Phillies Quiet at the Deadline: Why That's a Good Thing.

Picture via: fastphillysports.com

This morning in a group text with my closest friends, my one friend asked if anyone who called into the Angelo Cataldi Morning Show on Sports Radio 94.1 WIP had guessed that Andrew Bynum was the best answer to the contest question the station had posed. Said question was (and I'm paraphrasing here because I did not listen to the show)  to name a person in sports who came to Philadelphia and did nothing.  So when I saw this text I asked the question to my friends who were listening "Is this based on Klentak not making a move?" and I was told that I was correct in assuming so.  I love Angelo, I've sat in on his show before and I respect his opinion but lately he has been giving the Philadelphia Phillies General Manager Matt Klentak a hard time for not making many moves since he has come here and I have completely disagreed with his stance on this matter.  For me to explain why I disagree with Cataldi and why I believe not making a trade at the deadline I need to describe the events that lead off to where the team is at the current moment.

First off, Matt Klentak was behind the Ken Giles trade with the Houston Astros this past off season that landed the Phillies the 2012 #1 Overall selection SP Mark Appel and 2010 2nd Round flame-throwing SP Vincent Velasquez among others.  This so far has turned out to be a trade that replenished the Phillies farm system in regards to arms for the future and we have already seen the benefits in the pros with Velasquez.  Now the team gave up a legitimate asset in Closer Ken Giles but Phillies Executive Pat Gillick made it clear a couple of years ago that the Phillies were in rebuild mode and logic says a stud closer does you no good when you are not competing for a title so the team would have missed out on a golden opportunity to get a good return Giles.

Now on to where we are currently with this organization.  The Phillies have surprised many this year by not being the worst team in baseball and in Late May/Early June were in the Wild Card race but Baseball is a game of numbers and is referred to by some as "The Great Evener" because the way they were winning in most cases does not last.  The team was getting good pitching from their young arms and were winning 1-run games.  When they were in the upper-echelon of the National League standings they had a -47 Run differential and as I've stated numbers like that in a 162 game baseball season usually are not able to equal wins.  This all being said many felt the trade deadline would be the time for the Phillies to shine in a Sellers Market.

Suspected to be potential trade chips for the 2016 MLB Trade Deadline were Starting Pitcher Jeremy Hellickson(brought in this off season via trade from Arizona by Klentak who has out-performed expectations), long-time popular but aging Catcher Carlos Ruiz, struggling-to-muscling Out Fielder Peter Bourjos, and even the once a star now mightily struggling First Basemen Ryan Howard who is on the last year of his Monster contract but was not a very likely trade possibility among others.  Ruiz started off hot but did not play in nearly as many games as he used to do to age, which made his numbers look better than they actually were and he lost his trade value.  Bourjos, who has always been able to field was able to bring his batting average from the low .100's to the upper .200's which is very hard to do in about a month and a half's time, which gave him a lot of trade value but then ended up getting hurt a week before the deadline which took him off the market completely.

Hellickson hasn't been mentioned until now, because he was a unique situation.  Hellickson when traded for had a year left on his contract making him a Restricted Free Agent with a team option to offer/sign him to a Qualifying offer this Winter, so the team's thought process was that they could show off a guy who has had potential but had not shown it in the past couple of seasons and flip him at the deadline for more prospects for this future ball club.  Everything was going according to plan, Hellickson showed control and was able to bring wins and experience to this young Phillies pitching staff  posting a 8-7 Win-Loss record with a 3.90 ERA at the all-star break.  There was definite interest from other teams in regards to Hellickson but some believe the asking price for Hellickson was too high.  Now some would go on to say GM Klentak should've brought down his price just to get rid of him and get something in return, but why trade a player that is still relatively young that you can still have control over and can contribute to this team in the future. I like this move by Klentak to not lower his return because he stood firm and did not let the market tell him what they thought Hellickson was worth.  Also, even though the deadline has passed you can still technically trade players until September but there is a player clearing waivers process that happens OR the Phillies can sign him to a Qualifying Offer sheet in the winter and trade him to a team that wants him and get a sandwiched 1st round pick in next years draft.

Oh? Did I forget to mention that SP Vincent Velasquez(mentioned earlier) was on the market apparently for the deadline?  Well yes, the Texas Rangers in their pursuit of a World Series title have been doing all they can to try and be a legit contender this post season and in doing so they took interest in Velasquez.  By the way, the Phillies and Rangers made a monster trade last deadline with the Phils sending Longtime Ace SP Cole Hamels and Relief Pitcher Jake Diekmann to the Rangers for OF Nick Williams, C Jorge Alfaro, and Pitchers Jarred Eickhoff, Jake Thompson, Matt Harrison and Alec Asher bolstering a once poor farm system now giving the team legitimate options for the future. This being said both the Phillies and Rangers know what each club has to offer talent-wise so both would be interested in dealing again since the trade has had positive affects on both teams so far.  As much as I like Velasquez, I was intrigued by a potential trade with the Rangers because they still have a plethora of Power Hitters that are young and MLB ready and Velasquez has an injury history that is hard to ignore.  In the end the Phillies price for the Rangers was too high and a deal was not made.  Whether the Phillies pulled this move off or not it was a win-win because you either get to keep a potential Ace in Velasquez or acquire some young power hitting talent.

Before the trade deadline came and went many analysts and people in the know in baseball believed the Phillies would have to make moves at the deadline to ensure this club would continue to move in the right direction for the future, but looking at what potential moves could've been made it maybe was for the betterment of the team that such moves were not made.  The team has options, money, and time to become a contender and this deadline was not the time to shake that up.  Some people believe that the Phillies, who only have played half-decent ball this year, should've tried to make moves to bring in veterans to make a playoff push but just like the Philadelphia 76ers you need to trust the process of how rebuilding a baseball team works.  It takes time to develop and acquire young players and assets.  Like I stated earlier, Pat Gillick said this team would not be really competing until 2018, so lets continue to build a real winner and not make moves just to make moves or make a radio show a little more interesting by jeopardizing what this team has been doing.