Grading Phillies biggest acquisitions for 2018 season

2 of 6

NEW YORK, NY – SEPTEMBER 09: Carlos Santana #41 of the Philadelphia Phillies hits a home run against the New York Mets during the ninth inning of a game at Citi Field on September 9, 2018 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. The Mets defeated the Phillies 6-4. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images) /

With the end of the season less than two weeks away, let’s take a look back and grade the majors moves the Phillies to improve the team this season.

While the 2017 season started off terribly for the Phillies, they bounced back in the second half as younger players blossomed into new roles in the majors. They still finished the year 66-96, but a 37-38 record in the second half provided hope that the team could improve in 2018.

To aid their improvement in 2018, the team signed two of the bigger free agents on the market, Carlos Santana and Jake Arrieta, to three-year contracts. Arrieta didn’t even sign until spring training as this past offseason was incredibly slow to develop.

These signings and improved play by those already on the team led to a huge first half for the Phillies, climbing all the way to first place. The club saw the opportunity to make the playoffs and made several trades before after the waiver deadline to patch some of the holes on the roster. They did not go out and land the big fish, deciding not to break the bank for a team that even at its peak wasn’t a World Series contender.

Now that the season is reaching its end, let’s take a look back at these acquisitions and see how they impacted the team this year.

Next. Carlos Santana. dark

Carlos Santana

C+. . 1B. Philadelphia Phillies. CARLOS SANTANA

The Phillies signing Carlos Santana caught many people by surprise. They seemingly had first base locked down with Rhys Hoskins‘ emergence at the end of 2017. This forced Hoskins to move back to left field and Aaron Altherr and Nick Williams into a competition for right field. However, the team praised his combination of on-base ability and power, expecting him to become a core piece of the lineup.

Santana has been a mixed bag of results this year. He has a 16.1% walk rate and 101 walks total, both of which are fourth in MLB. He is the first Phillie with 100 or more walks in a year since Pat Burrell in 2008. Among Phillies with 100 or more plate appearances, Santana’s .354 on-base percentage is third-best. His 23 home runs and 107 OPS+ are second-best to Hoskins.

Despite these numbers, Santana draws criticism for one number: his .231 batting average. Anytime you mention him on Twitter, you will surely get someone who says either he was paid to hit/drive in runs and/or to stop using so much analytics since he is making $20 million a year. This is despite the fact that he is second to Hoskins in RBI and his batting average on balls in play is 31 points below his career average.

Is this Santana’s best season? Not by a long shot, so that is why I gave him a C+. With that being said, he is still a productive player and should bounce back next year, whether or not that is with the Phillies.

Jake Arrieta

C. . SP. Philadelphia Phillies. JAKE ARRIETA

The Phillies and Jake Arrieta were linked all offseason long, but a deal wasn’t finalized until spring training was well underway. With the way his contract is structured, he is tied for the fourth-highest salary in the league this year, making $30 million. Considering his salary and track record, expectations for Arrieta were high coming into the year.

Arrieta got off to an impressive start to his Phillies career, posting a 2.16 ERA through May. His ERA has been a roller coaster since then, jumping up to 6.66 in June and dropping down to 2.80 in July. Since August started, Arrieta has a 4.96 ERA, 4.61 fielding-independent pitching, and eight home runs allowed in eight starts.

Arrieta’s season-long numbers are largely in line with last year, which was considered a disappointment. In 29 starts, he has a 3.77 ERA, 4.13 FIP, 3.3 wins above replacement, 2.51 strikeout-to-walk ratio and 4.20 skill-interactive ERA. One notable difference has been a higher ground-ball rate as Arrieta adjusted his approach on the mound. His 52.1% ground ball rate ranks fourth-highest among qualified pitchers.

It was unrealistic to expect Arrieta to return to his Cy Young form at 32 years old. While his overall results aren’t up to par considering his salary, the team has money and luxury tax room to burn. I more or less expected Arrieta to repeat his season from last year, and that is what he did.

Asdrubal Cabrera

D. . SS. Philadelphia Phillies. ASDRUBAL CABRERA

As the trade deadline approached, it was clear the Phillies needed to improve the shortstop position. J.P. Crawford was dealing with injury issues and Scott Kingery just wasn’t cutting it offensively. The team wasn’t willing to break the bank to acquire Manny Machado, so they sought other alternatives, eventually landing on Asdrubal Cabrera.

Before being traded by the Mets, Cabrera had a .277/.329/.488 line with 18 home runs and 58 runs batted in. While his defense was sub-standard, the hope was he could hit enough to outweigh the poor defense. Let’s just say that didn’t happen.

In 44 games with the Phillies, Cabrera has a .227/.276/.399 line with five home runs and 17 runs batted in. He declined in nearly every measure once he changed uniforms. He has -5 defensive runs saved at shortstop, which isn’t helping his case at all. Cabrera has been better at the plate over the last few weeks, but it is a case of too little too late.

Cabrera was supposed to turn around the shortstop position for the Phillies, but the problems only continued. When you add in the fact that they had to give up a notable pitching prospect in Franklyn Kilome to acquire Cabrera, it doesn’t get any better.

Wilson Ramos

B+. . C. Philadelphia Phillies. WILSON RAMOS

This trade may have been the biggest steal of the deadline. The Phillies got Wilson Ramos, an All-Star catcher with the Rays this year for a player to be named later or cash. He provided a significant offensive upgrade over Jorge Alfaro and Andrew Knapp, hitting .297 with a .834 OPS in 78 games for Tampa Bay.

Justin Bour

Philadelphia Phillies. JUSTIN BOUR. D+. . 1B

As soon as the Phillies acquired Justin Bour, there was a clamor for him to become the starter at first base over Carlos Santana. However, Bour was hitting just .227, albeit with a .759 OPS, for the Marlins before being traded. Manager Gabe Kapler insisted Bour would remain a bench option, and he largely has, starting just seven games at first base.

More from That Balls Outta Here

Bour has been okay but not special since joining the Phillies. In 39 plate appearances, he has a .257/.333/.400 line with one home run and four runs batted in. In 12 pinch-hit appearances, he has just two singles with two runs batted in. He spent the 10-day minimum on the disabled list at the end of August.

Bour’s best game as a Phillie came against the Nationals Aug. 22, which was also when he strained his oblique. He had an RBI double and solo home run but also struck out with the bases loaded in the top of the ninth before Ryan Zimmerman hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the inning. That strikeout is when Bour suffered the injury.

Bour’s future in Philadelphia is murky at best. He is still under team control through 2020, so the club could certainly keep him moving forward. With that being said, they already have an issue of too many first basemen without factoring Bour into the equation. He could become trade bait during the offseason or just wind up being outright released.

dark. Next. Rhys Hoskins signs with super-agent Boras

Bour really hasn’t given Philadelphia much since joining the team, although some of that can be blamed on his usage and his injury. They traded McKenzie Mills, who wasn’t an even a Top 30 prospect coming into the year, so at least it’s not like they lost out on something huge for Bour. Considering where the team is now, this trade wound up being a wash.

Home / Phillies News