GM Hired, Onto the Off-Season for the Phillies

Former Angels Assistant GM Matt Klentak has been hired as the new General Manager of the Philadelphia Phillies. He was basically the front-runner for the job since mid-Summer when Andy MacPhail was announced as the next team President, and the two have worked together before. It's always good when you have a cohesive front office, and the Phillies now have that. Klentak also off-sets some of the perceived weaknesses of MacPhail- mainly that he is young, well-versed in advanced metrics, and has been in baseball the last couple of seasons.

I always say that if you're going to let someone run a front office, you let them actually run it. For as many disagreements as I had with Chip Kelly's off-season for the Eagles, you have to let him make all the moves that he wants to make, so that you can honestly judge his body of work. MacPhail is not being cheated of the authority to do what he wants, because he got to hire the GM of his choice, someone who can speak for him in any room he is put in. Klentak played a big role in the Angels front office this Summer after the GM was fired, and is prepared for this job. Give the Phillies a passing grade for getting a good GM hire, getting most of their coaching situation ironed out early, and getting their 40 man roster down far enough that they have plenty of room to do what they need to do in free agency. The early off-season is a success.

Now though, we move into the real meat of the off-season, the portion that will decide if we're watching another lost season in 2016 or moving forward towards prominence again. We enter this off-season with a core of major leaguers that includes Maikel Franco, Aaron Nola, Odubel Herrera, Jerad Eickhoff, Ken Giles and other young players who showed flashes in 2015. We enter this off-season with 36 players currently on the 40 man roster, and 31 after free agency begins. We enter this off-season with the top pick in the Rule 5 Draft, next year's amateur draft, and next Summer's international number one slot of money. Things actually look up compared to twelve months ago at this time.

The Phillies have serious needs though. A look at next year's roster shows some serious needs, if not to try and contend, at least to try and get the young players through a healthy, more productive season.

• The rotation going in is in dire need of another arm. Nola, Eickhoff, and Adam Morgan are likely to have slots going into camp. Lefty Matt Harrison, obtained in the Cole Hamels trade, could provide a veteran presence in the rotation, but it's hard to see him giving the Phillies 200 innings in 2016 after the amount of injury time he's had the last few years. The Phillies will need a fifth arm, and while they will have Alec Asher, David Buchanan, and Severino Gonzalez on the 40 man, you hope those are AAA arms most of the year, and that they can fill in holes in the rotation as the season goes. The Phillies will need a free agent arm that can give them 185 plus innings in 2016, plus those AAA arms. Jesse Biddle will spend the season on the 60 Day DL after Tommy John surgery, so he won't be a factor, but Zach Eflin and Jake Thompson could help later on this season. Joely Rodriguez future is in the bullpen, if he makes it. Gone are Harang, Billingsley, Williams, and Lee from this roster once free agency starts.
• The bullpen is also in need of another arm. Ken Giles is set as the team's closer, and Elvis Araujo, Luis Garcia, and Jeanmar Gomez are all fine options to be seventh inning guys. Dalier Hinojosa and Hector Neris also threw well enough to be considered to make this team out of camp, and Mario Hollands showed flashes two years ago before missing 2015 with Tommy John surgery, so the Phillies can fill in the bullpen fine. Colton Murray and Nefi Ogando are fine "up and down" pieces with options that will stay on the 40 man roster and occasionally play a role, but need more seasoning in AAA. The Phillies bullpen really desperately needs a steady influence in the late innings though, a veteran set-up man that can hold down the 8th inning and keep the Phillies from using Ken Giles from a lot of four plus out saves. For the sake of many of these younger arms health, adding a solid set-up man this off-season would be very wise.
• The Phillies line-up is mostly set, but one could argue for another outfield bat that can give them at least some starts. They will probably go into next season with a platoon at first between Howard and Ruf, something similar to a platoon at catcher between Rupp and Ruiz, and right now would probably have at least one platoon if they do re-sign Jeff Francoeur, between him and Cody Asche in left. Franco, Herrera, Freddy Galvis and Cesar Hernandez will likely start at third, center, short, and left on Opening Day. One can guess that Aaron Altherr would also start in right, at the moment. While the Phillies could re-sign Francoeur and say they have a line-up in place, they may also want to sign a more starting level bat as well, even if it's not one of the bigger free agent names.
• As is, the Phillies bench is fairly full of platoon partners. If you have platoons at catcher and first at a minimum, you have two bench slots filled that don't give you a lot of other flexibility. Andres Blanco is a fairly safe bet to come back, and this is why you can bet on Francoeur being re-signed as well, he's a good defensive outfielder. Darnell Sweeney is flexible position-wise, but could benefit from regular at-bats in AAA next season. The Phillies will probably have one spot to play with on this bench, whether they re-sign Frenchy or not, and should look for a quality hitter, who grinds out at-bats, and plays several positions. Of course, 29 other teams want that guy too.
• Assuming the Phillies sign a starter, set-up man, and Francoeur, their roster will be at 34 players right there, and they do have to protect several other players. It's a lock that Nick Williams and Roman Quinn will be protected on the 40 man roster. Brock Stassi and Gabriel Lino are also candidates to be protected, since they would be strong Rule 5 candidates. If they protect all four, the Phillies will have 38 spots filled. That would still leave them room to make two Rule 5 selections, possibly an outfielder and a reliever making the most sense. It would not leave them immediate room to add players like Knapp, Thompson, or Eflin to the 40 man roster though.
• The Phillies can be fairly aggressive with minor league deals as well. Jesse Biddle will go to the 60 Day DL at the end of camp, opening a roster spot to be filled by someone who is in camp, but not on the 40 man roster. The Phillies have the luxury of having a spot like this to shop around from the start.

And so that is the off-season ahead. A starting pitcher, a set-up man, at least one outfield bat, a Rule 5 pick or two, and maybe some low-risk chances to see what you have. Now that the Phillies have a GM, they can start targeting their players of choice. With their current payroll down under $100 million, the Phillies are in a good position to fill their needs in free agency, and put an improved product on the field.