When the 2020 season came to an end, the Philadelphia Phillies seemed at a crossroads. After failing to make the playoffs yet again, they could either add a few key pieces to fill their holes, or they could decide that they needed to rebuild. Despite only being two years into a thirteen-year contract with Bryce Harper, the Phillies seemed to poised to choose the latter.
Sure, General Manager Matt Klentak was reassigned swiftly on October third. But the team stalled, and in a disaster of a press conference at the end of October, Andy MacPhail pretty much said they weren’t going to hire anyone until well into 2021. It was reported the Phillies lost $2 billion in 2020 due to COVID-19 restrictions, which was later reduced to around $145 million. But, these financial losses could preclude them from re-signing the best catcher in baseball, J.T. Realmuto. Then at the beginning of December, there was talk that Zack Wheeler was on the trade block, which was quickly denied.
Updated story: the Phillies' John Middleton says the team wouldn't trade Zack Wheeler for Babe Ruth. https://t.co/qF76ViYhlh
Or Ted Williams, or Mike Schmidt. Says he never authorized anyone to discuss a Zack Wheeler trade.— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) December 6, 2020
In the span of a little of over two months, the damage was done. Fans were ready with their pitchforks and torches, like they were going after Frankenstein’s monster.
Now, the tide seems to have turned. Dave Dombrowski is the new President of Baseball Operations. Sam Fuld has been promoted to GM. All of a sudden, this looks like a team that has backtracked and is going down the “win now” path. After all, you don’t hire a guy like Dombrowski only to not compete for the next few seasons.
During his introductory press conference, Dombrowski pretty much confirmed that. “I consider this a retool, not a rebuild, for sure,” he said. “I think there are too many good players on the club. We have a star player in right field in Bryce and some other good players around him, and any time you have three good starting pitchers like we have at the top of the rotation, you’re in pretty good shape to be competitive.”
All of a sudden, the arrow seems to be pointing up for the Phillies. Maybe I’m just crazy, but I think it’s going to continue to point up. After all, the free agent market is going to be a slow one this offseason, and the longer Realmuto is out there, the more confident I am the Phillies bring him back. Especially considering the market for him continues to shrink (the New York Mets signed James McCann, the New York Yankees are more concerned with re-signing their own superstar, DJ LeMahieu, and the Washington Nationals already have a high payroll for them). And Realmuto’s agent reached out to Dombrowski to welcome him to Philadelphia.
Any of those teams could still swoop in and sign JT, but for once since the beginning of September, I actually feel good about the state of Phillies baseball. Maybe the uproar from the fans and media pushed John Middleton to reconsider his stance and make the team contenders. Maybe the Zack Wheeler trade rumor was true and it angered Middleton so much that it got out that he’s now going in the opposite direction to prove to people how wrong it was. Maybe it’s something else entirely.
Whatever the case may be, at least one fan finally feels some hope for the future. And as the great Andy Dufresne said, “hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.”
Photo: David J. Phillip/AP
Joshua Fink
A lifelong Phillies fan with a passion for baseball.
Latest posts by Joshua Fink (see all)
"course" - Google News
December 23, 2020 at 11:51PM
https://ift.tt/2WGHAbl
The Phillies are Reversing Course - Philadelphia Sports Nation
"course" - Google News
https://ift.tt/35q9ps5
https://ift.tt/35rCFi1
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "The Phillies are Reversing Course - Philadelphia Sports Nation"
Post a Comment