Coaching Changes
Manager = Joe Girardi (MLBN analyst), replacing Gabe Kapler
Hitting Coach = Joe Dillon (Nationals asst hitting coach), replacing John Mallee/Charlie Manuel
Pitching Coach = Bryan Price (Reds manager in 2018), replacing Chris Young
Infield Coach = Juan Castro (Phils minor league infield coordinator), replacing Bobby Dickerson
Bullpen Catcher / Receiving Coach = TBD, replacing Craig Driver

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Players Coming
2B Josh Harrison (DET)
RHP Trevor Kelley (BOS)
RHP Robert Stock (SD)
LHP Cristopher Sanchez (TB)

Players Going
UT Jose Pirela (Japan)

Free Agents
1B Logan Morrison
2B Cesar Hernandez
3B Maikel Franco
OF Corey Dickerson
OF Shane Robinson
C Rob Brantly
UT Phil Gosselin
UT Brad Miller
UT Sean Rodriguez
SP Jerad Eickhoff
SP Drew Smyly
SP Jason Vargas
RP Jared Hughes
RP Tommy Hunter
RP Mike Morin
RP Pat Neshek
RP Juan Nicasio
RP Blake Parker
RP Edubray Ramos
RP Fernando Salas
RP Dan Straily
RP Nick Vincent

Player Options
RHP Jake Arrieta ($20M opted in)

Arbitration
Final Year = Realmuto ($5.9M), Alvarez ($1.925M)
2nd-to-Last Year = Velasquez ($2.249M), Neris ($1.8M), Morgan ($1.1M)
1st Year = Eflin

Pre-Arbitration
1 Year before Arb = Hoskins, Quinn, Williams, Pivetta, Arano
2 Years before Arb = Dominguez, Suarez, Garcia
3 Years before Arb = Haseley, Irvin, Grullon, Davis

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Under Contract
Harper ($27,538,462)
Arrieta ($20M)
McCutchen ($17M)
Segura ($14.85M)
Robertson ($11M, expected to miss all of 2020 after Tommy John surgery)
Nola ($8.5M)
Herrera ($7.35M)
Bruce ($1.75M, $14M overall)
Kingery ($1.75M)
Knapp ($715K)

My thoughts:

-- I'm expecting the entire coaching staff except Wathan to be let go. If Gabe escapes, I think Young and Figueroa are guaranteed gone
-- A long-term deal for Realmuto needs to be a top offseason priority
-- Backup catcher: dump Knapp, let Grullon compete for that spot. No need to waste $1M+ on a backup
-- 2B: Time to put Kingery there and trade Cesar. It's a weak free agent market for 2Bs, so we might be able to get something
-- 3B: Re-sign Miller and a potential stopgap until Bohm is ready. Determine trade market (if any) for Maik
-- OF: Looks like it's already set with McCutchen, Haseley, Harper, Bruce, Quinn
-- Bench: need better options than SRod, Gosselin, Knapp and LoMo
-- SP: Buy out Vargas, bring back Hamels, sign another starter, move Velasquez to bullpen or move on from him. Nola, Arrieta and Eflin will be in the rotation, but Eflin needs to be a #5
-- RP: Buy out Neshek and Hughes, goodbye to Nicasio, Hunter and Morin, try to add two pieces and hope Seranthony and Morgan are OK

BigEd76 wrote:My thoughts:

-- I'm expecting the entire coaching staff except Wathan to be let go. If Gabe escapes, I think Young and Figueroa are guaranteed gone
-- A long-term deal for Realmuto needs to be a top offseason priority
-- Backup catcher: dump Knapp, let Grullon compete for that spot. No need to waste $1M+ on a backup
-- 2B: Time to put Kingery there and trade Cesar. It's a weak free agent market for 2Bs, so we might be able to get something
-- 3B: Re-sign Miller and potential a stopgap until Bohm is ready. Determine trade market (if any) for Maik
-- OF: Looks like it's already set with McCutchen, Haseley, Harper, Bruce, Quinn
-- Bench: need better options than SRod, Gosselin, Knapp and LoMo
-- SP: Buy out Vargas, bring back Hamels, sign another starter, move Velasquez to bullpen or move on from him. Nola, Arrieta and Eflin will be in the rotation, but Eflin needs to be a #5
-- RP: Buy out Neshek and Hughes, goodbye to Nicasio, Hunter and Morin, try to add two pieces and hope Seranthony and Morgan are OK

i agree with almost all of the above... but... you are asking for too little cole in your christmas stocking.

Agree with most of Ed's list. My plan is to dump as much wasted salary as possible and go whale hunting.

Gerrit Cole is the top priority, Rendon is 2nd. Luxury tax be damned. We can get under again in 2021.

I see Hamels mentioned many places. Unless he's taking a big hometown discount I think he'll be too expensive.

I'd entertain offers on Segura. Maybe even on Rhys.

I agree with Ed's plan in principle. but there clearly is a lot to do. Can a radical remodel happen over the season to that extent? I have to assume the JTR is in the works already with the agent. The team has to improve its SP, and they need to head to the bank to get it done. Most of the rotation is unreliable, and riding Nola into the ground is clearly not a quality answer as I am sure that he does not value his individual stats over taking loses after he is out of the game.

So I would go with:

-- A long-term deal for Realmuto needs to be a top offseason priority
-- Backup catcher: dump Knapp, let Grullon compete for that spot.
-- 2B: If possible put Kingery at second by trading Cesar.
-- 3B: I think it is a team of Maik and Miller
-- OF: Agree
-- Bench: Flip the whole mess with Miller taking a slot on paper. Is Nick gone at this point?
-- SP: Buy out Vargas, sign some starters, decide what the team trusts Velasquez to do. I don't know if anyone will give anything for him work having. Nola, unfortunate Arrieta and Eflin will be in the rotation locks. Hamels is a nice to have, but a longer term solution should be looked at first.
-- RP: I can buy into your plan of buying out Neshek and Hughes, goodbye to Nicasio, Hunter and Morin, try to add two pieces and hope Seranthony and Morgan are OK, but I am not sure there is enough runway to land enough replacement talent. I think Hunter is run out there for his $3M.

Leave Pivetta at 6 flags

-Release Maikel yesterday.
-Do player exit interviews, decide between Gabe/Maddon based on that.
-Extend Realmuto.
-Offer Moustakas a 3 year deal on day one of free agency. He can start out at 3B then slide over to 2B when Bohm comes up. We can't depend on Bohm/Kingery both working out. If they do, Kingery can move to CF.
-Put Haseley in AAA. We're not rebuilding anymore. Need better than a .714 OPS. He'll be up in week 2 when Quinn gets hurt anyway.
-Sign Hunter Pence to a 1 year deal. Pence/Bruce platoon in LF (until they both get hurt). McCutchen in CF.
-Sign AJ Cole. Get a good value SP at the end of free agency.
-One of Miller/Cesar as backup
-Bring SRod back as utility guy just to annoy the haters

1B Hoskins 2B Kingery SS Segura 3B Moustakas C Realmuto LF Pence CF McCutchen RF Harper
bench: Quinn, Bruce, Miller, Srod, catcher

I didn’t realize segura made so much $$$

Now that they are probably willing to do a massive overpay for a pitcher maybe they should have done whatever it took to sign Corbin last offseason

Warszawa wrote:Now that they are probably willing to do a massive overpay for a pitcher maybe they should have done whatever it took to sign Corbin last offseason

That's hindsight for ya. They had that $$$ earmarked for Trout.

Also, I don't think the Phils are going to need to "massively overpay" for a top starting pitcher. Now with quite a bit of star power on their roster, Philly is once again an attractive landing spot for FAs for the first time in nearly a decade.

Warszawa wrote:Now that they are probably willing to do a massive overpay for a pitcher maybe they should have done whatever it took to sign Corbin last offseason

Seemed like most here were against signing Corbin. (And Mike Minor who also had a nice season.)

As to extending Realmuto, how many quality years as a catcher does he have? He will be 30 at the end of his current contract.

Guessing he gets 5 years including 2020.

wiivile wrote:As to extending Realmuto, how many quality years as a catcher does he have? He will be 30 at the end of his current contract.

At exactly 12,345 innings caught they fall off a cliff.

Through 2025 is a decent gamble.

All the bullpen injuries this year show why it's a bad investment to throw lots of $$$ at RP. Develop guys from the minors, bring in some guys on cheap one yr deals, or even NRI's, and let them compete for jobs, Look at what low budget playoff teams such as the Rays and A's are doing. Not saying we're low budget, but it saves money for the big moves.

Uncle Milty wrote:

wiivile wrote:As to extending Realmuto, how many quality years as a catcher does he have? He will be 30 at the end of his current contract.

At exactly 12,345 innings caught they fall off a cliff.

Through 2025 is a decent gamble.

this is true.

Uncle Milty wrote:

wiivile wrote:As to extending Realmuto, how many quality years as a catcher does he have? He will be 30 at the end of his current contract.

At exactly 12,345 innings caught they fall off a cliff.

Through 2025 is a decent gamble.

He'll be a nightmare by 2025. Either through performance, lack of availability, or necessity to play 1B/DH.

Now, if the team has some inside info that the DH is coming to the NL by 2022, I'd be fine with long-term. But he can't catch 130 games/year for the next 6 years.

My wish list... (all I really want is 2 stud SP's)

- Keep Kap and Klentak. Evaluate others.
- Do NOT extend JTR unless he is offering up a discount (no idea why he would). We rode him like a rented mule and we've already got him signed for another of his peak years. See how it goes and re-evaluate then. I don't see how signing him now buys us anything.
- Sign Garrit Cole to whatever it takes. Literally.
- Trade Bohm for good, young, controllable SP.
- Keep Cesar at 2B.
- Miller/Kingery at 3B (with Jetpaxx super-subbing when not playing 3B).
- Move VV to pen permanently.
- Buy some lottery-ticket arms for the pen.
- Hope Seranthony, Cutch, and some of the reliefers stay healthy.
- Hope some of our young OF'ers take steps forward.
- Hope Rhys is better.

dh, doesn't factor in the equation, he's no piazza. i'll take the risk, and it is an obvious one till 2025. lots of catchers lasted into their mid 30's. it's not first base or lf, it can be a pain in the ass position to find a good replacement. unless you're like team that's just loaded all over the place.

If they extend JT they need to play him less and come up with a better plan for backup catcher. Maybe find a guy that can play another position too so he can get more ABs. It may cost more than Knapp does but it would pay dividends 3-5 years from now with JT hopefully being less cooked. I would consider that a higher priority than 3B personally. (Miller is fine)

Unless they think Grullon is the answer. Knapp is not and I don’t want to have to deal with him PHing in close games all next year.