Phillies GM Matt Klentak must see upside in bounceback starters like Jeremy Hellickson and Charlie Morton, tweets ESPN’s Jayson Stark (1, 2). Both pitchers are a year from free agency. As Stark puts it, the club gave up replaceable parts for the chance to re-market them to contending clubs at the trade deadline. From my perspective both pitchers also give the Phillies the opportunity to compete in the weak NL East. Philadelphia took some momentum into the offseason with a solid second half. While a hypothetical rebound campaign would probably ultimately sputter like the Braves’ 2015 season, it doesn’t hurt to put some parts in position just in case. The Phillies also have several pitching prospects due to debut during the 2016 and 2017 seasons. Hellickson and Morton can hold the door just long enough for the next guy.
Here’s more from the rest of the division:
- The Marlins inquired about Nationals starter Gio Gonzalez, tweets Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. Talks promptly concluded when the Nationals asked for outfielder Christian Yelich in return. It’s possible the Marlins see Gonzalez as a match for Marcell Ozuna (my speculation), but it’s always hard to work out an in-division trade – especially when both teams aim to contend.
- Even though former Mets outfielder Michael Cuddyer is now off the books, the club isn’t likely to jump on top outfielders like Yoenis Cespedes, writes Joel Sherman of the New York Post. The $12.5MM saved from Cuddyer (assuming there was no buyout), will probably be used on quality bench depth. The team improved dramatically when they acquired Kelly Johnson and Juan Uribe. Ensuring that similarly valuable players are available to fill cracks in the roster will better serve the Mets hunt for contention.
- It may be time for the Braves to trade Freddie Freeman, suggests Mike Petriello of MLB.com. The trades of Shelby Miller and Andrelton Simmons have focused the club’s talent in the minor leagues. Freeman could be used to acquire another impressive haul. The Braves are already gearing up for a lengthy rebuilding process, so they might as well get top dollar for Freeman before he begins to decline.
- Nationals infielder Danny Espinosa wants to start at shortstop next season, writes Todd Dybas of the Washington Times. After two consecutive bad seasons, Espinosa rebounded in 2015 with a 2.3 WAR campaign. Good defense in a utility role plus an improvement at the plate to roughly league average helped. He improved his plate discipline which looks like a sustainable fix. Even with the solid season, Espinosa will have to hold off top prospect Trea Turner. Acquired in the Steven Souza trade, Turner appears ready for a major league opportunity.
Who is Freddy Freeman? I know of a Freddie Freeman…
Hellickson and Morton can serve as veteran presences along with stopgags for numerous pitching prospects.
The Phillies already have Nola and Eickoff as potential locks to be in the rotation, with the likes of youngsters Oberholtzer, Morgan, Buchanan, Severino Gonzalez, and Alec Asher as rotation depth.
They have Velasquez, Thompson, Appel and Zach Eflin all set to make their MLB debuts at some point this season (with the exception of Velasquez, who already made his). Velasquez probably isn’t going to start the year in the rotation just because of the amount of SP the Phillies have, and the importance he has to the future of the franchise.
You must have been pretty happy to find out Appel was included in the Giles deal eh brixton? You guys absolutely robbed the astros blind in my opinion. I have a soft spot for philly as a jays fan, as thats where my favourite pitcher of all time, Doc, went. Hope the rebuild works out for you guys man.
Well I’m not upset that we got Appel as possibly the 3rd piece in a deal for a closer on a rebuilding club. The kid has an arm, the Astros don’t have a strong history of developing pitchers, so maybe a change to the Phillies will do him some good.
Eh, Appel’s not very good. Just a big arm but no command of secondary stuff. Probably a reliever going forward. The OF is now isn’t in the deal is probably a better prospect.
Lots of potential though
As the 3rd piece though…I’d much rather take a flyer on a former elite prospect than take a low-ceiling RP type.
Padres should go after yelich. A lefty lead off left fielder, plus he’s young and controlled.
They don’t have the pieces to get him. He would require a massive haul.
Mike Petriello, you are very wrong. Not only will Freeman bring people into the stadium, he’s a franchise face and an incredible leader and teammate. He will be an elder statesman come 2017/18 but as we just saw with the Cubs signing Zobrist, having a mentor type player who has been on competitive clubs is a huge benefit to contending teams.
Maybe why we saw Houston choke at the hands of Correa’s playoff error and not recover?
Or why the Pirates are have issues making it through the first round.the past few years.
Of course then there’s the Royals, but their team is made up of big leaguers who won big games in the minor leagues together, they got very fortunate in that regard.
The cubs won 97 games without zobrist. They didn’t bring him in to be a mentor type player, they brought him in to get on base, not strike out, and play second base with some versatility,should it be needed. They already have Lester and Ross, who both won world series’. Your meatball arguments are antiquated. I bet you love TWTW as well.
Do you really think that correa made that error, and the astros subsequently didn’t recover because they lacked a “mentor type player”? Are you seriously trying to make that point?
CHC isn’t like most teams because of Joe Maddon. They don’t need the traditional clubhouse demographic, though they have their share with Lester, Ross, and now Lackey and Heyward to go with Zoborist who is a Maddon-disciple. This has all the looks of a Red Sox team Epstein put together just a few years ago. Should be a fun team to watch.
To some degree, yes I am. Team’s that lack leadership are going to have a much harder time recovering from mental mistakes and have habits of having errors “snowball.”
I’m sure you’ve seen games where one error in an inning turns into 6. That’s a part of being human and being effected by the others players on the field, not just your own capabilities. Not every statistic is quantifiable and why baseball is not a vacuum of efficient predictions.
I admire what the Cubs did with Lester, Ross, Coughlan, and Denorfia. It was awful great to watch but Zobrist, even if he begins to decline is a huge asset to a team on and off the field. He looked mortal last year, so why would the Cubs have gone after him when there’s cheaper, similar options available like Murphy or (trading for) Prado?
Because Maddon knows what else he brings to the table.
Once again, I’m not saying this is a surefire thing but neither are calculations. The best teams have both and that’s a hard point to argue with if you ask me. Team chemistry and leadership being “antiquated” is narrow-minded and absurd. It’s kept otherwise great teams from competing (hello Boston “fried chicken” Sox..)
This is maybe why teams that spend and spend in free agency have issues winning it all? The Yankees got one and the Dodgers are not closer than they were 3 years ago. In fact I’d say they’re further away.
Just because you can’t qualify it with numbers doesn’t mean it’s not real, Mr. President.
I agree. his argument that Freeman will decline by 2017(when the Braves are aiming for contention) is completely wrong giving the fact that Freeman will only be 29 in 2017. Also, he missed most of the second half with a wrist injury, so his stock is not even close to what I could be.
So, I love the Braves and Freeman is my favorite player in Atlanta….but Freeman should be shopped and dealt.
You shouldn’t build around an expensive 1B…that just doesn’t make sense.
Continue the rebuild. Send Freeman and Teheran packing.
#1 – Take in mind that only a few trades were made to clear money off the books (BJ Upton, Chris Johnson, kind of Shelby Miller). Freeman makes a relative small $12M in 2016, then it escalates to $20M per in 2017. Also take in mind that according to Braves CEO Terry McQuirk, Braves budget will be in the top-10 starting Jan 1, 2017, so he is reasonably-priced when you compare him to current contracts like Jason Heyward, receiving $23M per year, and they’re the same age. He’s not expensive by current market rates, and we can afford him. With that in mind, please do not believe that ATL is in for a “lengthy rebuild” – as some like to mention. I could imagine them competing for a NL Wild Card spot in 2017.
Teheran is a different story. I could see us keeping him, as I think he’ll be a relative bargain and will pitch better going forward, but if he does, and someone offers us a nice package, and some of our prospects mature as they should — you could see a trade.
I know you gotta spend the money somewhere, I just don’t think you should rebuild around a 1B (which is the easiest position in MLB to fill).
In today’s market, Freeman is inexpensive (given his age, production and contract).
That’s why he has significant trade value.
I just think that there could be a package out there for Freeman that could really (continue to) jump start this organization.
I look at the Red Sox and say boy would DD love to have Freeman take over 1B. He has already made very bold moves to win now, why not take advantage.
Wonder if they would trade JBJ, Moncada and Devers for Freeman?
Betts and JBJ are redundant in the same lineup. Moncada is blocked by Pedroia. Devers is blacked by Pablo.
Then they get one of the top 5 1B in the league locked up for the future.
That’s the kind of trade that would make sure the Braves are competitive in late 2017/championship caliber in 2018.
Devers is blacked by Pablo?When and is there any video evidence of it?
“Betts and JBJ are redundant”
your entire argument becomes invalid when you make an uneducated statement like this..
Betts is a 23 year old 20/20 hitter thats going to hit .300 some day in the big leagues.
JBJ had a couple of weeks where he had unsustainable power numbers.
What I mean by they are redundant is that they are both excellent defensive CFs whose value decreases if they are not playing in Center.
I agree that Bradley is not proven as much as Betts has….which is why the Red Sox should trade him this offseason when they can sell his upside.
A lengthy rebuilding process? I just seriously disagree.
They’re young but this is a team that still has a chance to compete in 2017. A lot of the pitchers they have are close now (Blair, Sims, Jenkins, Newcomb) if not next year.
The outfield is coming together. Mallex could be up soon, Inciarte and Olivera are there.
Albies should be up in 2018
Third, Second, and Catcher are really the only holes. But with a payroll of $44 mil committed heading in to 2017 are 3 spots really that hard to fill?
Im actually pretty optimistic with how the team is looking heading in to 2016. The lineup if nothing else looks much better. The rotation will have its ups and downs because of the youth for 2016 and will be the more frustrating part of the team to watch. The bullpen should be more solid than last year, injuries really hurt them. Arodys, Shae Simmons, Grilli hopefully only misses a month at worst, Folty should be in the pen in my opinion, Carpenter has high upside if he can return to form and even if he doesn’t not a big hit
As of right now I still think they can compete legitimately in 2017.
Braves/Phillies rivalry will be fun again in 2017/2018.
I wish you the best but you are assuming that all of those rookies are going to cut it at the major league level.. I agree that they are acquiring potential replacements, but will they become everyday players for a contending team is the question.
No, they don’t need to all cut it. Most of the rookies are pitchers outside of Mallex Smith I listed. They have more than enough pitching that some of them can fail.
So I’m banking on one of them in particular not failing, Smith. After that you just need a couple of them to join Teheran and Banuelos.
Potentially trade others to fill in the infield gaps. It’s really not that hard to imagine
I’m not holding my breath for ManBan, especially as a starter.
Teheran/Wisler/Jenkins/Blair/Gant is my prediction with Newcomb being someone I’m hoping pans out.
Using the other kids to go after a young power hitting 3B seems like the wisest choice at this point. Not that there’s lots of those lying around right now, I like Plouffe as a stopgap personally. The more I hear talk of Inciarte the more it seems like he could be a long term piece.
The team you describe is so, so bad. Olivera is getting old and has never hit in the bigs. Mallex Smith is a 2nd tier prospect. Inciarte is good but is what he is, a moderate hitting CF. Infield is a mess outside of Freeman and Swanson, meaning they’ll need to trade from their pitching haul to fill 2B and 3B. And the pitchers, except for Newcomb and Blair are all moderate ceiling types with big question marks. They’re on a path that will eventually lead to success, but one of the primary reasons is they’ll be drafting in the top 3 for a few years still.
Lol ok bro.
Olivera hasn’t even been given a chance. And how is Mallex a 2nd tier prospect? You have no clue what you’re talking about
You sound like someone who has no idea what the Braves farm system looks like outside of a few moves they’ve made in the past few weeks. Please go do some more research before you comment again on the subject.
You can make a case for trading Freeman as teams would probably line up to try and obtain him. However, I think it depends on the confidence you have in the front office. If their turnaround is of the 3 to 4 year variety such as that of Theo and the Cubs then it might make sense to keep Freeman as he’s young and will only be 29 at the start of the 2019 season and he’s signed thru 2021. If they can surround him with enough talent in the next 3 years then they could be very competitive as he enters his prime years (29-31). ”
Gearing up for a move into a new stadium Freeman would be a nice face to have and keep intact some sort of continuity between the “old” and the “new”.
Don’t know how Freeman will feel about being kept on a non contending team but I’d keep him. He’s the face of the franchise and could be a leader presence even if the window for contending comes along at the later part of his contract. Teheran on the other hand is a pitcher who could be one step closer to tommy john. Would trade him if the Braves don’t plan to contend for a couple of years.
Freeman is nowhere near a decline.
No kidding. This writer is a clown. Freeman turned 26 in September. No one is worried about his decline. He hasn’t even reached his prime years yet. By this rationale, the Cardinals must’ve let Heyward walk because they knew he was going to start declining?
I could certainly get behind a Freeman trade as I’m not of the opinion that the Braves will be a serious competitor for another handful of years. However, I’d definitely hold off until the July trade deadline at the earliest. Just don’t know if his value is as high as it could be with him having that wrist injury bring him down last year. Try to let his numbers rebound by playing out some of the 2016 season and then gauge the market, or if the prospects blow away all expectations / timetables you keep him and compete.
Pirates need to be on the phone with the Braves every day convincing them to trade Freeman.
The Pirates can’t afford Freeman’s contract.
Such a marlins move. They targeted Gio primarily b/c he is from Miami, and is only making 12 million at maximum over the next 1-3 years each. They don’t care about in division. Not that Gio Gonzalez isn’t a good pitcher, but he is getting older, and we shouldn’t be trading Marcell Ozuna anyway, unless we’re going to trade multiple other pieces around some of our core, and take a step back for the next year. That being said, I don’t see how we can’t fill some of our horrible mistakes over the last year by just signing a shorter term contract with one of the remaining mid-tier SPs and a low end SP, a bullpen arm that can get lefties out, and one that can also pitch in the later innings. We currently have a $45 million payroll (if I’m remembering correctly. It was a while ago before the last time I checked that). We have barely any money committed moving forward. There is no reason we can’t sign those types of players on short deals besides Loria.
the nl east may be weak but it would have to be NFC East bad to use the words Phillies and contend in the same sentence.
Espinosa shouldn’t have to hold off Trea Turner at SS. The future for the Nats should be Turner at 2B and Difo at SS. Might as well get Turner used to playing 2B all the time.
On another note, my God is the Washington Times site terrible. Super heavy page with tons of ads and scripts.
Hahahahahaha you are joking me this isn’t 1954 they are not going to trade all those players, everybody on the discussion board is laughing at you at the nonsense you are talking. I am going to constantly troll every comment you say just to show how insane you are I’m sure everyone agrees with me
Man you would just shut up you’ve said the same trade 10 times and 100 people have all said how dumb you are
Hahahahahahaha so dumb so dumb