With rebuilding, you will have growing pains. 2015 will be one of those years destined to have some of those. Just four years removed from the playoffs, the Phillies have taken quite a large fall from grace and this season will prove to be a difficult one for all parties involved. David Schoenfield of ESPN released part of his annual preseason rankings today, covering numbers 25-30 and to no one's surprise, the Phillies are found in that grouping at 29th.
Big offseason moves: Traded SS Jimmy Rollins to the Dodgers for two minor leaguers; traded OF Marlon Byrd to the Reds for minor league P Ben Lively; umm … signed OF Jeff Francoeur, which even as an act of desperation is a curious act of desperation; have shopped LHP Cole Hamels, RHPJonathan Papelbon and 1B Ryan Howard; signed RHPs Aaron Harang and Chad Billingsley.
Most intriguing player: Hamels, obviously. He may start the season with the Phillies but nobody expects him to end it there.
Due for a better year:Domonic Brown gets what is maybe his final chance to prove himself as a big league regular. An All-Star in 2013 when he hit 27 home runs, he fell apart in 2014 with a .235/.285/.349 line. There's still some talent here, but how much?
Due for a worse year: Ruben Amaro Jr.
I'm just the messenger: Everyone has been predicting the decline of the Phillies for a few years and Amaro finally admitted that a rebuilding was in order. He's been asking for a ransom for Hamels, understandably so because he's really the only valuable commodity he has, unless Chase Utleyagrees to a trade or Cliff Lee comes back and proves he's healthy. The past two seasons were painful for Phillies fans, but 2015 could be their worst season since losing 97 games in 2000.
The final word: Hey, on the bright side the Phillies outperformed my prediction last year by seven wins .. and still won just 73 games. If there's a bright spot, it's the bullpen, led by closer-in-waiting Ken Giles (1.18 ERA as a rookie), which should be solid even if Papelbon is traded.
Prediction: 67-95
The Phillies won 73 games last year, so six wins less doesn't seem like too much considering the losses of Rollins and Byrd and other questions surrounding the team.
The Braves are found just one spot above the Phillies in 28th. The Braves ranked second to last in baseball last season in runs and they traded Justin Upton, Jason Heyward and Evan Gattis.
The Phillies are ranked ahead of the Diamondbacks, while the Twins, Rockies and Rangers fill the 27, 26 and 25 spots respectively.
