State of the Phillies

The Phillies are another legacy NL franchise having fielded a team under the current name since 1890.  Over that time they have won 7 World Series Championships and made the postseason 14 times.  Their last championship was in 2008 and last playoff appearance in 2011.  They went through a rebuild and have recently added veteran free agents in an effort to accelerate their contending timetable. 

Ownership: 

Principle and control owner of the Phillies is John C Middleton, a scion of the John Middleton Tobacco Co which he sold in 2007 for $2.9 Billion.  Since then, Middleton has concentrated on his involvement with the Phillies as well as multiple philanthropic efforts, most notably Project HOME to combat homelessness.  So, I guess it's a mixed bag here:  Tobacco?  Bad!  Fighting homelessness?  Good!

Middleton has had an active role in managing the Phillies most notably in a commitment to use of analytics by hiring GM Matt Klentak who in turn hired perhaps the most vocal analytics-oriented manager in Gabe Kapler.  Kapler had a rocky tenure as manager and Middleton reportedly overruled Klentak and forced Kapler's firing in favor of veteran manager Joe Girardi while Kapler joined his baseball BFF, Farhan Zaidi, in San Francisco.  Middleton's other major impact on the Giants was his singleminded pursuit of Bryce Harper which was probably the deciding factor in Harper choosing the Phillies over the Giants after the 2018 season.

Grade A-

Management: 

Team President Andy MacPhail is a long time respected baseball executive.  It's not completely clear what direction GM Matt Klentak is taking the team which may be clouded by involvement of ownership, but his reputation is based on SABR analytics.  Joe Girardi is a widely respected field Manager.

Grade B.

Current Roster:

Starting Eight:  J.T. Realmuto C, Rhys Hoskins 1B, Scott Kingery 2B, Jean Segura 3B, Didi Gregorius SS, Andrew McCutchen LF, Adam Haseley CF, Bryce Harper RF.

Bench:  Andrew Knapp C, Josh Harrison IF, Neil Walker IF, Jay Bruce 1B/OF, Roman Quinn OF.

Starting Rotation:  Aaron Nola RHP, Zack Wheeler RHP, Jake Arrieta RHP, Zach Eflin RHP, Nick Pivetta RHP.

Bullpen:  Hector Neris RHP(Closer), Seranthony Dominguez RHP(IL?), Jose Alvarez LHP, Adam Morgan LHP, Victor Arano RHP, Tommy Hunter RHP, Francisco Liriano LHP, Ranger Suarez LHP.

This is a contending lineup but the rotation is shaky at best after Nola and Wheeler and the bullpen is subpar for a contending team.

Grade B-

Farm System:  The painfully slow development of 2016 #1 overall draft pick, Mickey Moniak, is still holding this system back, but it's still probably too early to give up on him.  The Phils have had better success with college prospects in the last 3 drafts including 3B/1B Alec Bohm and SS Bryson Stott. They also have several promising pitching prospects from the international market as well as #2 prospect Spencer Howard.  So, it's at least an average system which should provide a steady flow of MLB players over the next 3-5 years.

Grade B.