Five questions the Phillies need to answer this offseason

John Town

PHILADELPHIA, PA - SEPTEMBER 30: Maikel Franco #7 of the Philadelphia Phillies is congratulated by Odubel Herrera #37 after he hit a home run during the second inning of a game against the New York Mets at Citizens Bank Park on September 30, 2017 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images)

The Phillies have plenty of questions facing them this offseason. Here are five that will determine what the 2018 team and beyond will look like.

The Phillies took a major step forward step in the second half of the 2017 season, accelerating their timeline. Now, many of the questions that they were expected to face in the future they are facing now. This makes the 2017-2018 offseason a critical one for the rebuilding team.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at five questions the Phils are facing into this offseason.

Who will be the next manager?

The Phillies made a surprising move at the end of the season, announcing that Pete Mackanin will not be returning as manager for the 2018 season. Considering that he received a contract extension earlier in the year, it was definitely a bit strange that he lost the job, especially considering the step forward the team took at the end of the year.

However, general manager Matt Klentak stressed that he wanted a manager in place that could lead the team to the playoffs, and clearly he felt that was not Mackanin.

Moving forward, it remains up in the air who will be the next manager. Whoever winds up being hired for the job will likely dictate the team’s strategy moving forward. It could be an old-school baseball lifer or a younger, fresher face taking over the position. Several candidates have emerged, including Triple-A manager Dusty Wathan, former Marlins manager and current Rockies bench coach Mike Redmond, and Orioles manager Buck Showalter.

Whoever the new manager winds up being, it will likely be one of the first things addressed in the offseason.

How will the rotation be filled out?

For the most part, Philadelphia’s starting pitchers were absymal. Outside of Aaron Nola, no one finished the year with an ERA below 4.25 that pitched exclusively in the rotation. The starting pitching needs to vastly improve, and team president Andy MacPhail recognized that in a recent press conference.

The simplest answer would be to go out and sign starting pitchers on the free agent market. Yu Darvish and Jake Arrieta are the two biggest names expected to be free agents, but Lance Lynn and Alex Cobb are also attractive options that won’t require as big of contracts.

On the other hand, MacPhail said he does not expect the Phillies to have a large payroll next year, so this may rule out any larger contracts in free agency.

Another avenue the club could take to fill the rotation is through trade. There are several potential targets for trades, including Toronto’s Marcus Stroman and Pittsburgh’s Gerrit Cole. They are both still team control for a few more years and the club has more than enough assets to use in a trade – more on that later.

Of course, the final option is to merely roll with what the club has now along with maybe one low-end starter brought in on a one-year contract. This would leave a lot of question marks in the rotation with Jerad Eickhoff, Vince Velasquez, and Zach Eflin all coming back from injury and Nick Pivetta not having the rookie season one would hope. Ben Lively and Mark Leiter are both potential options, but neither is particularly exciting.

Is it time to move on from Maikel Franco?

It’s hard to call Maikel Franco anything other than a disappointment this season. He took a step back in nearly every major offensive statistic compared to last year, which was already considered a disappointment by most. His -0.5 fWAR was the worst among all qualified third baseman and seventh-worst in all of baseball this season. Franco did cut down on his strikeouts and boost his walk total slightly, but it was not nearly enough to compensate for all the areas in which he struggled in this year.

The question now needs to be asked: is it time to move on from Franco? He has not shown any sustained runs of success in the last two years that would indicate he can bounce back, and now the Phillies actually have someone to replace him.

When J.P. Crafword came up to the majors this year, he immediately took over for Franco at third base. When Crawford played at other positions, Franco got back in the lineup again, but Crawford started more games at third than second and shortstop combined. It seems like the club likes Crawford at third, and that could be where he winds up next year.

Plus, it almost seems like a given that Philadelphia will pursue Manny Machado in free agency after the 2018 season. They have more than enough money to pay him and he would fill a gaping void in production at third base.

If the team decides to give Franco one more chance to show he’s worth something in 2018, that could cause a butterfly effect in Philadelphia’s complicated infield situation, leading right into the next question.

Should the Phillies trade Cesar Hernandez?

This question goes hand-in-hand with the previous one as what the Phillies do with Maikel Franco could directly influence what they do with Cesar Hernandez.

Hernandez has been among Philadelphia’s best players the last two years, leading their hitters in fWAR in both 2016 and 2017 while ranking among the top two in bWAR in that same timeframe. He has been a consistent leadoff hitter, posting an on-base percentage above .370 in each of the last two years.

What to do with players replaced by prospects?

Lost in the emergences of Rhys Hoskins, Jorge Alfaro, and J.P. Crawford were the players those prospects are expected to replace. Hoskins is expected to replace Tommy Joseph at first, Alfaro should replace Cameron Rupp behind the plate, and Crawford will eventually take over shortstop duties from Freddy Galvis.

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Hoskins and Alfaro are both expected to be the Opening Day starters at their respective positions next season. Crawford should be in the Opening Day lineup as well, but which position he winds up playing will ultimately depend on what happens with the rest of the infield. At some point, Crawford will be the everyday shortstop, but just when that happens will remain up in the air.

This leaves Joseph, Rupp, and Galvis in limbo heading into next season. In an ideal world, it would be nice if they were traded somewhere, but only Galvis has any real trade value.

Rupp and Joseph were both well below-average players in 2017, with Joseph ranking among the worst players in all of baseball.

If those guys don’t wind up traded, Galvis is the only one who could realistically wind up securing a bench role on the team. He has more than enough defensive prowess to be a utility man and is viewed as a leader in the clubhouse as the longest-tenured Phillie. Meanwhile, Andrew Knapp is a much better option as a backup catcher compared to Rupp while it’s highly unlikely the team would opt to keep the right-handed hitting Joseph as the backup to the right-handed hitting Hoskins, especially since Joseph can only play first base.

Next: Could Aaron Nola receive a long-term extension?

Ultimately, Joseph and Rupp could fall victim to the roster crunch and may even wind up being non-tendered this offseason. It’d be a tad sad to see them go, but Philadelphia ultimately has better options at their positions.

John Town

Contributor and former Co-Expert at That Ball's Outta HereSometimes I pretend like I know what I'm talking about. Sometimes I do. Sometimes I don't. It's up to you to decide when.