Philly Front Office

Last year I had a good time looking at different MLB trade candidates throughout the year because the Phillies were contenders but needed to improve. We never got the impact bat we needed (though Harrison Bader could not stop hitting in a Phillies uniform), but we did land Jhoan Duran. This season, the Phillies aren’t just not contenders, they are dreadful. I am not going to patronize you with a plea for patience right now. No one wants that. Instead, let’s tear this f****r down!

NOTE: If the Phillies turn things around, next month will be back to a more optimistic tone and a look to trade candidates around the league. Right now though, I’m out for blood.

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DFA Candidates

Let’s not beat around the bush. These guys have negative value and you couldn’t get more than rotten vegetables for them even if you paid down their entire salary.

• Alec Bohm – He has been maybe the worst player in Major League Baseball this season and the Phillies are paying him $10.2m. His .407 OPS is LAST in the league. No team in their right mind would want him and that should include the Phillies. What the hell is the reason to roster him at this point? Even if he turns it around, let him do it somewhere else. Under no circumstances should he be re-signed, so just rip the Band-Aid off already. At the very least, he cannot get regular at bats at this point with Edmundo Sosa sitting on the bench. Is he really this bad? No. He is clearly dealing with something though and needs to not play anymore.
• Taijuan Walker – He’s the pitching version of Bohm, just completely worthless at this point and making $18m this season. His contract was bad the minute it was signed, somehow got much worse, and despite a rebound last year, his value is now at rock bottom. If he had enough innings to qualify, he would have the worst ERA in the majors at 9.16 (Luzardo has the worst among qualified pitchers). He should have been moved in the offseason for literally anything considering he actually had value as a possible average pitcher but because of the Wheeler injury, we didn’t even entertain trading him. Baffling. Like Bohm, they can’t put him out there anymore.
• Adolis Garcia – We are fooling ourselves. He really isn’t very good. There is a reason why Texas DFA’d him already. We were so desperate for capable defense in right that we ignored that Garcia is just as bad as Castellanos at the plate. He is at least getting walked some but he strikes out like no tomorrow and isn’t providing enough power to make that acceptable. The Phillies gave him $10m for some reason despite being VERY replaceable. He will end up getting released and picked up by a real contender.

Worst Trades in Phillies History

Future Free Agents

These are the guys with 1 or 2 years left on their contracts and thus the easiest to move to contenders

• Brandon Marsh – Marsh has been one of the Phillies best hitters, but doesn’t really fit in the Phillies future as a corner outfielder. He has enough speed to play CF but isn’t very good at it. Still, a needy team might feel his bat is an upgrade at a very low-inventory position. He has more value than anyone else in the lineup due to his $5m salary and extra year of team control remaining.
• Edmundo Sosa – A good fielder and a great right-handed bat against lefties. Someone like that always has value. Sosa is also a pure rental with a $4.4m salary and in the final year of arbitration. We won’t get a ton for him, but it won’t be nothing either.
• Bryson Stott – The only reason he isn’t on the DFA list is because he has another year of cheap team control next year and at least has a history of being a good fielder even if the metrics are down right now. Why do we all get mushy over Stott? Is it because of the playoff grand slam? Because we used to squint and pretend to see Chase Utley? He isn’t good. He used to at least be able to work counts, but he’s simply bad now with no redeeming qualities. At $6m with an extra year of control, he will be a tough sell but could go to someone buying low on a former 1st round pick.
• Jose Alvarado – He’s a lefty who still throws hard even if he isn’t getting the same outs he’s supposed to. I didn’t want him back after the PED suspension last year, but the Phillies picked up his $8.5m option anyway. Relievers almost always have a market though, so someone will likely give something for him even if we have to eat some salary.
• JT Realmuto – He has been adequate. With the state of the catching market every year, adequate might be enough to get him a new home assuming the Phillies pay off half his contract. The problem, as always, is that we have no one to take his place. That’s how we got into this contract mess in the first place.
• Brad Keller – Keller’s 4.15 ERA is worse than it seems in the early going with just one bad appearance weighing him down. That one was his 3rd time pitching in 4 days too, so it’s explainable. The Phillies signed him to a 2/$22m deal so he isn’t cheap, but he would vault to the top of the market if the Phillies were to make him available. A nice run of performance would like land a Top-100 level prospect.
• Jhoan Duran – Duran is currently injured and hasn’t been totally lights out this year, but he is still one of the premier closers in the game with a bargain $7.5m contract and another year of team control. Maybe he doesn’t land a top prospect and a young MLBer in return this time around, but it would be close.

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Only If They Demanded It

• Bryce Harper – If I were to tell you in the offseason that Bryce was batting .273 with 10 XBHs and an .883 OPS in mid April, you would assume things were going pretty well. Unfortunately, he seems to be the only person doing anything right now. After this season he still has 5/$126m left on his contract and has a full no trade clause. He is still a star though and teams would line up to get him. He would have to tell the team he wants out.
• Zack Wheeler – This is purely speculative in that Wheeler would have to come back from injury this season and pitch well. If he does and sees the team as a sinking ship with little chance of a season next year, he could ask the Phillies to move him. Even with a $42m salary, ace Wheeler is worth every penny. The team could even pay down some of that for better prospects. Unless Detroit moves on from Tarik Skubal, there would be no bigger name on the market. It would be completely up to him though.

Immovable (even if we wanted to)

• Trea Turner – 7 years and $190m. That’s how much Trea has remaining AFTER this season. I know he hit .300 last year, but his at bats are miserable to watch, especially when the team really needs him. It’s like he completely loses focus up there sometimes like he’s back in little league and stuck in his own head. He is still a good player, but not only does he have a full no trade clause, that contract is a cement block strapped to the legs of any potential move.
• Jesus Luzardo – I still love Luzardo and think he will be fine, but with his rough start and a brand new contract, no one is making a move on that. The Phillies still need him for the future too.
• Aaron Nola – Lol. 4/$98m remaining on his deal after this season with a full no trade clause.

The reason the team is so bad is because the everyday players aren’t hitting. These non-stars are the ones you can ideally move at the deadline when they are overachieving compared to the rest of the team. We don’t have that at all. The Phillies NEED to turn things around because other than Keller and Duran, there is nothing of any value here. Years of doubling down and not changing have left the team bereft of real assets.

Contracts: Spotrac

Photo: Getty