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The Phillies Should be Looking to add some Reassurance in Center Field?
(Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
With the off-season now well underway, the Philadelphia Phillies currently find themselves with some questions still to be answered. Earlier in the month, we discussed the need to sure up the bullpen.
So, in this article, we will address the need to upgrade center field.
With the team seemingly cutting ties with their longtime first baseman Rhys Hoskins, who is now an unrestricted free agent, this ensured that Bryce Harper (who did a tremendous job last season filling in for the injured Hoskins) would now be typed into that spot on the roster moving forward.
That move allowed Kyle Schwarber (who is now over the age of 30) to no longer have to patrol the outfield, which provides Kyle the opportunity to instead just focus on hitting Schwarbombs as the team’s everyday designated hitter (DH).
But as we saw last postseason, these moves presented a problem. And that problem is, who is going to be the team’s everyday center fielder in 2024?
Sure, the team seems set at the corner out fielding positions with Nick Castellanos and Brandon Marsh not due to become unrestricted free agents for at least the next couple of years, but who is going to patrol that big empty space in between these two?
Unreliable Options already in the system:
Christian Pache
Foreseeing this could be a potential problem as early as last year. The Phillies front office went out in 2023 and acquired the highly touted prospect Christian Pache from the then Oakland A’s, but although Christian proved to be adequate in the field, Pache was only able to hit for a .238 avg. and totaled just two home runs and 11 RBI’s last season. And if that wasn’t bad enough, in seven at-bats in the postseason, Pache saw his batting average fall to an embarrassing .143.
Johan Rojas
This 23-year-old prospect was called up by the Phillies this past season not for his bat but for his defensive abilities. But while his outs over expectation were through the roof, Rojas’ bat posed no offensive threat in the playoffs. Many times over, Johan was able to come up to bat with runners in scoring position, and he failed to bring them in. In fact, he was so bad this past postseason that he turned out to be more of a routine out than when the Phillies—still had the pitchers going up there trying to bunt during every one of their at-bats. Don’t believe me? Well, in 43 postseason attempts, Rojas managed to put the bat on the ball only four times. This bringing his batting average down to a very laughable .093%. And, while Rojas is still just 23 years old and has time to improve, the Phillies, who made it deep into the playoffs each of the last two seasons, cannot conceivably head into next season with someone in the lineup who could easily get out hit by one of the stadiums’ peanut vendors.
So, who’s left? Jack Cave? He is certainly not an everyday center fielder. Heck, at this point in his career, he is primarily just used as a glorified pinch hitter.
And you better not depend on any initial help coming from the teams’ farm system because the only outfield prospect showing any real upside besides Rojas is 19-year-old Justin Crawford, who was taken by the team in the first round of the 2022 MLB Draft. And he doesn’t even project to be ready for at least another two or three seasons.
With that being said, I feel if this team truly wishes to compete for a World Series Title next season, they have no other choice but to sign a center fielder in free agency this winter.
Now, of course, the most appealing option would be to sign the 25-year-old Korean hitting sensation Jung Hoo Lee, who is a five-time gold glove winner in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) and their 2022 MVP, where he hit .349 that year, totaling 23 home runs, 85 runs, and 113 RBI’s. But to me, chasing after him is a waste of time because he is already rumored to want to head to the Padres, where Korean players Kim Ha-Seong and Ji-man Choi suited up last season.
And besides all that, the Phillies’ President of Baseball Operations, Dave Dombrowski, has already come out and said (in not so many words) that the teams’ checkbook is not going to be as wide open as it has been in the past. Instead, the franchise will look to fill in empty roster spots with Type B or C free agents that other teams have perhaps overlooked.
So, while that news is somewhat disappointing, just where might the team be able to find someone with a bit of pop left in their bat to sign until the likes of Justin Crawford is ready to make his MLB debut?
My suggestion for the Phillies would be to sign 32-year-old Michael A. Taylor. Now, hear me out. Besides Lee, there is no one under the age of 30 worth a dam available this year in free agency. And, while I know signing a 32-year-old to patrol center field is not ideal, sadly, the Phillies may not have much of a choice thanks to them having seven players on their roster due to make over $20 million next season. Besides, I wouldn’t have even brought Michael up if I didn’t think he was worth talking about. If you’re not familiar with Michael A. Taylor. I assure you both Bryce Harper and Trea Turner are seeing that the three of them played together on the Washington Nationals for multiple seasons before they each went their separate ways. Now, while Taylor may NOT have gone on to have the kind of production to garner him a $300 million contract like his former teammates, he did manage to remain effective. For example, last season, while playing for the Minnesota Twins, Taylor was able to hit for an average of .220 and set a new career high in Home Runs with 21, not to mention the fact that in addition to all those home runs, he was able to score 48 runs and drive home 51 more (RBIs).
Now, as far as how much Taylor may cost the Phillies to sign. I don’t know; the market is the market. The only thing I do know is Michael is not considered to be a top-tier guy, so my best guess would be that he will probably look to sign a very similar contract to the one that he just finished playing out, which was a two-year deal worth $ 9 million. So, expect him to ask for roughly 4.5-5 million dollars a year.
If this is the case, I think the Phillies should definitely jump at the chance to add this veteran player. He already has chemistry with a few members of the team and could provide some much-needed stability at both the plate and center field until the likes of Rojas and/or Crawford prove consistent enough to be trusted with the daily duties in the major league.
Prospect Watch: Berkly Catton
(Photo courtesy Larry Brunt/Spokane Chiefs)
At this point in the season, you usually can start to see the elite prospects begin to separate themselves from the pack. And one player who has done just that this season is Berkly Catton of the Western Hockey League’s Spokane Chiefs.
Over the last couple of seasons, this versatile 17-year-old forward has showcased that he can excel at playing center and wing. While he currently stands at just 5’11 and roughly 163 pounds, he most certainly does not let the fact that he is not the NHL’s ideal size hinder his point production.
Case in point: in his draft minus one year, Catton was able to post an impressive 55 points for the Chiefs as a 16-year-old.
How does he do this, you may be asking? Well, to start, Berkly is blessed with the kind of breakaway speed that allows him to create separation from the opposition. But better still is the fact that once he enters the offensive zone, Catton has shown that he also possesses both the stick-handling ability and mental wherewithal to be able to slow the play down and analyze what will be his next, best course of action. This is important because Berkly is a dual threat. For example, If no one is open, you can expect this relentless young talent to take matters into his own hands by showcasing his tremendous puck protection skills as he proceeds to drive that piece of vulcanized rubber right to the front of the net by using any means necessary. Once there, Catton frequently manages to finish off the play with no less than two defenders on his back by effortlessly elevating the puck over the (out of position) overzealous goalie’s shoulder.
But like I said, Catton is no one trick pony. When it’s in the team’s best interest or all other measures seem to break down, Berkly will not hesitate to dish the puck off to awaiting teammate like Connor Roulette, who has managed to put more than his fair share of pucks in the back of the net over the years. Catton does so by showing extreme patience. Relaxed as if he is in a state of nirvana, Berkly calmly lets the play develop around him, waiting until the precise moment when his teammate is in an ideal scoring position before saucering a perfectly placed pass to their awaiting stick blade.
What’s exciting is Catton’s talents are proving to be ever-growing. Even before this season started, he was able to have scouts sit up and take notice when he was able to lead Team Canada to a Gold Medal in the Hlinka Gretzky Cup, where he led all participants in both goals scored with eight as well as total points with ten.
That pre-season success, mind you, has only managed to emulate to the regular season with the Chiefs, where Berkly has thrived, complying an unbelievable 19 goals and 22 assists for 41 points in only 27 games played. Now, folks, let me inform you that his 1.51 points per game average currently projects Catton to finish the season, scoring 48 goals and 55 assists for 103 points!
To date, the only knock on Berkly’s game would be his previous lack of defensive responsibility. But although his career WHL plus-minus average before the season started was a horrendous -43. Catton must have focused on the defensive side of the game this past off-season because he has been able to remain even this year when most of his teammates continue to struggle in that category, seeing that they play against some of the most dynamic scorers in the game today on a nightly basis.
That’s why, with all those previously mentioned skill sets in place and Catton still appearing to get better with each and every shift he takes, I could easily see this young man one day becoming a top-line center for whichever lottery team so chooses to draft him this summer.
Should the Overachieving Flyers be Buyers or Sellers Come the Trade Deadline?
Heading into tonight’s game against the Avalanche, Philadelphia was riding a three-game winning streak. In addition, this overachieving team has managed to vault itself into second place in the Metropolitan Division. But while their unexpected success up to this point has been a welcome change for their fans, the question now is, does management think that their club is going to be able to sustain this kind of production throughout the rest of the season and force them to ignore potential buyers calling in about their players?
Let’s analyze this, shall we? To their credit, I don’t think there is one of us out here who would have thought through 26 games into the season that this team would find themselves second in their division. But let’s be honest with ourselves: while Tortorella may have his team staying competitive, they are still rebuilding and have no real shot at contending for a Stanley Cup. Case in point, while the Flyers may be sitting pretty in the Metro, they are sixth in the Eastern Conference, with the Caps, Hurricanes, Lightning, and Islanders all only one point behind them right now. This means that if the Flyers were to be dealt even one loss, they could easily see themselves go from sixth to eighth or ninth in the standings.
So, the newly appointed general manager, Danny Briere, is going to have to ask himself is it worth passing up on a bunch of potential draft capital that could be gained by trading away a couple of expendable players at the deadline so his team could maybe make it back to a state of mediocrity just to get booted out of the first round of the playoffs by a team like the Bruins or Rangers who are both winning close to 75% of their games right now?
The correct answer should be NO! This team’s best chance of winning is still a couple of years away when Cutter Gauthier and Matvei Michkov are suiting up for the Orange and Black.
That said, if teams come calling for any of the Flyers’ current roster players in the coming months, they should at least be willing to listen to what the potential buyers have to offer.
By now, you might be asking who these prospecting teams might want to acquire from the Flyers. And I would have to say the one with the most rumors surrounding him currently is Carter Hart. But I would be hard-pressed to believe that a trade of this magnitude would be able to come to fruition in the middle of the season. Instead, if such a trade were to happen, I would perceive it to occur later, on the draft floor this summer.
Rasmus Ristolainen
So, let’s instead discuss some players who the team is more likely to move leading up to the trade deadline. One player who may fit that bill and has begun to garner some interest in the past few days is the Flyers towering defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen. And for good reason, it’s not often that a 6’4, 208-pound defender (who is under 30) and playing the best hockey of his career is made available for a playoff push. But if the rumor of the Toronto Maple Leafs wanting him is true, then I’m wondering why Briere hasn’t already jumped at the chance to rid himself of a player who is a career -176 and is signed for three more years at over five million dollars.
Remember that while Ristolainen’s play has been good as of late, it has been for only a short duration, seeing that he has been limited to just six games this season. He is only just returning from the Injury Reserve list. Surprisingly, though, in his absence, the team appeared to not even miss him, with others proving they were more than capable of stepping up. Thus making him seem pretty darn expendable, if you ask me.
Why would they want him, you ask? At this point, Toronto’s fanbase is just plain desperate to win, seeing that they last raised the cup nearly 60 years ago. Consequently, if the Leafs find themselves salivating over the possibility of landing a defender with his type of physicality and choose to come calling offering up a first or second-round pick for a player who has never finished as a plus player in his 11 seasons in the NHL. I say let’s do the dam deal so that the Flyers can keep garnering quality draft picks that will help add to this team’s depth in the future.
Sean Walker
Another Flyer that teams have been asking about the availability of is their 29-year-old veteran defenseman Sean Walker. This underrated player acquired from the Kings during the trade that sent Ivan Provorov packing has proved to be more than just the throw-in most chalked him up to be. Dressing for all 26 games that the Flyers have played thus far, Walker has scored 11 points and is a plus-seven on the season. However, Sean is in the last year of a contract paying him an A.A.V. of $2.6 million, and the team may be unable to resign him due to cap restraints. Thankfully, they may not need to bring him back anyway, given the emergence of blue liners like Egor Zamula, Louie Belpedio, Ronnie Attard, Emil Andre, Adam Ginning, Helge Grans, and Oliver Bonk currently coming up in the team’s system.
That’s why selling high on Walker may not be such a bad idea, especially if it could garner the Flyers an additional first or second-round pick in the coming months. Besides, doing so may also be beneficial to the team, given the fact that it would give the Flyers an extended look at a few prospects on the back end who will be battling it out for a permanent roster spot next season.
Nick Seeler
The last and final player I think could bring back future value to this team at the trade deadline is one you may not have expected: Philadelphia’s 6’2 201 pound 30-year-old versatile defenseman Nick Seeler. Nick is a guy who has proved over the last couple of years that he is defensively responsible enough to have gained the trust of his head coach, John Tortorella. So much so that the Jack Adams Award winner allows him to move up and down the lineup as injuries occur.
Seeler, who can play both the right and left side, currently leads the Flyers with a +13 average. I believe this insanely tough customer would provide great depth, strength, and toughness to any team heading into the playoffs and should be considered a steal if attained, especially since he is only getting paid a mere $775,000 this season.
If dealt, I believe Seeler could bring back a mid-round pick in the upcoming draft that could allow their GM, Danny Briere, to bring in some talent this summer that other teams have managed to overlook.
These are but a few players that could bring back some much-needed draft capital to this rebuilding organization if dealt at the deadline. While squeaking into the playoffs this season may sound nice, the team would benefit more from obtaining additional draft picks to go along with the multiple first and second round picks they already possess in this impending draft.