After a few years of alleged loss, the Philadelphia Phillies are making a name for themselves with the commitments of Carlos Santana and Jake Arrieta. Suddenly there’s harsh light at the end of the tunnel. Are the Phillies on the verge of becoming a superpower?
In a winter when the MLB’s free agent market is not thriving, a team that ignores the laws of the market has emerged: Philadelphia Phillies.
In fact, they do not ignore the market laws, of course, but use the current situation to their advantage. This became clear months ago when First Baseman Carlos Santana was hired for three years and 60 million. No other First Baseman – with the exception of Eric Hosmer – got such an almost lucrative contract.
The same goes for the pitchers. The market continues to be sluggish and no one really wants to take money into their hands – except for the Phillies. They are once again shocking the baseball world with the commitment of Jake Arrieta, who will collect 25 million US dollars annually over the next three years – possibly even 135 million US dollars over the next five years.
The Phillies, who haven’t been in the playoffs since 2011 and have recently been more focused on getting rid of legacies and preferably don’t put any money into future contracts, are now becoming the most aggressive shopper on the market.
What had already been hinted at in the previous year is now underlined even more: the Phillies want to be taken seriously again. They have gradually built up a squad that is still far from where it should be, but which could also make you listen up in the here and now.
If you look at the trunk lineup, you will notice that almost every position is equipped with power. A lineup like painted for the hitter-friendly Citizens Bank Park, which generally sees many homeruns. Apart from Santana, who is also a candidate for 30 homeruns or more thanks to this ball park, one should not underestimate the numerous youngsters.
While the highly talented Center Fielder Odubel Herrera may not be able to give the big slugger, last year’s Rhys Hoskins phenomenon (18 homeruns in 50 games) and Nick Williams and Maikel Franco should be able to scratch the 30 Long Balls.
In general, however, the lineup should be able to handle the bat competently. In any case, it is remarkable how young they are all: only Santana is over 30 (31), the oldest regular positioner apart from him is Cesar Hernandez at the age of 27. Among those is also Top-Prospect J. P. Crawford, which is either the organization’s best or second best prospect, depending on the talent gurus. Catcher Jorge Alfaro is also a member of the Creme de la Creme in terms of Phillies offspring.
What you shouldn’t forget about the Phillies of 2018 is that this franchise is by no means a regular underdog who is now on the verge of fame. As early as the middle of the last decade, they have been among the top teams of the MLB and have repeatedly been one of the favourites for years.
From 2005 to 2010, a Phillies player always won an individual regular season or postseason award. From 2007 to 2011 Philly was in the playoffs, in 2008 and 2009 they won the NL Pennant and in 2008 even the World Series – for the first time since 1980.
The team was one of the strongest in the MLB and was always eager to improve. Commitments from top pitchers such as Cliff Lee (2009,2011-2014) and Roy Halladay (2010) clearly underlined the ambitions of the franchise. And even back then, the principle was that money did not play a major role. From 2009 to 2017 they never spent less than 100 million dollars, from 2011 to 2014 well over 160 million annually.
However, success began in 2012, leaving only contaminated sites. Former top stars like Ryan Howard or Jimmy Rollins gradually faded away, and investments such as the expensive commitment of Boston’s starcloser Jonathan Papelbon no longer yielded the desired return. As a result, the playoffs also failed to materialize from 2012 onwards – in 2012 there was an 81-81 record, and the following years ended consistently with “Losing Seasons”.
However, these seasons weren’t completely lost either, because at least they yielded some juicy fruits. Failure at this stage has also led to a steady improvement in the team’s draft position. Over the past five years, the Phillies have had four top ten picks and have generally begun to put more emphasis on scouting talent.
In 2013, the team was still in 16th position, but pulled into J. P. with the pick. Crawford made today’s regular shorts stop. The seventh Pick 2014 brought in Pichting Ace Ace Aaron Nola. As far as the selection of the three following years is concerned, a judgement on the quality of the players is still premature. The 2016 first-overall pick of 2016, outfielder Mickey Moniak, however, seems to have at least not been a clear stroke of luck.
Contrary to the 2015 second-round pick Scott Kingery, who is expected to be in the majors as a second baseman by 2018, these promising names will one day be outdone by Pitcher Sixto Sanchez, arguably the best prospect in the Phillies’ system. The right-hander has already drawn little comparison with the hall-of-famer and MLB legend Pedro Martinez. Much larger shoes can hardly be filled in this area. The Phillies are taking it easy with him, so he will probably not hit the Big Leagues before September or 2019.
Nevertheless, the current squad can be seen. Of the eight expected starters – nine if you include a platoon in the right field between Nick Williams and Aaron Altherr – only Santana was a free agent commitment. Three players were their own draftpicks, Herrera arrived in December 2014 as a Rule 5 draft pick from Texas, two more were hired via trade and two were international amateurs. The composition of the cadre could hardly be economically more efficient.
If you look at the particularly young rotation – the oldest player here apart from Arrieta (32) is Jerad Eickhoff at the age of 27 – only Arrieta came as a Free Agent. Nola was a first round pick and the other three of them hit the Phillies by trade.
Only in bullping was the Free Agency increasingly used. This season, Tommy Hunter, Pat Neshek and Fernando Abad were joined by three newcomers. The Bullpen was probably also the biggest construction site of this squad, although last place in the National League East last season had other reasons.
Despite the new additions, it can be assumed that the overall level remains the weakest link here. But especially when it comes to bullpen, the best way to improve during the season is if the need arises.
Another reason for the weak result in 2017 was the general inexperience of the team. For many people, it was simply not yet unusual to go through a long season and to maintain a constant level. However, another year of MLB experience is likely to help here, especially in the pitching sector, as the potential is undoubtedly there.
The question now is what you can realistically expect from this team for 2018. An increase in performance for sure, because with the well-known newcomers and a full season of shooting stars like Hoskins there should be more to it. But in any case, 2018 can only be the beginning. The year in which you slowly get the turn and lay the foundation stone for a time of phillyses, which may well be a big time again.
You don’t have to talk about “Win now” in Philadelphia, but you can talk about “Win soon”. Many good young players are already there, but the lineup could be improved. Especially in the right field or in the middle infield, especially on the position of the short stop, second baseman or third baseman there would still be room for additions.
Right Fielder and superstar Bryce Harper as well as Shortstop/Third Baseman Manny Machado will be released next winter by pure coincidence. Surely both will become horrendously expensive and the competition would be great, but as team owner John Middletown said only in February:”Money is no obstacle at all”.
In concrete terms, this means that as of March 2018, the Phillies have a total of 67 million dollars in guaranteed contracts on the Payroll for 2019. Or to put it another way, you would have $121 million of room to manoeuvre until you reach the luxury tax limit. So if they really want to reach the market in 2018/19, there is absolutely nothing standing in their way.
2018 will also be a showcase for potential free agents to promote Philadelphia’s commitment. These include top pitcher such as Dallas Keuchel and possibly even over-pitcher Clayton Kershaw. So if money doesn’t matter, Philly could become a true superpower after a year of good feeling.
This article was published without prior view by the Major League Baseball.