Best offseason trade not made by Phillies GM

Staying or going:

With Hunter and Pazos out of the mix, the Phillies decided to keep Ramos and Nicasio out of the three remaining possibilities. But while they haven’t had sparkling March results, the red pinstripes could cut Nicascio or demote Ramos when Hunter is ready.

"FOR WHAT IT’S WORTH: “Opportunity often comes disguised in the form of misfortune, or temporary defeat.” – Napoleon Hill"

As for Arano, he pitched his way to Lehigh Valley with no decent outings out of seven. And even though Kapler expected the hurler with a 2.73 ERA for 59 1/3 frames during the 2018 campaign to make the squad, he needs time with the IronPigs to redeem himself.

Regarding Nicasio, he had a 6.00 ERA for 42 innings with Seattle in ’18. But he also had two good outings for the 2017 Phils between being on the Pittsburgh Pirates and the St. Louis Cardinals. However, he’s struggled in four of his seven camp outings.

While Ramos has had three poor appearances out of seven in camp, he had produced a 2.32 ERA for 42 2/3 frames last summer. But he’ll probably avoid a demotion when Hunter returns.

To sum up, Klentak faced decisions opposite to those he probably had anticipated in February. Yes, he had to pick who to keep and hope for good fortune, but he had expected the problem of having a surplus and needing to do what? Flip a coin!