Klentak still vetting partners as trade deadline nears
PHILADELPHIA » Another day, another round of trade deadline speculation. Welcome to midseason, Phillies style.
They are firmly on pace to finish as Major League Baseball’s worst team for the second time in three years. But for the Phillies, it’s hardly about the present, it always seems to be about the future. Or, the business of trading veteran assets for prospects.
With little more than a week remaining until the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline, then, it’s almost like Christmas week in the front offices at Citizens Bank Park.
“There’s been a lot of phone calls,” general manager Matt Klentak assured on Saturday, trying to bring the excitement to a fever pitch. “Some of them more serious than others. There’s some teams feeling it out.”
It’s what teams do. As Klentak pointed out, most of the board room action around MLB to this point involved “players who have years of control beyond this one.”
For the most part, that’s not what the Phillies are They have pending free agent people like Howie Kendrick and Pat Neshek on the trading block, along with lesser draws such as Joaquin Benoit and maybe Daniel Nava. Kendrick and perhaps Saturday night starter Jeremy Hellickson — who could have hung a lemon sign around his neck after being bombed for four runs in the third inning on this night — would be the cream of this July trade crop, though both of them could slip past the deadline and still be traded in August if they pass through waivers then.
That makes the most likely guy to go before the July bell tolls a one-anddone right-handed reliever who could provide an extra layer of security for any contender’s bullpen. Pat Neshek anyone? Actually, Phillies fans would probably welcome a deal of slightly more significant stature, but don’t expect to see Giancarlo Stanton or even Christian Yelich wearing red pinstripes in South Philly ... not anytime soon, anyway.
“We have talked to each of the other 29 teams at least once sometime in the last three weeks, Miami being one of them,” said Klentak, sort of addressing recent offering. rumors about the Phils’ alleged interest in the two pricey and talented Marlins outfielders. “...We are openminded to the idea of adding, particularly controllable players that make sense for us. I’ll just let that answer the question.”
As for Stanton, he’d rattle a few short fences here, but $300 million can be better spent. That makes no sense. Marcell Ozuna, though, that’s a Marlins outfielder the Phillies could opt for. Just a thought.
“Never say never,” Klentak said.
Until never, then, the Phillies of the mid-20-teens will remain the Phillies of the post-glory gentrification. A rebuild as slow as urban renewal awaiting a real deal to expedite success.
Such trades as Neshekfor-Whozits? would bring a prospect here or there, but nothing earth-shattering for the fake news crowd crowing for action from Klentak and Co.
“Certain years you’re more of a buyer, certain years you’re more of a seller,” Klentak said. “Some years you’re doing a little bit of both. So I don’t feel pressure to make a move just for the sake of making a move.”
There is one for Klentak right now, though: Trading Tommy Joseph.
The GM is certainly open to the idea, but reportedly is having difficulty finding an interested tango partner. This despite a first baseman in Joseph who isn’t arbitration eligible until 2020. At 26, he has slashed .249/.310/.449 through 90 games this season, with 15 homers and 45 RBIs.
All at an annual bargain price of $543,000.
Joseph would be available, of course, only because Lehigh Valley first baseman Rhys Hoskins, just two years Joseph’s junior, seems so ready for MLB duty.
Hoskins went into Saturday night’s IronPigs game at Durham hitting .279 with 21 homers, 70 RBIs and an OPS of .923 through 97 games. While another half-season of Pigs duty wouldn’t hurt a bit, nor would a little early seasoning at the top level, which is what Nick Williams is benefiting from right now.
“We’d all like to see Rhys Hoskins,” manager Pete Mackanin said. “There’s just a matter of getting him playing time. Tommy Joseph’s been doing well; you can’t just forget about Tommy. So that becomes an issue.”
While Klentak is a man prepping for the future, then, the Phillies’ main growth problem is what to do with their players of the present.
Beyond the first-base saga, the idea of staying the course has more support than before. Freddy Galvis, for example, has spent the first half of the season endearing himself to hardcore Phillies fans ... such as Mackanin.
“Freddy, as far as I’m concerned,” the manager said Saturday, “I wouldn’t want to have to replace him. That’s how important I think he is right now to us.”
By all rights, Galvis should have played himself into long-term contract consideration, although he wouldn’t be eligible for free agency until 2019. Of course, that would block the path of one-time top organizational prospect J.P. Crawford, who has suddenly gotten his offensive game together at Triple-A, hitting nearly .300 for the month of July while adding a previously MIA power stroke (six homers in 18 games).
If there are still thoughts of Crawford moving to second base, the Phils seem happy with Cesar Hernandez there, and are really happy with blooming 4-spot prospect Scott Kingery, too.
Then there is Maikel Franco, who continues to (well OK, slowly) make progress at the plate, while an outfield of Odubel Herrera, Kendrick, Nava, Aaron Altherr and now Williams — with prospect Dylan Cozens patiently pounding home runs at a league-leading pace for the Pigs — seems a bit too crowded for comfort.
As Mackanin pointed out when asked about his not-so green outfield crew: “Maybe we’ll trade some guys, I don’t know.”
Maybe ... maybe not. It’s what makes Phillies baseball so exciting.