Phillies Roundtable: How many games will team win in 2016?

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The Philadelphia Phillies won 63 games in 2015, which was the worst record in the league and earned them the No. 1 pick in this summer's draft.

Last season wasn't a complete lost cause however, as the team replenished their farm system with the July trade of Cole Hamels, and potential cornerstone pieces Maikel Franco, Odubel Herrera and Aaron Nola showed flashes of being parts of the next generation of the Phillies.

The process — dare I say, continued this off-season, as the Phillies hired new general manager Matt Klentak, who made the trade of Ken Giles, a move that netted the team Vince Velasquez and Mark Appel, among others, in a move that the team hopes better fits their timeline.

Entering the season, the Phillies aren't expected to compete for the playoffs, but there is a sense from fans that the team will improve and push towards returning to contention later this decade.

Prior to this afternoon's season opener, some of the Philliedelphia staff was polled on how many games they believed the Phillies will win in 2016. Here are the results:

Brian Startare

Win prediction: 73

I really don't know how this team can get to 75 wins but that's not to say that there isn't any talent present on this roster, with much more on the way. Unfortunately though, some more growing pains are in store as this team will struggle in many areas. Even a good manager like Pete Mackanin will be challenged with an outfield void of power, a thin starting rotation and an inexperienced and rather raw bullpen. The key will be for the Phils to play fundamentally sound baseball, which will include some small ball and a lot of timely defense.

Good baseball is on its way here soon, just not this season.

Frank Klose

Win prediction: ?

What record the Phillies have in 2016 is only relevant in terms of where they will draft. Looking around the league, I think that the Cincinnati Reds are the worst team in baseball. The Atlanta Braves also could be pretty bad in 2016. In other words, the Phillies may not be bad enough for the top pick in the draft, but they very well could be the towards the top of the draft order. That does not necessarily mean a failure; if the Phillies young players continue to develop in the minors, some of the players among Herrera, Nola, and Franco continue to develop, the year should be considered an outright success.

In terms of wins and losses: it is simply too soon to tell. A lot depends on how long the Phillies have Hellickson and Morton around; if either are flipped at the trade deadline then younger players will come up and may have their growing pains. The Phillies enter 2016 with a starting rotation much more steady than 2015 and a bullpen that no longer has Ken Giles and Jonathan Papelbon to at least preserve some wins.

Kevin Durso

Win Prediction: 72

So much of last season was about getting rid of the old and welcoming the new. The Phillies still have Ryan Howard and Carlos Ruiz taking time from some of the young talent coming up, but for the most part, this is Aaron Nola and Maikel Franco's team more than it is the ghosts of 2008. Franco is the bat the Phillies can build around and there's a host of pitching talent with Nola and Jerad Eickhoff in the majors and several more arms in the minors. With time, the Phillies will get back into contention, but Andy MacPhail and new GM Matt Klentak has heard the cries of Phillies fans and made moves that will usher in a new era of Phillies baseball. At the very least, in 2016, they will be more enjoyable to watch and win a few more games along the way. A 72-90 record seems like a reasonable expectation for this team.

Theo DeRosa

Win Prediction: 68

I think the 2016 Phillies will slightly improve over last season's team. Their farm system is much improved over last year's with the trades of Cole Hamels and Ken Giles, but the on-field product this year shouldn't be much better than last year's. I could see some breakout performances from players like Jerad Eickhoff and Tyler Goeddel push the Phillies over 70 wins, but this team simply can't compete with better NL East squads like the Washington Nationals and New York Mets.

Greg Vince

Win Prediction: 67

66.5 seems like a very good over/under for this team. I'll give them the half a game for the over. For a team that has as much to figure out as this, it's hard to see them winning much more. After sticking a fork in the old guard last season, there will be progress. As talent develops at the major league level and more of the all of a sudden relevant farm system is injected, there will be growing pains but we'll finally get a good look at what lies ahead rather than the decline of what is behind. That's a huge improvement regardless of what the win/loss record may be.

Brandon Apter

Win Prediction: 70

Although the 2016 Phillies could be much worse than last year with a ton of question marks heading into the season, I believe that it's more likely they'll surprise some people. In year two, Maikel Franco will have the opportunity to develop into a true power hitter, Odubel Herrera will continue to work on his defense while being aggressive at the plate and I believe that Cesar Hernandez will have a breakout year out of the lead-off spot. The bullpen is the biggest issue here and with three young starters, the pen is going to cost the team a good chunk of wins. They could win as little as 55 but as many as 70, possibly more. This season is a focus on development and it should be fun to not only watch guys like Franco and Herrera, but also see how quickly the teams' top prospects come into the picture.

George Gouvas

Win Prediction: 72

In the first full-season of the rebuilding process, GM Matt Klentak and President Andy McPhail decided the days of filling out the roster with one-year blunders such as Jerome Williams, Aaron Harrang, and Grady Sizemore were over. The young players will play in 2016.

With the exception of Ryan Howard, who is counting down his final days in Philadelphia, every starter will be 28 years of age or under. The energy and enthusiasm from the likes Odubel Herrera, Mikael Franco, Aaron Nola, and even skipper Pete Mackanin, in his first full-season as a major-league manager, will be a much-needed lift to the roster, the organization, and the fan-base.

The expected mid-season call-ups of top-prospects J.P. Crawford, Nick Williams and Jake Thompson, will lead this team to an energetic 72-90, with high hopes for 2017.

Rich Wilkins

Win Prediction: 67

The 2016 Phillies are a better baseball team than the 2015 Phillies. They have a better starting rotation, less dead weight in their Opening Day line-up, and a younger, hungrier core of players who will be more exciting to watch. With that said, I still have them stuck in the 67-72 win range, because of a bullpen that doesn't look capable of holding a lot of one run leads, team defense that still will be lacking, and a lack of depth in their line-up. I think we'll see a lot of positives in 2016, and we'll feel a lot better about the ballclub at the end of this season than last, but the wins and losses won't add up to a wild improvement because of the deficiencies this roster has going in.

Tim Kelly (@TimKellySports) is managing editor of Philliedelphia.com, focusing on news and features.

Phillies Roundtable: How many games will team win in 2016?

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