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| I'll still miss Jimmy though. Photo by Richard Wilkins Jr. |
Last season, the Phillies had a healthy Chase Utley and Jimmy Rollins. Ryan Howard played all season. Marlon Byrd exceeded many of our expectations. Carlos Ruiz was healthy. The old players stayed on the field, and played all season, with the exception of Cliff Lee. The team finished 73-89, and finished in last place. In short, they stunk. They stunk with the heroes of the past. In truth, that means it doesn't matter if any of these guys are still here. Not one. And so, I said the Phillies needed to sell off at the deadline. They refused. I slammed them for it here.
Now I'm here to tell you how good of a job they've done since.
Yes, the team, right now, is worse than last year. The team is also cheaper and some eight bodies to the better (including the Rule 5 guys), regardless of whether the Papelbon deal gets done or not. Considering that there is a market for him, the off-season could get even more productive for a team that just about six months ago was bad, and had no future direction. In short, this off-season has been very good.
The goals of the Phillies this off-season were not to reel in a big-time free agent, or put together a team ten games better than last season. They certainly didn't move that way. They said from the start that they did not expect to contend until 2017 at the earliest. They shipped out 36 year old Jimmy Rollins and his $11 million salary, picking up just one million of it and getting two pitching prospects. They shipped out 37 year old Marlon Byrd and his $8 million, picking up just half of that and getting another pitching prospect back. They shipped out increasingly expensive ($3.1 million in 2015) middle reliever Antonio Bastardo and his lack of control, and brought back a young, AAA starting pitcher for him. They drafted the very promising 23 year-old bat, Odubel Herrera in the Rule 5 Draft, along with 27 year-old reliever Andy Oliver. You can't leave out the Roberto Hernandez trade of last Summer, which landed the Phillies Jesmuel Valentin (BA ranks him our #8 Prospect, MLB.com #20) and Victor Arano (MLB.com has him at #15). All in all, five of our top 20 prospects from MLB.com are guys we picked up in trades since the deadline. The Phillies also knocked $17.1 million off of their 2015 tab, and get an additional $5 million more in space next off-season when those contracts are totally out of here. While it might not be a big help to the 2015 squad, Reading's rotation will include Eflin, Windle, and Lively, all of whom were picked up this off-season, while Lehigh Valley will have Rodriguez, picked up this off-season as well. Factor in highly touted draft choices Aaron Nola, Matt Imhof, Aaron Brown, and Chris Oliver, and you can argue that 40% of the top 25 prospects in this system came in over the last year.
If I were to criticize anything, it's what the Phillies have not done. They did not turn Cole Hamels into a jackpot. They did not move along Ryan Howard at any and all costs. They did not land Yasmany Tomas, despite a more reasonable price-tag than previously expected (though the opt-out clause would have been an issue). They did not move Jonathan Papelbon, or convert Cody Asche to an outfielder, or really explore Ben Revere moves, or jettison Dom Brown out of town. Carlos Ruiz didn't even move. Feel free to attack what didn't happen, it's fair game. They certainly should continue to do more. No one (not the least of which Keith Law rating us too low at 25th) thinks the Phillies system is great now, nor does anyone think the team is any good. The system is better though and the team has a direction. It's a start in the right direction.
Moving forward, I am judging every move, from roster spots to minor league assignments in spring training and beyond based on 2017. That is when newly-permanent Team President Pat Gillick and GM Ruben Amaro say they think we can contend again. This season should be about finding out who fits onto that team and who doesn't, and moving older players who were once great but won't be then, out of here. While it's not nice to trade away the heroes of times gone by, the Phillies need to be open to trading anyone who can net them a return of players (in the plural) who will help then. Fortunately, the attachment to the players from the team seems to be ending. Hopefully Papelbon will go soon, and then there maybe will be more before camp and Opening Day.
All in all, Phillies fans, it'll be a tough 2015 season, most likely. What we can only hope is that the next two seasons show us some good pieces and give us a direction going forward. In my humble opinion, this off-season was a B+ start to doing that.
