Phillies: Five players likely to be traded this offseason
The Phillies roster will see another major shift this offseason with a new coaching staff looking to put their mark on the Phillies record.
After a disappointing season, the Phillies have appeared to have made a psychological change by firing Gabe Kapler and hiring Joe Girardi. The organization will continue to use analytics and evaluate players using new -school technology, but they will not overload players with as much information as Kapler and his staff did.
Several of the players who struggled under the Kapler regime were the young players Philadelphia needed to take a step forward if they wanted to be a part of the next era of winning baseball. Some, if not all, of those players were either stagnant or took a major step back in 2019, and are unlikely to return in 2020.
Phillies general manager Matt Klentak has a directive to win now, and he has a history of pulling off multiple trades in an offseason.
Here are five players Klentak will likely trade this offseason to ensure the Phillies win in 2020.
Nick Williams
One of the last additions of the Ruben Amaro Jr. era was supposed to be a cornerstone for the Phillies. Nick Williams was projected to be a five-tool corner outfielder who’d hit in the middle of the Phillies lineup for the next decade.
Williams has had his opportunities in Philadelphia, getting nearly 800 plate appearances in his first two seasons. Despite hitting 17 home runs in 2018 Williams was surpassed on the depth chart by Andrew McCutchen and Bryce Harper. Philadelphia gave Williams opportunities off the bench in 2019, but he couldn’t produce given the limited at-bats.
Williams just turned 26-years-old and has potential that could be unlocked by the right coaching staff on a team not expected to win. His value is at an all-time low since he was traded to the Phillies in the Cole Hamels package, but Philadelphia might be able to get either a reliever or international bonus pool money.
Look for teams like the Orioles, Royals, or Tigers to kick the tires on Williams as a reclamation project.
Maikel Franco
Few players during the Phillies rebuild have been as disappointing as Maikel Franco, the former top prospect expected to be the franchise’s next great third baseman who continues to fall flat.
Philadelphia may have put harsh expectations on Franco (it doesn’t help when Mike Schmidt calls you an MVP candidate), but at the very least he should have been a productive player. After four years of riding a rollercoaster at the plate, Franco was demoted to Lehigh Valley, officially putting him on notice for the future.
Unfortunately, the Phillies will have a tough time trading Franco and will get nowhere near the value they would have gotten prior to him playing any meaningful major league time. Franco would be best suited on a team that’s either rebuilding or just coming out of a rebuild. Those teams would be the Tigers, Orioles, Marlins, Pirates, Mariners, Royals, and Blue Jays.
Pittsburgh has one of their top prospects Colin Moran manning the hot corner, so there’s no room in Pittsburgh for Franco.
Dawel Lugo was a top-15 prospect for the Tigers who hit .245 with six home runs in limited playing time as a 24-year-old. Unless Detroit moves him to another position, I don’t see a spot for Franco there.
Kansas City already has a young third baseman in Hunter Dozier, who hit 26 home runs with a .279 batting average. They’re out on Franco.
Baltimore had 25-year-old Rio Ruiz play 127 games last year hitting .232 with 12 home runs. Would they take a stab at Franco or let Ruiz play more during the rebuild and hopefully develop?
Miami has their power-hitting, low-batting average third baseman in Brian Anderson already, and unless the Mariners can pull a trade for Kyle Seager, they’re set with an established big league infielder.
The market is already expected to be dry for Franco, and with only a handful of compatible teams, the Phillies will be lucky to get anything significant for their former top prospect.
Nick Pivetta
The Phillies had a crop of young pitchers who looked like they could stick in the rotation, but unfortunately fell flat when their name was called. Nick Pivetta was one of those guys who could be better suited for a new market.
Pivetta came to Philadelphia in the Jonathan Papelbon trade with little expectations. Having a “pitchers body” and several four-game stretches of greatness kept the dream of Pivetta making it as a starter alive until early in the 2019 season.
Pivetta’s inconsistency followed him as the Phillies bounced him between the rotation, bullpen, and minor leagues. In his first four starts of the season Pivetta had an 8.35 ERA, forcing him down to Lehigh Valley. Upon his return he had three starts with a 1.80 ERA, but he slipped back to a 6.75 ERA in his final six starts.
A move to the bullpen led to some improvement for the Canadian righty, whose ERA dropped to 4.38 as a reliever. He had 11 appearances where he allowed one run or less and walked no more than one batter, but the bad outings (5 runs allowed against Miami in the middle of the playoff hunt) don’t bode well for Pivetta.
It’s not a foregone conclusion that Pivetta will be gone considering the potential a lot of people still see in him. Perhaps new pitching coach Bryan Price can pull something out of Pivetta and the Phillies can give him ONE MORE chance as the fifth starter or as a set-up man.
Vince Velasquez
No pitcher in recent Phillies history has gotten more chances than Vince Velasquez. The “stuff” is all there, but like every other player on this list, the consistency is not.
Velasquez came to Philadelphia as part of the much-maligned Ken Giles trade where the Phillies netted Velasquez, former top pick and now retired pitcher Mark Appel, Harold Arauz, Tom Eshelman, and veteran salary dump Brett Oberholtzer.
The hard-throwing righty came out firing for the Phillies, throwing six shutout innings in his 2016 debut and striking out 16 Padres in a complete game shutout the following week.
It was just the beginning of (wait for it) inconsistency from Velasquez that has plagued him throughout his career. One week we were highlighting Velasquez’s career year to the next week when he’d fall apart in multiple starts. The evolution of Velasquez has been mindboggling despite multiple pitching coaches getting their hands on him.
For the most part, fans know exactly how a Velasquez start is going to go; he’ll throw 30 pitches with two strikeouts in the first inning, strikeout five more in the next three innings while throwing 60 pitches and allowing four runs, and be pulled in the fifth inning with 90 pitches.
Despite the left-handed throws after taking a line drive to the arm to an outfield assist that shook the baseball world, Velasquez hasn’t turned his athleticism into consistent performances on the mound. Will Bryan Price be the last Phillies pitching coach to try to mold Velasquez into a starter or closer, or will the Phillies pawn him off on someone else?
Look for one of those developing teams to perhaps take a shot at the 27-year-old righty.
Cesar Hernandez
Is this finally the offseason when the Phillies trade Cesar Hernandez? We were guaranteed it would happen last offseason but a poor end to the season thanks to a broken foot mixed with a poor rookie season from Scott Kingery likely played a role in Hernandez sticking around for another year.
Hernandez is the longest-tenured Phillie, first appearing with the team in 2013 and earning a starting job between Chase Utley’s injuries. The versatile Hernandez has played across the diamond, but has stuck at second base as no more than an all-around slightly above average player.
Since 2015 Hernandez has a .278 batting average with about 35 extra-base hits a season. He’s hit more home runs in the last two seasons than his first three full seasons combined, and his batting average dipped after two straight years of hitting .294 with an on-base percentage of at least .370.
While Hernandez typically finishes the year with promising numbers, his performance throughout the year dips at times, and lackadaisical play draws ire from the fanbase. However, he has been an overall consistent hitter, leaving the Phillies with a difficult decision this offseason.
Hernandez is in the final year of arbitration eligibility and will be a free agent after this season. Spotrac projects him to make $11.8 in arbitration this year, which would make him the fifth-highest-paid second baseman in baseball. He’s set to earn more next season than Whit Merrifield, Ozzie Albies, and Jeff McNeil combined.
Oakland could use a second baseman, but they have a lot of high-priced arbitration eligible players to pay this offseason, including MVP candidate Marcus Siemian, Blake Treinen, and Stephen Piscotty. Coul the Phillies help Oakland by taking the $8.1 million contract of veteran starter Mike Fiers to offset the cost along with a prospect for Hernandez?
Relievers Blake Treinen and Joakim Soria also have large contracts the Phillies could absorb to help Oakland take the Herandez deal.
The Chicago Cubs could make an upgrade over Addison Russell at second base next season. Already projected to lose Cole Hamels this offseason, could the Cubs expense Kyle Hendricks or Jose Quintana?
What the Phillies do with Hernandez depends on their center field job, which is currently a mix of Scott Kingery and Adam Haseley. If the Phillies hand the keys to Haseley or acquire a center fielder such as Starling Marte, then expect Hernandez to be gone.