It wasn’t obvious before the All-Star Break, but a 3-9 record since makes it abundantly clear that this Phillies team is not good enough to win the World Series. I know that’s a high bar, but it’s what we are all here for from the players to management to the fans. We all, at the very least, wanted a shot at the title. We aren’t getting it. I would love to be wrong.1
There’s been talk of going “All-In” at this trade deadline. If you’ve never heard of the phrase putting makeup on a pig, well it’s used in situations like this. There’s no making this team look pretty. How do you fix an entire lineup? How do you fix a team that gets so in its own head that they can’t score more than 2 runs for the 5th starter?2 This team is essentially a functioning alcoholic. They were so good at covering their shortcomings that none of us believed they were broken inside. After the public meltdown in Miami, there’s no hiding it anymore.
The Mets have been terrible this year despite a gargantuan payroll. We all have had a good laugh at their expense. Well, now they should be laughing at us. At least at the trade deadline, they KNOW they need to sell. Their future will improve because they aren’t fooling themselves. The Phillies are absolutely fooling themselves if they buy at the deadline. That’s still the plan.
Of course, there is an increasingly vocal group of fans out there trying to convince everyone that the Phillies should, nay, they MUST sell at the deadline. Honestly, that sounds great! I’m always for planning ahead. If you can’t win the championship, then you need to make the best of the situation and sell your spare parts. Hell, make a big change if you can. I’ll tell you what, if I were running the Phillies, the first thing I would do is…
Wait. What is the first thing they should do? The idea of selling is great, but what in the world is this team going to sell? Just looking at the roster, I see exactly ONE positive, tradeable asset and that’s Jhoan Duran. That’s it. Don’t believe me? Let’s take a look.
* = no trade clause
Dead Payroll
- Aaron Nola* – LOL. As if having 4 years and $98m remaining on his contract wasn’t bad enough, he also has a 5.61 ERA and leads the NL in HRs allowed. I could go on, but what’s the point? You know he stinks.
- Trea Turner* – While his bat is completely unreliable for its monthly swings from great to god awful, he is at least consistently the worst shortstop in baseball. Everyone but the Phillies seems to know that he shouldn’t be in the infield anymore. It’s cool though, he only has 7/$191m left on his deal after this season. Literally NO ONE is trading for that.
No Value
- Alec Bohm – The slowest player in baseball doesn’t make up for it with power or plate discipline. Instead, you have a guy who doesn’t work counts, regularly grounds into double plays, and has worn on the fanbase to the point where he can’t talk without us rolling our eyes. The end of his contract can’t come soon enough.
- Edmundo Sosa – He could never hit righties and now he can’t hit lefties either. The defense only still looks good in comparison to Turner.
Not Getting the Value You’d Think
- Kyle Schwarber – We all love Schwarbs, but he is also a full-time DH making $30m per season the next 4 years. Someone would certainly trade for him. What are you getting though? Probably a Top 100 level prospect. Maybe 2? Maybe not.
- Bryce Harper* – With all the elite vs not elite nonsense we’ve had to go through, the truth is that Harper is still a good and valuable player. Is he worth 5/$125m right now? Probably not. Therein lies the problem. He would get us something, but probably not as much as Schwarber. Then you have to talk about paying down the contract and that’s not ideal.
- J.T. Realmuto* – This deal was bad the minute the Phillies offered it to him, but there is so little catching available out there that if the Phillies paid off half the deal they might be able to get a middling prospect or two.
- Jesus Luzardo – His extension hasn’t kicked in yet. Luzardo is much better than his ERA indicates, but he is also being paid right around his value. There isn’t any surplus here.
- Brandon Marsh – Marsh is a loveable guy and made the All-Star team this year. Anyone who has watched him over the last 4 years though knows that he is streaky. He gets hot and he looks like a 5 tool player. He gets cold and you wonder how he’s in the major leagues. He’s fully in the latter right now. He certainly has value, but the rest of the league sees him as a strong side platoon with little plate discipline.
- Bryson Stott – Players do not get more replaceable than him. Anyone clinging to the hope of Bryson Stott hasn’t been paying attention. Someone would take him off our hands for very little.
- Almost the Whole Bullpen – You could get some value here because teams always need relievers but nothing significant. All of them but Duran are just guys at best.
Not Selling
- Cristopher Sanchez – He’s still young and has one of the best contracts in baseball even after getting a raise. You could get a ton of value for him, but why are you doing that? He’s someone you need.
- Zack Wheeler – Yes, someone would absolutely take Wheeler even at $42m. He’s an ace and a playoff tested star. He also has a full no trade clause and probably wouldn’t waive it from what I understand.
- Justin Crawford and Andrew Painter – These are guys you sell when you are buying. You don’t sell rookies just to sell them. What would you be buying?
Selling sounds great, but what exactly are we selling? Nothing. This is the team we have and from their contracts, this is what we are going to have for a long time. I don’t know of any good solutions.3
- The Braves bought in 2021 and went from under .500 to WS champs ↩︎
- The 5th starter situation is bad, but because the team is so convinced they are going to lose going into the game, they also don’t ever give the starter a chance ↩︎
- That being said, I’m still going to cover the trade deadline like a hawk and put on a happy face for any possible improvements ↩︎
PHILLY FRONT OFFICE 
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