Given their prospects and resources, the Phillies are in position to make at least one big offseason splash, FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal observes (video link). “It’s no secret” the Phillies have interest in Marlins outfielder Christian Yelich, and teammate Giancarlo Stanton could also be on their radar, Rosenthal says. Elsewhere, they’ll “actively” seek starting pitching, with Rosenthal naming impending free agent Rays right-hander Alex Cobb as a logical target, and may dangle shortstop Freddy Galvis to address a need in another area. (Earlier Saturday on MLBTR, Mark Polishuk broke down the Phillies’ three biggest needs heading into the offseason.)
More from Rosenthal:
- Brewers left fielder Ryan Braun wouldn’t have been minded going to the Dodgers had the teams’ talks last summer led to a trade, per Rosenthal. Now, Braun’s happier than ever in Milwaukee, which has unexpectedly turned into a playoff contender this season. “I do love it here. If I didn’t, I probably would have been out of here a long time ago,” Braun told Rosenthal. Playing his age-33 season, in which injuries have limited him to 394 plate appearances, Braun has slashed .274/.345/.503 – somewhat modest production by his standards. With $57MM left on his contract, including a $4MM buyout in 2021, he’d be a difficult player for the low-payroll Brewers to move even if they wanted to part with him. Braun also has a full no-trade clause and 10-and-5 rights, further decreasing the likelihood of a trade.
- Speaking of potential Brewers trades, they weren’t willing to deal rookie left-hander Josh Hader in a package for White Sox southpaw Jose Quintana back in July, Rosenthal reports. The Sox ended up sending Quintana to one of the Brewers’ NL Central rivals, the Cubs, for a return including outfielder Eloy Jimenez and right-hander Dylan Cease. Milwaukee might not have topped that in the White Sox’s eyes even if it offered outfielder Lewis Brinson and righty Luis Ortiz, as the South Siders were bent on landing Jimenez, Rosenthal suggests. As for Hader, the 23-year-old has turned in 44 relief innings of 1.64 ERA ball, with 12.48 K/9 against 4.3 BB/9, making him one of the Brewers’ best players this season.
- At 69-85, the Padres have fared better than expected in the win-loss department this year (though their minus-182 run differential ranks last in the majors). In hopes of making more progress next season, they’ll look to the trade and free agent markets over the winter for “complementary” starting pitchers, help at shortstop and a veteran lineup stabilizer, according to Rosenthal.
All that hoopla about the Padres tanking and they have a better record than six teams and are tied with a seventh. Quite a few veteran free agent shortstops available this offseason. Maybe they should go after Cozart?
“Help at shortstop” and “Veteran lineup stabilizer.” Zack Cozart fits both of those.
Basically, it’s going to be the same for the Padres next year: Sign a few veteran innings eaters (complementing the extension they just gave Richard), find another aging veteran shortstop to play there for a year, and just let the young guys keep developing, while also calling more of them up as the year progresses.
In other words, keep the rebuild rolling.
I sure hope so. They shouldn’t sacrifice any real prospects at this point and Cozart will be way too expensive for a team at least a few years out from contention.
He won’t be that expensive. Demand for shortstops just isn’t that high.
It’ll have to be really low for them to land him. Cozart is 3rd in WAR among shortstops and the alternatives on the market will be Jose Reyes and Asdrubal Cabrera if the Mets don’t pick up his option. If two teams want a SS they’ll both want Cozart.
Brandon Crawford enters his free agent years next season and has 4 years and $61 million on his contract. Cozart will probably look for something like that. If more than one team is making a good offer he’ll likely choose the contender. The Padres signed veterans to 1 year $1.75 million deals. They might offer him more than that, but there’s a wide gap between $1.75 million and $61 million.
Which teams even need a shortstop? And which ones are contending?
Radical move that would likely note materialize for many reasons but i just don’t see the Red Sox opening next year with Devers at third. One option is to DH him depending on the rest of their roster (or back to the minors to learn the position), sign Cozart and move Boggaerts to third. I just read that Xander is last statistacally speaking. Much could be tge combo of playing hurt and the lack of a major league third baseman.
Royals, Rays, Marlins, Padres, and Reds will need SS. Tigers can improve on Iglesias. Pirates can do better than Mercer.
I don’t know who is looking for a SS. The Padres will need to hope it’s nobody else for them to get Cozart for what they paid players in 2016.
Only one of the teams you mentioned that has even the slightest chance of contending next year is the Rays. And most of them have in-house options at shortstop.
I think the Reds issue a QO………. and he accepts it.
I love Stanton, but the Phillies don’t need to unload the farm for that contract. I doubt the newly acquired Marlins would be willing to part with his talent AND eat salary.
The Phillies have no need and should not have any desire for anyone on the Marlins roster.
2019 is the target for the Phillies. Next year should be about getting the first pick in the 2019 MLB Draft.
Sean O’Sullivan and his ilk would be good starting pitching signs. If Nola isn’t dealt for stud prospects than severely limit his innings.
The Phillies are tied with the Giants for the worst record before the start of today’s games. All the Phillies have to do is lose every remaining game and they pick first next year.
The phillies can start making a push this offseason by adding some pitching, Alex Cobb would be a start for them, no need for them to go out and sign Arrieta or Darvish, I honestly see them getting Machado.
I’m sure the preller is posed the the padres are playing not terrible he wanted the No. 1 pick
Bring back Adrian….move Myers to outfield. Adrian would be great for the youngsters and plays good 1B! LA doesn’t seem to need/want him.
I loved Adrian back in the day, but he is going to start falling off more and more every year. I wish he wouldn’t, but the likely hood is that he is just about done…
That worked with Matt kemp well
A-Gon is all but washed up. Back issues that will only allow him to play 100 games, if you’re lucky. Plus, he’s under contract for 1 more year, so the Padres would have to part with some young talent to acquire him (albeit, nothing major).
Doesn’t seem like an intelligent / productive move for the Padres.
That won’t happen. Adrian is far from the guy he was during his Padres days. It wouldn’t be productive for them to bring him back.
STOP with the Yelich rumors! The Phillies DO NOT NEED him! Too many sports writers make up rumors and hold onto them toooooo long. The Phillies are in NO need for a Yelich! What a joke!
I know, right? Lazy reporting. The Yelich/Stanton thing was before Hoskins and Williams broke out. Phillies will be focused on pitching this off-season. Period.
Sean O’Sullivan. Who else stinks out loud and can help the Phillies get the first pick?
The Phillies offense is not the problem. Stanton would not make them appreciably better. They need to focus their efforts on the pitching front. Making a move for a top pitcher ( perhaps Tigers Fullmer) and at a minimum should be targeting a proven innings eater and solid #2-3 like Lynn as a FA. There will be others to go after, they need to spend their resources there.
The phillies could take on Vmart in an effort to offset some prospect cost
Phillies would be more wise to trade for Fulmer and to offset the return, take Kinsler instead of V-Mart (which would just be dumb)
The trade:
To the Phillies: Fulmer and Kinsler
To the Tigers: Moniak, Galvis, Rupp, Joseph, Lively and Eflin.
That would be a great trade for phils but the tigers would never do it. Hernandez instead of galvis. Kinzler plays 2b
There really isn’t that much for the Tigers there besides Moniak. Galvis isn’t going to unseat Iglesias and he’s in his walk year. Rupp isn’t going to supplant McCann. Lively and Eflin are back of the rotation types that might be interesting but the Tigers have a bunch of them too. Joseph has the lowest WAR of any 1B and isn’t attractive to anyone.
You can’t just put all the players you don’t want in a deal and get someone good. You need to put players that the other guy wants in the deal. They’ll want players you don’t want to give up.
Well said
Stanton makes ANY team “appreciably better”. Besides the tremendous power bat, he’s a Solid RF with a Great Arm.
Joseph finds a new home, but there’s still a logjam in the OF is Stanton joins the team. Still……looking at a lineup with Alther, Hoskins (1B), Stanton, and Williams is daunting (never mind if Franco can rebound at the plate)….but where does Herrera fit in? Which of the 4 sits?
They need pitching more than they need Stanton. But he would hit 60 every year in that Band-Box…..LOL
“Stanton makes ANY team “appreciably better”. Besides the tremendous power bat, he’s a Solid RF with a Great Arm.”
I think the Marlins are defying that logic, as they’ve never won more than 80 games in any season since Stanton debuted.
Secondly, Stanton’s production is great as long as he’s on the field, something he has rarely been able to do during his career.
This would annihilate the Phillies rebuild effort and put them on a Kansas City Royals two year window of winning road.
Sort of like winning the lottery and celebrating the win by playing Russian Roulette.
Could the Phillies use Ozuna instead of Yelich?
How would Ozuna help the Phillies get the first pick in the draft? Is he willing to pitch? Would Ozuna be really, really bad if he did pitch?
The Phillies are rebuilding. 2019 is the date for flipping the switch and winning.
No contracts until December 2018. Bryce and Manny both.
Would you stop with this,”going for the 2019 first pick”….could’ve easily went for 2018s first pick,but didn’t.
We have prospects arriving all over the field,we’re trying to be competitive,not tanking.
Not a guarantee we’ll be active this off-season though.could develop 1 more year.
The Phillies could still do the Stanton/Yelich trade and not give up too many prospects.
The trade:
To the Phillies: Stanton, Yelich and Tazawa
To the Marlins: Franco, Galvis, Altherr, Hererra, Lively and Eflin
Phillies then sign Frazier on a 1 yr contract. – then go all out for Machado in 2019.
Phillies sign Cobb and Lynn at SP, Reed and Shaw for RP.
Phillies then trade Hernandez and PTBNL or cash to Angels for Skaggs and Bedrosian.
Phillies trade Rupp, Joseph and PTBNL or cash for Nate Jones.
That’s just silly
The phillies will be a force to be reckon with maybe next year and 2019. If they spend their money right, Could be a wildcard team.