By Matt Rappa, Sports Talk Philly editor 
When top free agent names like Bryce Harper, Manny Machado, and Patrick Corbin are connected to the Philadelphia Phillies, it is easy to forget about other crucial happenings during the Major League Baseball offseason.
In the midst of free agency, two important deadlines will take place over the next 12 days: the deadline to protect prospects in Dec. 13's Rule 5 draft by adding them to the 40-man roster (Nov. 20); and the deadline to non-tender arbitration-eligible players and forgo the arbitration process (Nov. 30).
The Phillies have nine arbitration-eligible players: right-handers Aaron Nola, Vince Velasquez, Hector Neris, Luis Garcia and Jerad Eickhoff, southpaw Adam Morgan, infielders Maikel Franco and Cesar Hernandez, and outfielder Aaron Altherr.
Infielders Pedro Florimon and Justin Bour were also arbitration eligible, however both were recently placed on waivers. Florimon elected free agency instead of accepting a Triple-A Lehigh Valley assignment, and Bour is expected to do the same.
While seemingly insignificant, the Phillies moving on from Florimon and Bour not only freed them from the burden of going through the arbitration process with nine players instead of 11, but it also opened up two more 40-man roster spots.
The more 40-man roster space, the more prospects the Phillies can protect from the Rule 5 draft.
MLBTradeRumors.com predicts the Phillies will grant free agency to, or non-tender, Garcia and Altherr, rather than pay them a projected, respective $1.7 million and $1.6 million salary in 2019. NBC Sports Philadelphia's Corey Seidman agreed that Garcia ($1.7 million) will cost "too much money for a replaceable reliever," however he disagreed about moving on from Altherr:
… It's probably worth bringing Altherr back at this price. Altherr's 2018 was rough but he hit .272 with 19 homers and an .856 OPS in 2017. If he gets even 70 percent back to that type of production, he's a decent fourth outfielder.
Keep in mind, too, that if the Phils non-tender Altherr they'd still need to pay another outfielder something like $600K or $700K, so the difference in keeping Altherr could be less than $1 million. Worth it, given his skill set.
With the deadline to protect prospects from exposure to the Rule 5 draft on Tuesday, and the non-tender deadline 10 days later, something will soon have to give. The Phillies will have to determine just how many prospects they deem worthy of protection, as to how many 40-man roster spots they will need to create.
Like Florimon and Bour, the Phillies in the next couple of days could place more of their arbitration-eligible players on waivers and remove them from the 40-man roster, which currently stands at 34 players. Morgan ($1.1 million arbitration projection) is the most likely candidate, while Franco ($5.5 million) and/or Hernandez ($8.9 million) could be dealt.
Prospects the Phillies could be looking to protect include: right-handers Tom Eshelman and Adonis Medina, infielders Arquimedes Gamboa, Daniel Brito and Jose Gomez, and outfielder Jose Pujols. Brito was awarded a minor-league Gold Glove Award early last month.
Top prospects like Sixto Sanchez will not be exposed to the Rule 5 draft — regardless whether they are added to the 40-man roster — due to not satisfying the following eligibility criteria:
- Player has been in the minor leagues for at least 4 years if he was signed after age 19
- Player has been in the minor leagues for at least 5 years if he was signed before age 19
The Phillies may not need to clear more 40-man roster space prior to Tuesday, however, and could wait to non-tender their arbitration candidates rather than placing them on waivers before Tuesday's deadline. And even if Franco and/or Hernandez may not be in the team's long-term picture, they could still go through the arbitration process and eat their awarded arbitration salary in a potential trade. Non-tendering, or releasing, either would not necessarily be feasible, especially given Hernandez's durability and Franco's power potential.
The Phillies have ample money to spend, and hence are not forced to make quick decisions to save salary.
Nola ($6.6 million arbitration projection), Neris ($2 million), Eickhoff ($1.7 million) and Velasquez ($2.6 million) are "no-doubters" the Phillies will want to bring back in 2019 and not non-tender.
Arbitration figures will be exchanged on Jan. 11, and hearings will take place Feb. 1-20.
The next two weeks — with the Thanksgiving holiday in the middle — will surely be interesting.
