By Tim Kelly, Sports Talk Philly editor 
For the Philadelphia Phillies, it may not be as simple as Cameron Rupp being the team's Opening Day catcher in 2017 with Andrew Knapp backing him up and Jorge Alfaro moving himself one step closer to the major leagues. It sounds as though general manager Matt Klentak and the front-office are prepared to get creative this off-season.
In an interesting piece from Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer that looks at both the short-term future of some prospects and the long-term future of players currently on the major league roster, Gelb left an interesting note about how the team's catching position may look in 2017:
What that means is that 2017, at least at the start, could look quite similar to 2016. The Phillies could pursue trades this winter; Rupp, especially, is an interesting piece. They do not want to pair Rupp with one of the young catchers next season; a veteran backup is guaranteed.
Rupp, 27, is batting .263 with 14 home runs and 43 RBIs in 2016, and when you pair that with his increases in both slugging percentage and on-base percentage, 2016 would seem to represent a breakout year for the Texas native. Perhaps the Phillies believe that this season will end up being an outlier in Rupp's career and with two young talented catchers in the upper levels of their minor leagues will look to trade him this off-season while his value is at its highest.
But there's more to this. This type of report suggests that the Phillies aren't comfortable with Rupp being the veteran catcher on a roster filled with a rotation that could feature five starters all 27 or younger next season. That doesn't even take into account the amount of young arms the team has in the bullpen.
Perhaps the Phillies will trade Rupp and pair a veteran with Andrew Knapp to start the 2016 season, knowing that Alfaro is waiting in the wings. A free-agent like Alex Avila could make sense. Or perhaps Rupp will be kept, Knapp will be promoted and the Phillies will keep a third catcher, like an A.J. Ellis, really in more of a mentorship role. On paper, the team could have exercised Carlos Ruiz's 2017 option to fill a role like that, but Ruiz probably has more left than playing in a role like that, would be more expensive than Ellis and would be harder to designate for assignment when Alfaro is ready to come up.
While one of these approaches may have long-term benefits, it will require some short term sacrifices. The team may have to trade Rupp for less than he's worth. Andrew Knapp may have to start the 2017 season in Triple-A. Whatever veteran catcher they sign would take up a 40-man roster spot from a prospect, potentially leaving someone that the team would prefer to keep exposed to the Rule-5 Draft.
