If we’re being perfectly logical, the Phillies right now have not been completely successful in their offseason plan as they did not reel in the big fish in Bo Bichette. However, the word “completely” is doing a lot of heavy lifting here since we can still term this offseason successful by looking at what they did actually do.
Imagine this lineup without the 50 home run power potential Kyle Schwarber possesses. What if he signed with Cincinnati?
Imagine the bullpen without the impact that Brad Keller projects to have. Do we think Orion Kerkering deserves that kind of high leverage assignment again?
Are there still issues with the roster? Of course. God help us all if one of the main starting outfielders gets any kind of major injury. Are there depth issues in the rotation? Adding yet another starter would be kind of nice to mitigate some of the potential pitfalls that lay ahead. But calling the entirety of the offseason a failure is a bit extreme. It could have, and maybe should have, been better. But a failure? No.
On to the links.
Phillies news:
- Think the Phillies are going to ditch their policy of not offering opt-outs? THINK AGAIN, PAL!! (but seriously, they should think about it)
- Even though his presence still haunts the walls of Citizens Bank Park, the team still will let go of Nick Castellanos.
MLB news:
- You know what’s always a good time? Power rankings of farm systems by people that don’t really scout much.
- However, Baseball America gave their top 100 prospects in the game, a list that included three Phillies youngsters ($).
- MacKenzie Gore is no longer in the NL East thanks to his deal to the Rangers, but he’ll still see the Phillies at the beginning of the season!
- Jung Hoo Lee was briefly detained at the airport in San Francisco, but it seemed to be an issue of forgetting some paperwork, an issue that was resolved swiftly.
- With Cody Bellinger and Freddy Peralta on new teams, what does the free agent market and trade market now look like?
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