A Look Into the Philadelphia Phillies offseason
The Philadelphia Phillies, one of Major League Baseball’s newest high-market organizations. Ever since Dave Dombrowksi came over to the Phillies, there have been drastic changes, moves, and additions to the team. Now on their third manager in the past 6 years, the Phillies have seemed to finally find their fit for the managerial position. That man is Rob Thomson, former bench coach for the Yankees and Phillies; where most recently he overtook Joe Giraradi who was fired mid-season years ago.
Thomson “Topper” over two and a half seasons has been very impressive with a 250-185 career record as a manager. Not to mention he has been in the mix every year as a coach of the year candidate. But this offseason, questions were raised after the Phillies had a historic midseason collapse where they never were able to revive themselves.
After a dominant first half from the Phillies, leading all of MLB with wins, they fell into a horrible offensive stretch. No timely hitting, not as many hits, decline in homers, and the list goes on. This poor offensive showing leaked into the playoffs, and the powerhouse Phillies were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs, being stunned by the magical New York Mets.
Fans called for change. Whether that was managerial, assistant coaching, or player changes and/or additions; something needed to change for the fans. For a while fans thought Thomson would be on the hot seat, but that was never going to happen. For the first time in over a decade he turned around a struggling team and not only defeated their 10+ year playoff drought but brought them to the world series and then some. With a 250-185 record as manager for the Phillies, it would be a great mistake to fire him. So then you move onto the hitting coach, one of the most renowned hitting coaches in all of baseball, Kevin Long. Arguably the best hitting coach of all of baseball was now on the hot seat. How could the best hitting coach not help his superstars make adjustments. In the end no coaching changes were made, and the Phillies will run it back with the same staff.
As for signing players, the Phillies have been in the mix for just about every player that you can think of. Since the winter meetings they have been involved in many possible trades, mainly headlining Alec Bohm. In the end as of now, Alec Bohm is still a Phillie but very possible that he will be traded before the season starts if the right deal eventually pops up.
The Phillies made a key signing of a low risk, high reward deal in a one-year $10 million dollar deal for Max Kepler, a seasoned veteran. Although he was injured last year and didn’t play well, his ceiling is very high and he has always been a solid all-around player.
The most surprising thing to happen for the Phillies all offseason though would be trading with the Marlins for Jesus Luzardo. With the Phillies acquiring Jesus Luzardo they have almost solidified themselves with the most dangerous starting rotation in all of baseball. Already having two aces in Zack Wheeler, who just came up short of a Cy Young award yet again, and Aaron Nola. Not to mention, Ranger Suarez and Christopher Sanchez who were both all stars this year. Now adding Luzardo as the fifth starter just shows the depth in this rotation. Although Luzuardo struggled last year due to injury, it is another low risk high reward deal, where the Phillies truly can only benefit from this.
With just these two additions alone, although they seem minor they may just be all the Phillies need if they can either re-sign Jeff Hoffman or Carlos Esteves, and then go out and sign Tanner Scott. They still need some help in the bullpen, but if they can land one or two of these guys, the Phillies are still a problem and will seek vengeance on their route to the World Series.
The offseason is still far from over and the Phillies aren’t quite done, and we may see some surprises down the road… maybe even landing Japanese sensation Roki Sasaki…
Cameron Williams
DiSportsPhotoAgency
Senior Writer
