ESPN front-office insider and former big-league general manager Jim Bowden rounded out his thoughts on the off-season transactions of each of the league's teams this past weekend by giving each team an off-season grade.
He gave the Phillies a relatively high mark — a B-, but the mark didn't come without some confusing analysis.
The Phillies are clearly “tanking” as they attempt to rebuild through scouting, player development and trades for young players. They got a good return for Cole Hamels at the trade deadline last season and plenty back in the trade that sent Ken Giles to the Astros. Philadelphia netted four pitchers, highlighted by Appel and Velasquez. The Phillies also improved their rotation for 2016 by getting Morton from the Pirates and Hellickson from the Diamondbacks. Both could be used to deal for more prospects before the trade deadline. The Phillies have a long way to go before they become contenders again, but they have a solid plan and strong leadership — led by Andy MacPhail and Matt Klentack — to help get them there.
It's perplexing to call what the Phillies are doing "tanking". Had the organization not waited as long to move on from some of the core pieces of the 2008 team, then perhaps their fall from a franchise-record in wins in 2011 to the worst record in 2015 wouldn't have happened. But that's what happened, and moving on from those pieces to embrace rebuilding is more of a case of "better late than never" than "tanking".
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As for some of the moves the Phillies made, the Giles trade was a move that the Phillies hope better fits their timeline than having a top-notch closer on a bad team. And as Bowden noted, the acquisitions of Morton and Hellickson could turn out to be low-risk, medium-reward type deals.
While Vincent Velasquez and Mark Appel could both be key parts of the team's future, general manager Matt Klentak has discussed on numerous occasions this off-season how he believes that while his first off-season at the helm with president Andy MacPhail wasn't necessarily a sexy one, the team has made some key moves "under the hood". It's possible those organizational changes could be viewed as the most important ones made this off-season down the road.
Tim Kelly (@TimKellySports) is the Managing Editor of Philliedelphia.com, focusing on news and features.
