Phillies manager Charlie Manuel provided a look into the team's offseason plans on 610-WIP and David Murphy of The Philadelphia Daily News passes along the details. Let's round them up…
- "I think we definitely have some money to spend," said Manuel when asked about the possibility of retaining Jayson Werth. "But at the same time, the problem is, length-wise of a contract, and also what direction we want to go in."
- Manuel said he believes they can develop a top-notch hitter, presumably referring to top prospect Domonic Brown, allowing them to target high-end pitchers during the offseason.
- Reporters floated the idea of a rightfield platoon if Werth departs, and Manuel acknowledged that possibility. Murphy says not to be surprised if they target a lesser righthanded bat like Jeff Francoeur or Matt Diaz to pair up with Brown or Ross Gload. Ben Francisco could also be an internal option in this scenario.
- "I think [GM Ruben Amaro Jr.]'s got a lot on his plate as far as which way he wants to go in getting it done," said Manuel. "But I think he can. Evidently he definitely still wants to negotiate with Werth. It sounds like he's going to talk to Scott Boras, his agent, and things. That's definitely the first priority. And then that will lead us into which way he wants to take our team."
- As for his own contract, which is up after next season, Manuel indicated that Amaro told him they'd speak this fall, probably before Christmas.
They’re going to let werth go and save the money. No reason to get in a bidding war when you have a prospect like brown.
Brown is what he is, a prospect. It’s not a given that he’ll give you the same production as Werth. I’d bid on Werth for that reason alone, uncertainty.
Sometimes you have to gamble. This is one I think the phillies are going to do. If they can’t win their devision with the lineup they have w/o werth then they shouldn’t be in the playoffs. Their team is good w/o him.
I have to agree. There’s been a not so quiet consensus that the Phils either can’t or may not be able to afford Werth in the short or long run. Brown pretty much demolished the minors this season so if you’re going to trust him to be the new franchise star then better now. Other than that try to add in a few cheap sources of power if he has early struggles. Offense might go down a bit at first but they still have one of the toughest starting pitching staffs.
The money that the Phillies have to spend on Werth could be affected by Ibanez. The Phillies should shop him. He could be a one year fit in Tampa for DH and 1B. Ibanez did play a little 1B in KC. Not great, but he did play it. With Pena most likely done, a team like the Rays could use a 1 year stop gap for 1B/DH. If the Phillies could get out from under Ibanez’s contract, they are surely more flexible to do many things.
Ibanez to the Rays won’t work there cutting payroll. Unless Philly paid all of Ibanez’s contract which they won’t this proposed idea/trade won’t work.
They need a right handed bat,,,AT LEAST one….come on people,,,you cannot have a left handed team….
Come on, it’s not like Werth is Pujols or anything. He had one good year, other decent years. Let him walk, not with the millions he’ll want.
Werth’s batting needed some help this year but so did they all..You need to keep Werth, he’s one of the best right fielders..Brown is not ready…Plus Werth is a right hand batter we need that! /wake up!
The Phillies are eventually going to have to sign a free agent outfielder. Even if they pass on Werth this year, they’re going to have an expiring contract in Raul Ibanez after next season. Why pass on the right handed bat that is almost a necessity in the lineup, when you have a left handed hitter’s contract coming off the books after next season? Brown can hang in the wings for another season, imo. It’ll only make him a better hitter.
But Brown is a Lefty,,Werth is a righty….Phillies need a right handed bat,,,look at us in the playoffs if you doubt……BROWN IS NOT READY….he barely held his own with the Ironpigs,,,great in AA,,but not in AAA
Phils will be hurting once Werth is gone and I have no problem with that.
they wont be hurting if they add another ace to this trio
And how do you plan on doing that?
Two Words…Greinke Zack…
How you ask? 8 Words my friend…
Domonic Brown, Jonathan Singleton, Jarred Cosart, and Nick Hernandez.
hahahaha
that’s 9 words and I hope you’re not serious
LOL!!!!
That’s an ever dumber idea than the Utley to Minnesota trade. You’re trading 24 years of service time, three legitimate All-Star prospects for a pitcher with one season that sticks out like a sore thumb, and a pitcher with social anxiety to one of the toughest media markets in sports.
Greinke, with his anxiety and depression, is best served being in a smaller market that won’t antagonize their players. Phillies fans are notorious for turning on players very quickly.
Don’t resign Werth, save the money
Move Utley to the 5th spot in the lineup
JRoll
Victorino
Polanco
Howard
Utley
Ibanez
Dom Brown/Ben Fran
Chooch
lineup still has pop and we bring the speed back to the top of the order with Polly batting behind it he’s more likely to put the ball in play and have them run a little, might be a little lefty heavy when Brown plays but he’d only being in a platoon spot anyway so we’d want more lefties in
use the money to go after Scott Downs to sure up the bullpen
team won 97 games with injuries and the bad years from the starts
Everyone gets on Doc’s workout plan to stay healthy and maybe you get a MVP year from 1 player and we’re right there at around 90 wins again, get hot in the playoffs (08 Phillies, 2010 Giants) than parade down Broad Street
that’s the spirit! hope you still feel that way after watching Jeff Francoeur for a month.
Frenchy would be the worst possible move they could make!
If need be I wouldn’t mind seeing Rowand back as long as San Fran paid most of his contract. I doubt they need him now with the new found superstars they have patrolling the outfield
Only problem with not re-signing Werth is that its too left-handed, especially the heart of the order. You need a RH bat to back up Howard.
If they can somehow get rid of Ibanez contract then you can re-sign Werth and slot Brown in.
Average against and K/9 vs left handed batters:
Venters: .194 and 14.79
O’Flaherty: .230 and 8.02
Dunn: .227 and 16.76
The Phils still are better on paper than the Braves but having a very lefty heavy lineup is a real weakness against a top division rival with three potentially and/or currently dominant left handed relievers.
How do u change your picture?
When posting, do you see where next to your user name it say “edit profile”? Click that then click “avatar.”
i was doing it from the app. for some reason i was thinking i was he added his picture on there. thanks though.
Well it seems to have worked now… is your avatar a burning Dodgers cap?
Moving Utley out of the three-hole, for Polanco no less, would be idiotic.
Shane Victorino is a better leadoff hitter than rollins now though. If jimmy doesn’t have a great spring I say move Shane to leadoff and move j-roll to 6 or 7
Any formatting of the team around Shane Victorino is a mistake. This is regardless of how Rollins is playing.
Neither one is an ideal leadoff guy anyway.
The leadoff batter’s role has changed in baseball. It’d be great to have someone with a .425 OBP fill that role, but who has that anymore? Major League lineups have adapted. I don’t think it’s any conincidence that almost every successful team for the last decade or so has been successful without a prototypical leadoff man.
Rollins has done really well in that slot. Victorino’s shown promise too. Either one would lead off for something like 26 MLB clubs.
Let’s look at the problem you just created:
Switch
Switch
Right
Left
Left
Left
Right
Charlie would be saying: Dear Javier Lopez and Damaso Marte types, please come in late in the games and pitch to the heart of the order.
Ok, how many times am I going to have to say this? Matt…Diaz…isn’t…going…ANYWHERE!!! The team loves him, the fans love him and he loves the team and fans right back. Just because he had a bit of a down year doesn’t mean his ability to hit off of the bench has gone down. I would prefer it if Fredi would leave him that way and stop platooning him as a starter. Anyway, if I were Ruben Amaro, I would just let Werth go. He’s got plenty of other bats and a full year of Halladay, Oswalt and Hamels to work with.
They could always use him to beef up security.
With 3 aces at the top of the rotation (assuming they all continue to be effective), plus a typical Joe Blanton year (around .550 with a 4.20 or 4.30 ERA), the Phillies will be competitive even with a mediocre lineup.
While being too left handed in the lineup will cause them to be inconsistent, I’d hardly call their lineup mediocre. But I agree, there is no need to panic given the strength of their rotation.
I hope the Phillies resign Werth so the Red Sox dont get any dumb ideas to go after him. Werths contract will not pay off long term for any team in my opinion.
Its funny, everyone can anticipate the contract being for too long and for too much.. but in the end some GM will end up giving it to him
Well of course hes going to get one but just like the Red Sox Lackey signing and the Mets Bay signing, the team that gives Werth the contract will regret it. However I think Werth will do fine for the first year or two of the contract(unlike bay) but in the long run the contract will hurt the team.
Cliff lee and jayson werth are your 2 big named yankee free agensts for the year….the phils need to go after pitching maybe another good starter and definitely bullpen!!! Bring in a veteran outfielder that’s right handed and we are set to be back in the series next year
Christ I hope no Francouer – his douschieness would be tough to swallow.
I know this may sound crazy, but considering the Phillies team is built for the ‘win now’ could they do a deal with the Jays for J-Bau? Would either side consider a trade of Brown for J-Bau? Just putting it out there
This is the dumbest thing I’ve heard in a long time. If the Phillies didn’t put Brown in the Halladay trade, why would they trade him for Jose Bautista STRAIGHT UP?
To all you meat-puppets that are jumping down my throat—I only ask as a possible package around him. The rest of the phillies team is OLD and they might be able to get back prospects that are further away and get usable talent right now its not like they are ready to through Brown in there as an everyday player anyway-WHy? Because he is a prospect and are geared towards winning now and this response goes for you pompous boners below here as well
And another thing Vergucci—they weren’t interested in trading A. Gose then either—but they ended up trading him this year–so nothing depending on the circumstances is out of the question if the price is right and a teams needs are met. Consider this, if D. Brown struggles this year, and obviously the Phils are pushing towards post season next year, what will they do? They will be forced to act—-time, age and payroll are not on their side
Gose is a lot different than Brown. Brown is the top prospect in baseball you dont trade that type for a guy who has one great year.
I think you should stop putting things out there.
lol if the phillies called the Jays for that trade Anthopolous would drive Bautista to Philadelphia himself to make sure he gets there okay.
Brown? As in Domonic Brown?……….I think Amaro would be fired on the spot if he even considered doing that trade.
Having sat in right field when Jeff Franceour was with the Mets, I doubt he has any intention of wanting to play here. Lmao
my only problem with bringing werth back is what to do with brown? he needs to play everyday in majors. he is not going to learn anything in the minors hitting wise. if they resign werth they need to figure a way to get rid of raul, i dont care if they have to eat half the contract or take a bad contract back in return for him but they need to get him out of there to make room for Brown. he is the young player that needs to inject engergy into this team which it needs bad.
Phils should get a veteran RH OF bat to platoon and PH. Can Andruw Jones play a decent RF? He can still hit LHP as he’s shown this year and he’d probably cost league minimum.
Jason Werth is a good defensive outfielder, has good speed, and can hit the long ball. Moreover, he bats right-handed, which has been a plus for the Phils who have all those lefties in the lineup. So, IF he can be signed for a reasonable sum of money, it would be nice to keep him. Unfortunately, Scott Boras NEVER lets a client sign for a “reasonable” amount of money. He prides himself on his ability to extract MORE THAN MARKET value for his clients, such as the under-achiever J. D. Drew, etc. etc. Therefore, my conclusion is that the Phillies should let Werth go. Besides, Werth does NOT hit well when there are runners in scoring position. Check the stats: his batting average is significantly lower when the Phils have baserunners. He has been a rally-killer to many times this year. I like him personally, but not his performance in the clutch. Good Bye, Jason, and maybe we’ll see you in the playoffs next year with the Yankees or some other team with money to burn…
I just love how everyone is so ready to dump one of the guys who has helped get this team the playoffs for the past 4 yrs, a player who has set several team records, + two NL records. Werth’s bat was huge in getting us though Sept, into the playoffs, + he was one of few who acted like he wanted to win in the NLCS. He’s had several good seasons w/the Phillies, he’s 5 tools, has played all 3 OF positions, hasn’t been on the DL in ages, has a solid work ethic, + he fits in the clubhouse. Easily replaced? Hm, you think a FO that refuses to work out a compromise w/a top player like Werth is a place where other players WANT to sign? They’d be nuts. If your employer treated you this way, you’d leave + you’d tell others not to work there either. Reward your solid players who’ve worked hard to you + the fans the playoffs + WS they wanted (+ the resulting $$) + you’ll have players who care about the team + the fans. Don’t do it + you’ll get what you’ve earned; mercenaries who come + go w/o caring, + move to where they WILL BE REWARDED. Btw, Brown’s agent is Scott Boras too. We use Brown more + we’ll find out he won’t stay inexpensive for either. Be smart + compromise w/Werth. Re-sign him.
itslate has had the best idea i have read on this page so far…… After reading all the comments on here, I must say just one thing….. Keep the Phillies who they are today, and you will see another World series in Philadelphia……..