The Philadelphia Phillies have commenced their rebuilding period and acquired three prospects this offseason in the trades that sent shortstop Jimmy Rollins to the Dodgers and outfielder Marlon Byrd to the Reds. Will some of the veterans stick around and help develop the young talent?
Philadelphia still has a few veterans that are subject to trade, including Cole Hamels, Jonathan Papelbon, Ryan Howard, Chase Utley and others. Hamels has been the most talked about since he's their best trade piece, but general manager Ruben Amaro said he expects the left-hander to be with the team next season, likely because trade talks have stalled since he's asking for three top prospects in a potential deal. As for the others, the salaries of Papelbon ($13 million) and Howard ($25 million) have seemingly proved too onerous for other clubs, and talks for Papelbon never really accelerated anyway.
Being that a number of their best young players are starters and relievers, it is possible the Phillies are opting to keep Hamels and Papelbon to help develop and guide them? These players include relievers Ken Giles and Jake Diekman as well as starters Aaron Nola, Zach Eflin, Tom Windle and Ben Lively.
"Seeing [Ken] Giles and [Jake] Diekman continue to blossom into a lockdown bullpen tandem in the late innings would be progress," writes Jim Salisbury of CSN Philly. "...it's safe to say that Nola, Eflin, Windle and Lively all have the potential to be productive major-league starting pitchers," he added.
Giles, 24, and Diekman, 28, had good campaigns in 2014 and will be on the Opening Day roster. Giles was 3-1 with a 1.18 ERA, 0.79 WHIP and 64 strikeouts in 44 games (45 2/3 innings) and Diekman was 5-5 with a 3.80 ERA, 1.42 WHIP and 100 strikeouts in 73 games (71 innings). Say what you want about Papelbon, but his passion and success cannot be questioned, especially after a career year in 2014 during which he compiled a 2-3 record with a 2.04 ERA, 0.91 WHIP and 39 saves in 66 games (66 1/3 innings).
"I feel like my area of expertise is the bullpen," Papelbon said last March, in this MLB.com article. "I'm trying to do everything I can to make sure that the bullpen goes in the right direction."
Philadelphia has missed the playoffs the past three seasons, but there has been an improvement in their bullpen's ERA from 2013 (when they ranked 27th) to 2014 (ranked 18th). Papelbon has likely been a large part of that as the anchor of the group.
As for the starting rotation, which is led by Hamels, they struggled over the past two seasons and ranked 25th in ERA in 2013 and 20th in 2014. Granted, injuries to Roy Halladay in 2013 and Cliff Lee in 2014 didn't help, but the back-end of their rotation has been an issue as well. This young group of starters could provide relief in that aspect.
"Nola, Eflin, Windle and Lively were all in Philadelphia last week for the team's annual prospect education seminar," adds Salisbury. "They're all aware of where the Phillies once were - heck Eflin and Windle have a connection to the glory years because they were traded for Rollins - and where they are now. They are eager to be the building blocks of the team's next winning era."
Check out their numbers from 2014:
Nola: 4-3 with a 2.93 ERA and 1.07 WHIP in 12 games (11 starts) between Advanced Class-A Clearwater and Double-A Reading as a 21-year-old
Eflin: 10-7 with a 3.80 ERA and 1.32 WHIP in 24 starts with Advanced Class-A Elsinore as a 20-year-old
Windle: 12-8 with a 4.26 ERA and 1.37 WHIP in 26 games (25 starts) with Advanced Class-A Rancho Cucamonga as a 22-year-old
Lively: 13-7 with a 3.04 ERA and 1.12 WHIP in 26 starts between Advanced Class-A Bakersfield and Double-A Pensacola as a 22-year-old.
And who better to lead the way than Hamels? The left-hander is under contract for at least four more years and has a team option in 2019. The former MVP of the 2008 NLCS and World Series has invaluable experience as a starter and has been successful throughout the majority of his career, logging a 108-83 record with a 3.27 ERA, 1.14 WHIP and 1,707 strikeouts in 275 games.
Prior to the 2013 season during spring training, Hamels acknowledged Papelbon's claim that the team was lacking leadership in 2012. He took responsibility and vowed to better the situation, and he can continue doing so if he has a chance to mentor these young starters whenever they reach the big leagues.
"Last year, I wasn't fulfilling my end of the bargain either," Hamels said during spring training in 2013, via Philly.com. "We are all guilty. I know I get to pitch thirty-something games, and those were the games I was focused on and I wasn't focused on the other 130-some games, where I could have motivated guys or at least helped some guys out if they were doing something wrong."
Let's see if the ship can begin to turn around in 2015.
