With a lockout on the horizon, a flood of trades and free agent signing have taken place over the past week. Unfortunately, the
Phillies have done very little to take advantage of this window of time, so they will likely have to wait until Spring 2022 to make any further improvements to the team.
The biggest acquisition the team made so far was the
signing of relief pitcher
Corey Knebel to a one year, 10 mil contract. The 30 year old right hander was originally drafted by
Dave Dombrowski in the first round of the
2013 draft. He would go on to make his
MLB debut for the
Tigers one year later. Injuries have kept him from living up to his full potential, but he had a remarkable
2017 season for the
Milwaukee Brewers in which he recorded 39 saves and made the
All-Star Team. He finished that season with a 1.78 ERA in 76 innings of work, and he set a MLB record for relief pitchers by starting the season with 45 consecutive appearances in which he recorded at least one strikeout.
Tommy John surgery set him back in
2019 and
2020, but he had a strong season for the
2021 Dodgers with a 4–0 record, 2.45 ERA, three saves and 30 strikeouts in the regular season, and he recorded 11 strikeouts to one walk in just under six innings in the post-season.
The
Phillies made a
last minute signing before the lockout last night when they signed infielder
Johan Camargo to a one year, 1.4 mil contract. He's floated between the
Atlanta Braves and their
Triple A affiliate since 2017. His bat has cooled off at the
MLB level in recent seasons, but he had a .326/.401/.557 slash line in 104 games for the
Gwinnett Stripers in 2021. Additionally, he appeared in games at every position except catcher, center field and left field last season, so the hope seems to be that he will bring defensive versatility off of the
Phillies bench in 2022.
These aren't the only moves the Phillies made this off-season. A few weeks ago, the
Phillies traded for two catchers. They
acquired Garrett Stubbs from the
Astros, and
Donnie Sands from the
Yankees (along with pitcher
Nick Nelson). Even after non-tendering
Andrew Knapp (who has already signed with the
Reds), the catching position is the one areas where the
Phillies have respectable depth, so the acquisition of two catchers who are presumably coming to camp to compete for job to back up
JT Realmuto leads me to believe that
Dombrowski intends to shop
Rafael Marchan or
Logan O'Hoppe in a trade this winter. I suspect that
Marchan is more likely to be dealt because it would open up a spot on the 40 man roster, but
Dombrowski has a reputation for unloading prospects for proven talent at the big league level, and
O'Hoppe had a very impressive showing in the
Arizona Fall League, so maybe they see his value as being high at the moment.
Aside from that, the
Phillies picked up four pitchers off of the waiver wire - right hander
Yoan López from the
Atlanta Braves, and three lefties:
Ryan Sherriff from the
Rays,
Kent Emanuel from the
Astros and
Scott Moss from the
Guardians. The
Cleveland Indians new name is going to take a little time to get used to; it still feels strange to say
Guardians. These waiver claims aren't the kind of news that's going make headlines, but these acquisitions around the margins sometimes can make a huge difference in a season, especially when it comes to the bullpen. Relief pitchers are an inconsistent lot from year to year, so signing a relief pitcher for top dollar is often as much of a lottery ticket as a waiver claim can be. Maybe these guys will contribute to an effective bullpen, and maybe one or more of them won't even make the team out of
Spring Training. Time will tell.
And that's it for now. Until
the league and the
players' union come to a collective bargaining agreement, all transactions have been suspended. This comes as no surprise to anyone who pays attention to the game, but it is disappointing that the
Phillies weren't able to address more of their needs before the start of the
lockout.
The reason I prefer
Bryant to the other free agents is that can fill the absence left by
Andrew McCutchen in LF, but he would bring a lot of defensive versatility to the club because he can also play 1B, 2B, SS, 3B and CF if needed. Also, I would trade any combination of prospects not named
Bryson Stott to get
Reynolds out of
Pittsburgh. He's an elite center fielder who's under team control through 2025. If the
Phillies are going to get the most value out of the prime years of
Harper,
Realmuto and
Wheeler, this is the kind of trade they need to make. I can see the need to keeping
Stott because he's proven all he can prove at the minor league level, and the
Phillies have a need at SS, but I would have no hesitation trading any other
prospects (especially pitching prospects) to bring
Reynolds to
Philadelphia.
However, all of the talk of potential signings and trades are officially on hold for the foreseeable future as we enter the
ninth work stoppage in baseball history. The
Phillies issued a press release which basically said that, with the exception of
John Middleton, no one from the team is allowed to talk to the media.
Rob Manfred issued a
full letter to the fans on behalf of the league, and the
Player's Association also put out a message on
Twitter. Both of these suggest that the two sides are nowhere near reaching a settlement, and if the negotiations before the
2020 season are any indication, this could go on for a very long time. Hopefully they come to an agreement in plenty of time for
Spring Training and the
2022 season to begin as scheduled, but it wouldn't surprise me much if that wasn't the case.
Work stoppage issues have caused the cancellation of over 1,600 games in my lifetime, including the
1994 playoffs and
World Series, and the two sides may even be further apart today than they were in
1981 and
1994.
I'm not picking a side in this fight between the owners and the players. Player salaries have skyrocketed well beyond the income of any other profession, including hundreds of millions of dollars that have been paid to players who played poorly, or barely played at all, or in some cases, didn't play a single inning through the life of their contract. On the other side, the league holds the television rights of games hostage with an
archaic blackout restriction policy that should have been done away with in the 1960's, and the cost of going to a ballgame has risen to a point where many families simply can't afford it. Neither side has the fans in mind, except to the extent that we allow them to live the lives of millionaires and billionaires. I hope this results in the
National League getting the
DH. I hope that something is done to limit the overuse of defensive shifts. I hope they don't make a mockery out of the playoffs by letting two dozen teams into the post-season. I hope that whatever financial structure that the teams have to work with don't hinder the
Phillies chances to field a competitive team, particularly since the team owner has no interest going over the
Luxury Tax threshold despite lip service to the contrary. I hope that no games are cancelled, and that the owners and players can put their greed aside and play ball.
