Philly Front Office

Every season or so, we are going to take a look at where are 4 teams are at the moment including where they’ve been and where they’re going. Coming up with a name was rough sledding. I landed on Pharmer’s Almanac thinking that it was ole Benny Franklin who started it, but that was Poor Richard’s. I couldn’t come up with anything better though, so here we are…

Looking around the Philadelphia sports landscape you see four very different teams, all going in different directions. The Eagles are flying high, cruising in the stratosphere while the Sixers are flaming wreckage. The Flyers are ready to launch, and the Phillies might be running out of fuel. Let’s take a look

Phillies

The season starts tomorrow, and this Phillies team is considered one of the favorites to take home the World Series trophy. Despite the malaise of excitement surrounding the roster, it is loaded. There are star hitters, star pitchers, and a bullpen that is better than people realize (assuming Jose Alvarado and his 102 MPH fastball is here to stay). They should win 90+ games and make it to the playoffs, the great October crapshoot.

The roster is talented, but it is also getting older. This is the last dance for this team as we know it. That’s not to say we will fall off a cliff next year, but if a championship doesn’t happen now, things will have to change. With no extension in place with Kyle Schwarber or JT Realmuto as of publication, you have to wonder about the team’s desire to give several years and $20m+ to two guys in their mid-30s. Serious money and years are already invested in Bryce Harper, Trea Turner, Aaron Nola, and Zack Wheeler. Making that core even older with long term commitments might be off the table. Plus, you would be looking at around $40m between the two which is about the price for Vlad Guerrero Jr and Kyle Tucker.

Thankfully, unlike previous contending Phillies generations, there seems to be a succession plan in place. Aiden Miller, Andrew Painter, and Justin Crawford are all just about big league ready and should represent the next core of contending Phillies teams. It’s not hard to imagine a 2027 Opening Day roster something like this:

There are some holes, but that is all of a sudden a much younger and promising lineup.

The Phillies are legitimate contenders, but also at a crossroads. Think of this like the 2010 team but with a much more promising future. Enjoy this team this year.

Flyers

The only drama left in a productively lost season is where the Flyers will finish in the reverse standings and how quickly the coach will be fired after the season. Torts isn’t for everyone and I have no real opinion on him, but seeing how he is handling the mounting losses makes you really appreciate the positivity Brett Brown had with the Process Sixers. That man was a saint.

The Flyers have 9 games left and currently sit 5th in lottery odds. However, they have played 2-3 more games than their closest competition, Nashville and Buffalo. Of those 9 games, 3 are against those very same foes. We can’t get higher than 3rd, but 3rd is very much possible. With it comes an 11.5% chance at #1, 11.2% chance at #3, and 40% chance at #4. The Athletic ranks two guys as Tier 1 draftees, Matthew Schaefer (D) and Michael Misa (C), and 4 others as Tier 2. I am not going to pretend to know anything about hockey scouting, but for a team that needs high end talent, the higher the better here. The lottery will be held on May 5 or 6.

The coming offseason looks like it could be a fun one hockey-wise. For the first time in forever, the Flyers are going to have cash to spend. They might use it to acquire even more draft picks by leasing the space to team in need or they could do some splurging. We’ll see. Look for the team to try to compete for real next season.

Sixers

I’m not going to lie, things are bleak. Maybe the worst season any of us can remember is almost over, but unlike the Flyers, there isn’t much hope here. It is a tale of two futures right now. If Joel Embiid can come back to last year’s pre-injury levels and the team retains their top-6 protected draft pick, we are right back as a serious contender. Embiid would be surrounded with young shooters and ball handlers who can legitimately complement his game for once.

Unfortunately, there is a good chance neither happens. No Embiid. No draft pick. No hope. In that case, we are staring at an aging and unmotivated Paul George combining with Embiid’s wasted cap hit taking up around $107m. We’ll have to severely overpay Quentin Grimes so we can have him Maxey and Jared McCain all playing the same position. We would be a middling team next year that while it might be a fun group, would not have title aspirations until they could at least move off of George, but likely not until Embiid is gone too. It would be basketball purgatory.

I know we are rooting for losses right now, but we could lose the last 10 games of the season and it won’t matter if the ping pong balls don’t bounce the right way on May 12. I can’t stress how important this is. If we retain our pick, it is at least something to look forward to and build around even if Embiid is practically gone for good. You’d be able to invest in a future of some kind, ready to crush it once Embiid’s contract is movable. Without that, next year might look an awful lot like this one, but with a better record and worse lottery odds. Dark times in Sixers world.

Eagles

The Eagles are young, talented, efficiently built, and Super Bowl Champions. They are the best run organization in professional sports. It does not get better than this. The draft is coming at the end of April and Howie has capital to use how he pleases. Granted, we aren’t throwing money around because guys like Jalen Carter and Nolan Smith are up for extensions next year, but that’s not a bad thing. This team has a plan and it is being executed with precision.

We’ll see how we look in the summer.