Phillies rumors: Five moves the team should make at the Winter Meetings

The MLB Winter Meetings start in less than a week. What moves should Phillies general manager Matt Klentak make while he’s there?

The pinnacle of craziness in Major-League Baseball begins next week when the Winter Meetings take off Dec. 10. The Phillies have made several moves there in the past, like trading Ken Giles and Jimmy Rollins as well as making a number of signings.

This year, there are plenty of things general manager Matt Klentak could do while in Orlando. The team may not be involved in the Giancarlo Stanton or Shohei Otani sweepstakes, but there will still be plenty of interesting moves to make.

Trade Cesar Hernandez

At this point, it seems extremely likely that Cesar Hernandez will be traded at the Winter Meetings. Philadelphia has reportedly already received offers from other teams for the second baseman, and they should definitely be listening.

Hernandez should net the Phillies a solid prospect in return. He was worth 4.3 fWAR in 2016 and 3.3 this year after missing a month due to injury. His batting average and on-base percentage were essentially the same the last two seasons (.294 and .371 in 2016, .294 and .373 in 2017). Hernandez also showed slightly more power with nine home runs and a .127 isolated slugging percentage this year.

Trading Hernandez would also help the team out as it clears up the budding logjam in the middle infield. Klentak has said he would go into 2018 with that logjam still in place, but he probably said that to not give away any leverage in a trade. I’m sure, if given the option, he would try to clear up the logjam, and moving Hernandez gets the most return among any other player.

Trade Freddy Galvis

If Klentak is unable to move Hernandez for whatever reason, a potential backup plan could be trading Freddy Galvis instead. While he pales in comparison to Hernandez in terms of offensive production and total WAR, Galvis still has value as a Gold Glove-caliber shortstop.

What could make Galvis more appealing than Hernandez is the fact that this is the last year he is arbitration-eligible before becoming a free agent. Meanwhile, Hernandez still won’t be a free agent until after the 2020 season. A team looking for a stopgap at shortstop could do a lot worse than Galvis.

While trading Galvis would net a far lower return than Hernandez, that makes him easier to move. Making this trade would take away the longest-tenured active player on the team, but it accomplishes the same end as trading Hernandez.

Acquiring Starting Pitching Help

The biggest hole on the Phillies became evident by the end of the season as the rotation limped to the finish line with Aaron Nola and anyone who wasn’t injured. It became clear that Klentak would have to go out in the offseason and add some much-needed help to the rotation.

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The most obvious avenue to acquire this help is free agency. While the team isn’t expected to pursue the top arms (Yu Darvish, Masahrio Tanaka, and Jake Arrieta), they could make a serious push at those in the second tier of free agent starting pitching. Alex Cobb and Lance Lynn are the two most obvious names and are expected to sign three or four-year contracts.

If Klentak doesn’t want to commit to that long of a contract for a starter, he could pursue guys like Andrew Cashner and Tyler Chatwood. They are more likely to accept a one or two-year contract, which is more friendly to the team.

Help could also be acquired through trade, perhaps by trading one of Galvis or Hernandez. That way, the club could add a team-controlled starter for a fairly low salary as opposed to a veteran free agent on a more expensive contract.

Add a reliever or two

The Phillies are starting to put together a pretty solid back end of the bullpen. Hector Neris is poised to be the closer next year, while bounce back seasons from Luis Garcia and Adam Morgan make them look like the potential future Ryan Madson and J.C. Romero.

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Beyond that core three, there are some nice pieces, but nothing that screams long-term confidence. Hoby Milner, Ricardo Pinto, Yacksel Rios, and Victor Arano were all rookies and Edubray Ramos was inconsistent. Pat Neshek was the team’s more reliable reliever (and All-Star) but was traded midseason and is now set to get a sizeable deal in free agency.

While Philadelphia isn’t likely to dive into the to end of the reliever market either, plenty of solid options still exist. Juan Nicasio, who the team had for barely a week after claiming him off waivers before trading him, could definitely return.

They liked him enough to claim him off waivers when the Pirates put him there.

Other pitchers like Brandon Klintzer, Tony Waston, and Tommy Hunter are also options in free agency. Not to mention the plenty of other relievers non-tendered or that will hit waivers as other teams clear room on their 40-man roster as they make moves.