Phillies: Acquiring needed pieces
By Tal Venada
Needs and possibilities:
Offensively, the Phillies prefer a left-handed bat with power. So, who is in his mid-20s, can blast 30-35 home runs, and can hit .280 or higher now or in 2019? Bryce Harper. Translation They’ll wait.
In the bullpen, the idea of inking a pricey closer isn’t a priority because other shortcomings are more in line with their current strategy. Presently, the alignment of their relief corps features three late-inning flamethrowers, two southpaws, one long man and four hurlers for the remaining spot.
If one or two veteran relievers are available, Klentak could sign a setup arm or pick up a salary dump to bolster the pen: his only exception for a one-season commitment. And this addition would cover the exec whether the red pinstripes make a run at a Wild Card berth or trade the pitcher for Single-A talent near July 31.
Regarding the five-man staff, the hometown nine have Aaron Nola, two fireballers and five finesse hurlers including Leiter. However, inking an expensive moundsman to a long-term contract after a bidding war is doubtful.
On the internet in September, many posters on other sites suggested moving Hernandez, Galvis, Rupp and/or Joseph with the expected return of a decent starter. Well, other franchises have many options for second basemen and first sackers with some pop. On the other hand, they just wanted to dump Herrera for the implied best offer due primarily to his antics.
Fans, even if Hernandez could bring a rotation piece, he’s also the leadoff man, who will probably add a running game to his repertoire. So, who bats first if you swap him and another player for a three-slot starter? Herrera, Altherr, Crawford or Galvis? Keep in mind, Kingery will most likely be with the Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs through May.
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Finding takers for a catcher will give Klentak a better chance to reach a deal, and the GM will probably favor packaging Rupp with one of the four control-dependent starters. But only one thing is going to happen regarding the Phillies’ plans during the Winter Meetings. They’ll be slightly visible.