If I Were the GM: Philadelphia Phillies
It's time to round out the NL East section of our fantasy GM talk. The last team is not only last in this conversation, but will be battling all year to stay out of the NL eastern cellar. Taking a closer look at the roster though should bring some hope to the horizon of Phillie Phanatics. The depth chart has young players at just about every position, with some already impacting the major league roster. It took the club too long to jump-start their rebuild, but finally in 2017 we will get a chance to watch some young exciting players and get a better idea how far off from contention this team is. There are a few things that I would do if I were the GM to push the rebuild forward. Let's look at the projected lineup and staff and then get to it.
Lineup
Herrera CF
Galvis SS
Franco 3B
Joseph 1B
Kendrick LF
Saunders/Altherr RF
Alfaro C
Hernandez 2B
Staff: Hellickson - Bucholz - Nola - Eickhoff - Velasquez
Closer: Gomez Setup: Benoit/Neshek RH Rodriquez/Burnett LH
The lineup features some promise but lacks run producing depth. The biggest factor will be how Franco and Joseph grow in the middle of the order. Both righties have tremendous power potential, they simply need to be better hitters on a consistent basis. I would guess Saunders will likely hit 5th when a righty is on the mound as he stands to be the only lefthanded thump on the entire 25 man roster. The two spot will be the hot hand between Galvis and Hernandez but it will all start with Herrera back in the lead off spot. A bad sign in the middle of the summer will be if Herrera ends up back in the three hole. We will cover the rotation below, but a quick look at the pen shows that there will be a nice veteran presence to help shorten games for the young starters. Gomez has been declared the closer as of now, but Benoit and Neshek could cover those duties, and there are a couple of solid LH options on the non-roster side in Burnett and Ramos that expect to be added to the pen mix come opening day.
Get Max Value for Hellickson
Hellickson was 12-10 with a 3.71 ERA while setting a career high in strikeouts and matching his career high in IP. The Phillies offered him a qualifying offer hoping to land a draft pick. Hellickson had other plans and is set to lead the staff again in 2017. As it stands right now, there are 11 pitchers that can fill out the rotation in 2017 on the 40-man roster. 8 of those SP made at least 10 starts for the Phils last year. Two of the remaining three (Appel, Lively,) are top 30 prospects sitting on the AAA roster and the third is Asher who chipped in 5 games started last year with a 2.28 ERA for the big club in 2016. The point being, there are lots of young arms ready to sink or swim in the majors with little to prove in the minors. Hellickson won't be a Phillie in 2018. Whether it is a spring training injury on a contender or a team looking for a playoff boost come June, I would trade Hellickson as soon as possible for prospects and make room for the young guns in 2017.
Sort Through SP
Key move number two is a direct piggy back off of number one. After moving Hellickson, there are still 10 available SP, not considering who you might get in return for him. 1 of those 10 would be Clay Bucholz. He has a career ERA of 3.96 pitching in the AL East but has never hit the 190 IP mark in a season. I would consider keeping him around longer in 2017 than Hellickson for two reasons. His trade value isn't as high and it would be nice to have a veteran in the rotation with the young guys. No matter how it shakes up, by the end of 2017 the Phillies need to know who their top 5 or 6 starters will be going in to 2018. Do not spend the next year or so bouncing all of these young guys between the majors and minors. They need to know what they have in all of these pitchers before next offseason so that they can determine the next move in the rebuild. Finding the truth can only truly be done at the major league level.
Don't Rush Crawford
J.P. Crawford is their #1 prospect. He plays SS. He is exciting to watch. He is young. He is athletic. It would be very easy to want him on the big club. Moving Galvis to second would be an easy way to make room for him. That tandem would be a fun defensive unit to watch. I wouldn't be in a hurry with Crawford though. Yes I expect Alfaro to win the catching job. He had a taste of the bigs last year, and I would want him working with the young pitchers all season long, knowing this year has very little expectations on it. Let Alfaro grow in the bigs with the young staff. Crawford, however,would be different. Galvis and Hernandez are a solid duo. Crawford only hit .244/.328/.318 over 336 AAA ABs last year. With the rebuild still going to take 2 years at least, don't rush Crawford. By 2019 the staff will be made up of young high upside arms, the OF (Quinn, Herrera, Williams) will all be young exciting talent, and an IF of Franco, Crawford, Galvis, Joseph, Alfaro will be completely homegrown. Don't get anxious in Pilly. Brighter days are ahead, just be patient.