Completely ignoring what I expect the Phillies will do for a moment, since I've predicted that every other day through camp, I thought it would be a good time to get into what I think they should do for a minute. A lot of these moves are 40 man roster moves, but they are moves that nonetheless are helpful moving forward for this team.
My biggest problem with this team is not the five man rotation (with which I am reasonably fine), the bullpen (with which I actually do feel fine), the line-up (which just needs to stay healthy), or even the bench (which should should have a reasonable amount of talent), but the depth of the team. There are players in this camp without a 40 man slot right now who could be a much bigger help to this team than some of the guys who do have one. There is at least a shot, if not a strong one, that the Phillies will carry a full 40 man roster into opening day, with no flexibility going forward, and Chooch returning in about a month to knock someone off. Somewhere between five and seven of the players on that 40 man will be pitching in AAA ball in the bullpen, while at least three others will be in the rotation. It looks like they'll have a catcher in AA, a second baseman in AAA, two outfielders in AAA, and one in AA, at least. Just exactly how many of these players will be useful?
With all of this in mind, here's a couple of moves I think the Phillies should do right now.
- Work out a deal for Ender Inciarte's rights and get him off the 40 man right now- Ender's done everything right so far this spring, and that's good. The Phillies seem to like him, and that's good. He plays a nice outfield, he can steal bags, and he has the classic "speed" game. He's also really, really restrictive as a 40 man guy. He has to stay on the 25 man all year to remain the property of the Phillies. He's never played above A ball before. By all rights, he'd be spending this year in Reading's outfield, developing his game more to be a help next year. He can't as is though. Now obviously he wasn't that important to Arizona, who let his rights be out there in the Rule 5 Draft, so if you offer him back, they're likely to have interest in working out a deal for him. I would think that you could move either a Valle, Savery, Rosenberg, or Gillies for him without regretting it. All three slid a bit in their stock this camp. By doing this, you'd also clear two 40 man slots in the process. It's a win-win.
- Add Jermaine Mitchell to the 40 man, if not the 25 man- Every once in a while, you get lucky with a guy you find out on the scrap heap, and the Phillies appear to have that guy right now. If Ender Inciarte's done everything the Phillies have asked for him, Jermaine Mitchell is the next step up this spring, essentially being as impressive or more than anyone besides Dom Brown so far. He's got a 1.529 OPS this spring for the Phillies. He was a higher rated prospect a year ago in Oakland's system than Inciarte was in the Diamondbacks'. The worst knock on him is that he's lefty. Having him though would make Laynce Nix more expendable in a trade of some kind during the season. I'm not going to be super-upset if he plays in AAA this season, but he seems to be the most useful guy in camp so far in the outfield after Brown and Revere, who both will be in the line-up.
- Add a starter- Now this one's purely a matter of taste, but I don't get the feeling the Phillies are super confident in using Pettibone, Cloyd, or Martin as emergency starters right now. Maybe they are more so than I think, but at the moment I get the feeling that their earlier exits from camp suggest the Phillies are not sold on who is the #6 guy. At the worst then, they could take the last slot from move #1 here and give it to Aaron Cook, or even Adam Morgan. On the high end, they could go sign Kyle Lohse. Either way. Cook's the most likely scenario, and he has a lot of usage if they go this way. If he's around, he's probably the best option if Doc falls apart. He also could be a long man in the pen. I doubt the Phillies would like to use any of the young guys in that role.
