No better time than deadline for Klentak to get aggressive
PHILADELPHIA >> Four months after John Middleton’s plane, the white one with the distinctive red “P” on the tail, departed Las Vegas with the message that nothing would ever again be out of their reach, the Phillies this week will face another typical trade deadline.
Simply put, they don’t really know what they want to do next.
Making good on his promise to be a little stupid in his spending during that Vegas junket, Middleton gave his team a $330,000,000 ready-made superstar in Bryce Harper, then gave his baseball people the OK to move veterans, prospects and cash dollars for J.T. Realmuto, Andrew McCutchen and Jean Segura, among others.
With that, the Phillies were clear: In 2019, they would be all in.
All.
In.
But they are not all in. At least they haven’t been prepared to acknowledge that they are all in. For as they have rolled around Citizens Bank Park in a meaningful late-July series with the Atlanta Braves, even the players are unsure of whether they have done enough to make the front office give them their best chance to win a championship.
“I think it would help if we won the series, shrink the deficit and stay close in the wild card or get ourselves in one of the wild spots after the series,” Jake Arrieta shrugged the other night. “But we have to keep it close to make a decision to continue to make moves. “And it’s up to us.” The deadline was three days away when Arrieta made that admission, basically echoing Andy MacPhail’s recent declaration that the play on the field would determine the tradedeadline policies. Three days. What? Was somebody supposed to sew up a Player of the Week plaque by Tuesday in order for the Phillies to realize the obvious?
They can win a championship this season. Maybe it’s just the championship of a division so bottom-heavy that by accident it could yield two wild-card teams, but they can win something. They do, though, need help. And this must be their shopping list:
• A starting pitcher with proven major-league ability.
• Any other starting pitcher with a live enough arm to make Arrieta a fourth starter.
• A backup catcher of the expiring-contract variety.
• A veteran bat strong enough to convince Gabe Kapler that a five-man bench is a value.
There is no reason for any of that to not be acquired.
MacPhail has said, as it has been Middleton’s habit to brag, that taking on talent at any price is never out of the question. For that, Matt Klentak should be able to find an overpaid No. 1 or 2 starter on a fading team. The Diamondbacks have made it plain that they will flip 35-yearold, fringe Hall of fame candidate Zack Greinke and his
$35,000,000 annual contract to a contender. Jam him beneath Aaron Nola in the rotation, locate some other arm and make him the No. 3, and suddenly Arrieta at No. 4 with Zach Eflin, Vince Velasquez, Drew Smyly or someone else at No. 5 is a dangerous postseason rotation.
Saturday, the Phillies made a small move to add depth by purchasing Jose Pirela from the Padres organization. Though they need someone with more bigleague achievement, he apparently has been thoroughly vetted as a clubhouse asset. So, maybe he can help, if not soon, then after the Sept. 1 roster expansion.
“I think it’s a real strong depth play,” Kapler said. “It doesn’t mean he won’t be here at some point sooner rather than later. I think that’s always performancebased and opportunity based. But the one thing I’ll say is it makes us a deeper club. And this was a move that has really sparked the mood of the clubhouse in a good way.”
Last July, Klentak appeared to flash brilliance with the late-season acquisitions of fading but useful former stars Wilson Ramos, Asdrubal Cabrera and Jose Bautista, only to have the Phillis soon after fade from contention.
“There are a number of factors in play,” Kapler said. “There’s always clubhouse chemistry. There’s always those veteran players that are acquired at the deadline and the question about whether they will perform to their track record.
“Sometimes in that twomonth sample or threemonth sample, you don’t get that type of production. I’m not saying that’s what happened last year, but more generally. And so it’s not the easiest thing to figure out. It’s certainly not black and white. It’s very nuanced.”
It’s all nuanced. The Phillies committed $45 million over two years for Arrieta, and it sounded like a good idea. Yet it has a chance to be remembered as a different level of stupid spending. Yet Harper, even with his ordinary home run production, has been worth every dollar.
Sometimes, front offices must act with courage. This is one of those times. The Dodgers, and only the Dodgers, are dominating in the National League. From there, the Phillies are as capable as any team of contending for the pennant.
“I don’t think there’s a doubt in anyone’s mind in here that we have guys right now in this clubhouse that are capable of winning ballgames consistently and climbing the ranks and separating ourselves and moving past some teams,” Arrieta said. “We just have to win games. It’s easy to look outside of the clubhouse for solutions. I think we have more than enough talent to make it happen with the guys we have.”
They might.
But they need a little help.
It’s time for John Middleton’s operation to stage a little show again.