage.

The manager watches prospect Maikel Franco this month at third and hopes center fielder Ben Revere (.309/.326/.368, 47 steals in 54 opportunities) can continue to refine his game.

“I can say he’s made very good strides in different parts of his game,” Sandberg says of Revere. “I think he’s really improved his stolen-base capability. Maybe there have been times this year where he could have been a little more aggressive.”

The same can be said for general manager Ruben Amaro Jr., who astoundingly allowed the July 31 trading deadline to pass without lighting a stick of dynamite under any part of this roster. Gillick, with increased authority in Montgomery’s absence, since has said that Amaro‘s job is safe for the immediate future. The fans who continue to stay away in droves are outraged.

“One thing is, you’ve got to be patient,” Gillick says. “Sometimes you can’t meet all the challenges at once.

“Let’s put it this way: You have to move cautiously but aggressively. It’s not like you’ve got to take everything down in one fell swoop. You’ve got to plan your way. It takes time.”

Sandberg at midseason made a move toward Ruf, who pounded 38 homers at Double-A Reading in ’12, but Amaro publicly backed the veteran Howard and, well, that was that for the time being. On Thursday, with Howard in a .154 (4-for-26) dive over his past 10 games, Ruf was in the lineup for a third consecutive day.

At one time, outfielder Domonic Brown, 27, was going to be the next big thing in Philadelphia. An All-Star in ’13 who smashed 27 home runs while hitting .272 with 83 RBI, he’s slumped this season to .237 with 10 homers and 61 RBI.

“You can’t expect young people to come to the big leagues and be productive right away,” Gillick says, and while that’s certainly true for younger Phillies such as Ruf, Franco, Cody Asche and Freddy Galvis, Brown has had enough of an audition that it’s probably time to move on there, too.

Rollins, 35, hasn’t played since Sept. 8 because of a strained left hamstring, and his .243 batting average equals his career worst in 2010—though his .717 OPS is up from last summer’s .666. His option for 2015 vested at $11 million in July.

The Phillies also are on the hook to Lee at $25 million for next summer (plus a $27.5 million club option or $12.5 million buyout in ’16), to Utley through ’18 if he hits a series of vesting options (and at the very least, $15 million for ’15) and to Ruiz through ’16 at $8.5 million per year.

Cole Hamels? He signed a six-year, $144 million deal through ’18, owns a 2.47 ERA through 28 starts and is 10.1 innings from reaching 200 for a fifth year in a row. But given the shape this last-place team is in, the quickest reboot might be to deal Hamels this winter for a package of players.

Then there is the crotch-grabbing closer, whose four-year, $50 million deal runs another season (and vests for ’16 with 55 games finished in ’15 or 100 finished in ’14 and ’15 combined).

What all of this is not going to do is reverse the Phillies’ hemorrhaging attendance.

“In Philly, if you don’t win, they don’t come out,” Gillick says. “They come out to see winners. It’s the way it is in Philadelphia. We have very knowledgeable and sophisticated fans, but that’s the way it is.”

Yes, the Phillies have one enormous mess on their hands.

“Ruben has got a pretty good idea of what he wants to do,” Gillick says, a sentence that surely petrifies those knowledgeable and sophisticated fans even further.

“Sometimes you can’t do everything people expect you to do right away,” Gillick continues. “It’s got to be the right deal, the right move.”

With or without Amaro, this much is guaranteed: With Gillick again in a hands-on role, the odds of the Phillies making the right deals and the right moves this winter have increased dramatically.

 

Scott Miller covers Major League Baseball as a national columnist for Bleacher Report. He has over two decades of experience covering MLB, including 14 years as a national baseball columnist at CBSSports.com.

Follow Scott on Twitter and talk baseball @ScottMillerBbl.

Contract information courtesy of Cot’s Baseball Contracts.

Read more Philadelphia Phillies news on BleacherReport.com

Jimmy Rollins Injury: Updates on Phillies Star’s Hamstring and Return

Jimmy Rollins left Monday night’s game against the Pittsburgh Pirates after suffering an injury on a triple in the bottom of the fourth inning. According to Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com, the Philadelphia Phillies shortstop strained his left hamstring:

Although the curtain is closing on the 2014 regular season, Rollins believes that he’ll be back before the year is over, targeting sometime a little over a week away for his return, per Ryan Lawrence of the Philadelphia Daily News:

Matt Gelb of The Philadelphia Inquirer thought that, all things considered, Rollins has played above expectations in 2014:

Coming back before regular season is out carries major financial weight for both Rollins and the Phillies. Gelb wrote in December 2013 that an $11 million vesting option would be wiped out if the 35-year-old finished the season on the disabled list. The option could come back in play, however, if a doctor finds him ready to go for the 2015 season.

With Philly cemented in last place in the National League East and holding no hope of making the playoffs, it will be interesting to see how Rollins’ recovery is handled. There’s no reason to rush him back to the field, and the team would possibly save money if it kept him on the shelf.

It adds a little intrigue into what is an otherwise dull road to the finish in Philadelphia.

Read more Philadelphia Phillies news on BleacherReport.com

« Previous Page — Next Page »