Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Who’s on first? It probably won’t be Joseph
PHILADELPHIA » If only because ESPN has taught us that every athlete deserves his 15 minutes of feigned fame, the Tommy Joseph Era in Philadelphia has ceased to exist, dying in the echos of Matt Klentak’s celebratory press conference at Citizens Bank Park Wednesday.
After welcoming Carlos Santana, the first baseman who only two Octobers ago was making World Series noise with the Cleveland Indians, Klentak and manager Gabe Kapler talked separately and together about their team’s immediate future, and in the process mentioned essentially every regular position player except Tommy Joseph.
He’s now the No. 3 first baseman on the roster behind Santana and Rhys Hoskins, who will really have to prove he likes left field for Kapler’s shuttle roster diplomacy plan to work this season.
Joseph, who at 26 is five years younger than Santana and last season hit 22 home runs, or one fewer than Santana, isn’t part of that or any other Phillies plan. But he did enough in the past two semi-surprising seasons here to warrant work elsewhere in the major leagues. Like Freddy Galvis’ announced departure last week, Joseph will be included in some trade for some longshot prospect or two, a deal which will at least give him some bats as a backup at first or DH for an American League budget team.
Meanwhile, the guy that usually manned the other corner of last season’s Phillies infield, the one with just as much power but a lot more promise than Joseph ... well he’s still here.
Though it did take a little prompting Wednesday for Klentak to call out Maikel Franco by name.
“Yes, well, where Franco stands right now is an every-day third baseman who is working his tail off this winter,” Klentak said. “Kap was down there a couple of weeks ago to visit with him and others, to work out with him; to watch him hit. Maikel looks great and he is clearly committed to turning the page and being a better player next year.”
The claim is that Franco has been whipping his body and his batting stroke into shape in the offseason down in the Dominican Republic. The decision was made to keep him before Galvis was traded, leaving J.P. Crawford to assume his long-appointed role as shortstop of the future instead of the fill-in third baseman he became after being promoted last season.
Franco, arbitration eligible but coming off another sub-par season, won’t get a huge raise from his $575,000 salary. But at 25, he still can be looked upon as a player with the potential to have impact in the middle of the lineup. One that now includes Carlos Santana. “Carlos can help him,” Klentak said. “Maikel is doing everything he possibly can to put himself in a positon to be good next year, and we’re thrilled with the offseason progress he’s made.”
Kapler, meanwhile, expects a lot from Franco. So much so that he paid him a visit in the Dominican recently.
“He’s working his ass off,” Kapler dutifully reported. “He’s busting hard. I learned a lot about his personality; how committed he is to our organization and how committed he is to winning and being a leader in our clubhouse. I saw an incredible effort level when I was down there ... but it wasn’t the type of effort level you might think.”
Kapler said Franco appeared to display “more of a relaxed and calm effort, which obviously made the ball jump off the bat. The work he’s been doing down there is impressive.”
Good thing, because the Phillies really have no other option at third base. Mainly because they don’t want to have one. While Franco has been heavily criticized for his offensive slippage the past two seasons (from a .280 batting average in his 2015 half-season to .255 in 2016 and .230 last season), his defense has generally improved in that time.
His pitch selection ... has not. But Kapler said he will take the slow approach to this individual rebuild.
“Before we get to nuts and bolts of raising the bar with him, establishing support is really critical,” Kapler said. “Easing him into it . ... At some point we’ll talk about that stuff. The answer directly is we want to build rapport.”
••• NOTES » Klentak said his “desire remains the same” to acquire an impact starting pitcher. But the price to trade for a young starter with some years of contract control is “very high,” and obtaining an established veteran starter ... well, that’s not cheap either . ... Santana speaks limited English but he said his decision to sign with the Phillies came fast. “I’m thinking that they first team they want me, they believe in me and that’s why I (made) the decision,” he said.