Phillies back in the lead in Manny Machado sweepstakes

Ken Rosenthal reports Phillies have upped Machado offer

The roller-coaster saga that is the Manny Machado sweepstakes appears to have taken another wild turn, this time back in the Philadelphia Phillies favor.

On Friday afternoon, MLB insider Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic tweeted out that the Phillies “have increased their offer” for Machado. The information came to him from “sources”, and few in the business have more, or more reliable, than Rosenthal.

#Phillies have increased their offer for #Orioles’ Machado, sources tell The Athletic. #Dodgers and #Yankees remain strongest. #Brewers fading, #DBacks on periphery.
Standard caveat applies: Trade talks are fluid, and one text or call can change dynamic of discussions.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 13, 2018

Immediately following Rosenthal’s message, Steve Adams at MLB Trade Rumors speculated as to the pieces that could be in play from a Phillies perspective.

“Suffice it to say, there are plenty of moving parts on the Machado front. Baltimore has been said to be keen on acquiring controllable starting pitching, and the Phillies have plenty of options in that regard, as do the Brewers, Yankees and Dodgers.

It’s not yet clear what, precisely, the Phillies (or any team) is willing to offer up, though the Phils have intriguing young rotation pieces in the form of Zach Eflin and Enyel De Los Santos, each of whom has already pitched in the Majors this season (extensively so, in Eflin’s case). Right-handers Sixto Sanchez and Adonis Medina are each considered to be among the game’s top 75 or so prospects, and the Phils have a number of MLB-ready back-of-the-rotation options on the 40-man roster who could be secondary pieces (e.g. Ben Lively, Jake Thompson, Drew Anderson, Mark Leiter Jr.)”

In a piece just yesterday, another major baseball insider, Jon Heyman of Fancfred Sports, said that the Phillies were suffering from “too much timidity” in handling Machado negotiations with the Baltimore Orioles.

After lauding the club for bursting into contender status this year, he also expounded on their need to bring in a player with Machado’s impact. In doing so, he compared the Phillies situation to that of the recent Sixers pursuit of LeBron James:

“They may just be playing the game, but based on the snippets heard so far, they sound a little too much like another Philly team, a particular NBA franchise that resides across the street. Perhaps they are too married to a process, a little too mechanical.”

UPDATE: Rosenthal and Heyman each followed up with tweets in the late afternoon on Friday:

#Orioles have ramped up background work on #Phillies prospects, responding to Phils’ increased interest in Machado, sources tell The Athletic. Phils won’t move RHP Sixto Sanchez but are willing to trade from SP depth from Low A to AAA. RHP Adonis Medina of interest to O’s.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 13, 2018

Phillies are said to be making some progress in Manny talks with O’s. Machado is a great fit, and Phils people know MM best (after the Orioles). Plus, word is Phils owner Middleton is thought to want to “make a splash.”
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) July 13, 2018

If the latest report from Rosenthal is on target, then it appears Matt Klentak and his management team with the Phillies may be loosening up. The fact remains that based on their own needs and desires, and both their financial and prospect situations, the Phillies will remain major contenders for Machado unless or until he is dealt elsewhere.

Bullpen becoming a strength for the Phillies

Seranthony Dominguez (R) has strengthened the 'pen

The Philadelphia Phillies dropped a 3-0 heartbreaker on Wednesday night at Citi Field. The host New York Mets won it on a two-out, pinch-hit, three-run home run from Brandon Nimmo off Phillies reliever Mark Leiter Jr to gain a split of the four-game series between the division rivals.

For some Phillies fans, this might seem like just another in a string of games blown by the bullpen. The relief corps has been much maligned this season. Some of the individual pitchers have certainly deserved the criticism at times.

What those same fans may not have noticed is that the Phillies bullpen has been extremely effective since the calendar turned to July. 

Frankly, games like last night’s are going to happen to almost every team over the course of a long 162-game season. However, a look at the statistics shows that the Phillies bullpen may be turning into a strength.

Here are the numbers put up by the various Phillies relief pitchers, beginning with games of July 1:

As you can tell from Leiter’s figures, this was the bullpen performance up until the time he stepped on to the mound last night. Prior to that appearance, Phillies relief pitchers had a cumulative 1.06 ERA during the month of July.

In fact, it looked as if Leiter was going to continue that excellence when the inning began. He retired the first two Mets batters to start the frame.

After a two-out double by Amed Rosario, the Phillies right-hander got to 3-2 on Jose Reyes. But the veteran Mets hitter layed off a low-and-away changeup, drawing a free pass to set-up Nimmo’s walkoff heroics.

Yes, if you want to get technical, as well as to generalize, “the bullpen blew it” last night. But the Phillies relief pitchers have actually been helping this team as the dog days of summer have begun.

Even though the offense has managed just four or fewer runs in eight of the 10 games this month, the club has gone 7-3. That improved work from the bullpen has been an important factor.