With Phillies manager search over, what comes next?
By John Town
The Phillies finally decided on their next manager, selecting Gabe Kapler. What comes next for the team moving forward this offseason?
The Phillies announced the hiring of their next manager, Gabe Kapler, Tuesday, answering their first big question of the offseason. With that out of the way, what comes next?
First, Kapler and the team have to decide on the rest of the coaching staff. With bench coach Larry Bowa moving into the front office and hitting coach Matt Stairs leaving for San Diego, those two positions definitely need to be filled. In addition, other jobs might need to be filled depending on who Kapler wants to bring back from this year’s coaching staff.
One person who wants to be a part of this next coaching staff is Curt Schilling, who texted Kapler that he wants to be a part of the next coaching staff. Schilling had plenty of success in the majors as a pitcher, but his controversial opinions will probably keep him from being hired.
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Beyond that, general manager Matt Klentak could make plenty of moves this offseason. There is a clear logjam in the middle infield, leaving Cesar Hernandez and Freddy Galvis as potential trade pieces. Philadelphia is also in desperate need of consistent starting pitching, and a trade for a consistent starter to pair with Aaron Nola could be in the works.
The first time any of these deals could go down could come in a few weeks at the general managers’ meetings.
They will take place Nov. 13-16 in Orlando, Fla. Even if nothing gets finalized then, Klentak could start a dialog with another that could lead to a final trade at the winter meetings Dec. 10-14. There will certainly be a flurry of moves at that time (both in free agency and on the trade market) and Philadelphia could very well be in the middle of that.
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In addition, before the winter meetings, Klentak and the team will have to decide which players they want to stay with the team by Dec. 2, the tender/non-tender deadline. Essentially, they will have to extend anyone not under a long-term contract but still under six years of service time a contract offer at that time. This will be the time to determine if there’s anyone on the roster that’s worth keeping around, or if their time in Philadelphia is over. It’s hard to imagine anyone not getting tendered a contract (especially ones that aren’t arbitration-eligible yet), but it will be an important deadline to follow just in case.
Next: Schilling asked Kapler to be pitching coach
Even with a new manager hired, there is still plenty the Phillies have to do this offseason. It will be an important offseason for them this year.