Phillies Free Agency: What Moves Are Left to Make?
By John Town
The Phillies made three big moves trading for Howie Kendrick and Pat Neshek and retaining Jeremy Hellickson. Are there any more moves left to make?
Some teams completely overhaul their roster in the offseason; others barely touch it. The Phillies are somewhere in the middle, having some holes to fill but still showing some promise in others.
So far this offseason, they have made three large acquisitions: trading for Howie Kendrick and Pat Neshek as well as offering Jeremy Hellickson a qualifying offer, which he accepted. Kendrick will likely be the starting left fielder next season, while Hellickson will be the veteran compliment to the young rotation.
These two moves beg the question; are there any moves left to make? The two biggest holes the Phillies needed to fill this offseason were in the outfield along with a veteran starter. Kendrick filled the first hole and Hellickson filled the second.
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Kendrick fills the void in left field, and the starters will likely be Kendrick in left, Odubel Herrera in center, and Aaron Altherr or Roman Quinn in right. The infield was already cemented heading into the infield with Maikel Franco, Freddy Galvis, Cesar Hernandez, and Tommy Joseph. Cameron Rupp will start behind the plate with Andrew Knapp or possibly Jorge Alfaro backing him up.
The Phillies rotation will now be an arrangement of Hellickson, Aaron Nola, Vincent Velasquez, Jerad Eickhoff, and either Adam Morgan or Alec Asher. The bullpen is likely solid with Jeanmar Gomez, Hector Neris, and Neshek locking down the back end with Joely Rodriguez and Edubray Ramos serving as the lefty/righty specialists.
With the starters set in stone barring a trade, what is left for the Phillies to do in free agency in this year? The only holes left on the roster would be on the bench, and some of those spots may be filled internally.
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For starters, the team still needs a utility man off the bench since Andres Blanco has yet to be resigned. One name floated here at TBOH was Daniel Descalso, who could certainly fill the void left by Blanco. That role may eventually fall to either Galvis or Hernandez once one of them is taken out of the lineup for No. 1 prospect J.P. Crawford. However, that likely won’t happen until later in the year, and someone has to be the utility guy in the meantime.
The team also needs a bat with power off the bench.
That was Ryan Howard in 2016, but that hole also needs to be filled. First basemen Adam Lind and Mitch Moreland both hit 20+ home runs last season and could provide that much-needed power. Getting them to sign here as a bench player may be hard to pitch, but enough money could convince them.
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The most exciting acquisitions of the offseason came and went with Howie Kendrick and Pat Neshek. Barring trading away some of the young talent the Phillies have – Odubel Herrera, Vince Velasquez, Cesar Hernadez – the rest of the team’s free agency moves will likely be small-scale moves to fill out the peripheral spots on the roster.