For Nationals it's win now, or possibly lose two superstars

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The Nats already lost Harper, could Rendon be next star to go?

The Washington Nationals, who play host to the Phillies in a four-game series this week, have spent the better part of the last seven seasons dominating the National League East Division standings.

In 2012, the Nationals ended the Phillies five-year grip on the division by capturing the franchise’ first-ever NL East crown. Their direct predecessors, the Montreal Expos, were considered to have finished in first place back in 1994, but that was the strike-ended season that was never completed.

From 2012-18, the Nationals registered a winning season each year. They captured division titles four times in that span: 2012, 2014, and 2016-17. In each of the other three years, the Nats finished in second place.

The club was always in the hunt for a playoff berth until suddenly falling into a deep funk from June 10 through September 6. They struggled all summer at 32-46 during that stretch, falling from first place to finish 10 back of the Atlanta Braves in the east and nine games out of a Wildcard.

In the off-season, the Nationals lost the player who had arguably become the face of the franchise over those seven seasons. Bryce Harper left the team at age 26 to sign as a free agent with the rival Phillies.

The Nationals brain trust believed that it could cover for the loss of Harper. They had a pair of exciting young Dominican outfielders ready to make an impact on an everyday basis in now 20-year-old Juan Soto, who was the runner-up for the 2018 NL Rookie of the Year Award, and 22-year-old Victor Robles.

But when the season opened, things didn’t go as planned in our nation’s capital. Injuries and inconsistent play resulted in a horrendous first two months. The Nationals woke up on Friday, May 24 back home after getting swept in four games at Citi Field by the division-rival New York Mets. They were a disheartening 19-31, and were already 10 games off the pace in the NL East.

Since that time, the Nationals have begun to regain some of their lost mojo. They have fashioned a 14-7 record over the last three weeks, and though still 8.5 out in the division, the Nationals are now just six games behind the Phillies in the race for the final NL Wildcard spot. Of course, there are also five other teams ahead of them in chasing that spot.

Phillies welcome the Colorado Rockies for a weekend in South Philly

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Charlie Blackmon is developing into a Phillies-killer with Colorado

The Philadelphia Phillies (24-19) are coming off just their third series loss of the season after dropping the final three games of a four-game set to the visiting Milwaukee Brewers this week.

One of those series defeats came at the hands of the Colorado Rockies (20-22), who took three of four games from the Phillies out at Coors Field in Denver back in mid-April.

Now a month later, the Phillies will try to avoid losing four straight games for the first time in the 2019 campaign when they host the Rockies for three over this weekend at Citizens Bank Park.

Colorado, an NL Wildcard playoff team in each of the last two years, has a losing record over the first seven weeks. However, manager Bud Black has them playing much better of late. The Rockies have gone 17-10 since the first two weeks or so. They have lost just one series (5-1-3) over the last month.

The Rockies currently sit in fourth place in the National League West Division, 7.5 games off the pace set by the Los Angeles Dodgers. They are tied with the New York Mets, three games off the second NL Wildcard pace being set by another of their division rivals, the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Colorado ranks 5th in runs scored and second in extra-base hits (tops in triples) in the National League. As a team, the Rockies home-road splits reveal two entirely different portraits. At home, Colorado is slashing .284/.354/.504, while on the road their batters have produced just a .217/.271/.382 slash line. However, since Citizens Bank Park is such a positive offensive environment, those negative road numbers may prove less relevant.

The Rockies attack is led by the consensus top third baseman in the game in 28-year-old Nolan Arenado, who is slashing .314/.360/.598 with a team-high 11 homers and 35 RBIs. Veteran right fielder Charlie Blackmon is slashing .295/.359/.566 and leads the club with 25 extra-base hits.

Blackmon has become another in the group of modern day Phillies-killers across Major League Baseball. He enjoys a career .342/.421/.615 slash line with 10 homers and 22 extra-base hits over 184 career plate appearances against the Phillies. At Citizens Bank Park, Blackmon is slashing .314/.385/.671 with seven of those home runs. At least we won’t have to hear “The Outfield” or Coors fans singing “….TONIGHT!” during his at-bats here in Philly.

All-star shortstop Trevor Story leads the club in runs scored and stolen bases and is second in homers and RBIs. However, he injured his knee in a collision with outfielder Raimel Tapia at Fenway Park on Wednesday. “Just a knee bruise,” he said per Nick Groke with The Athletic. “It’s good news for sure.”

Phillies - Rockies series opener preview

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Nolan Arenado heating up as Phillies arrive in Denver

Along with their luggage, the Philadelphia Phillies (11-6) carried the best record in the National League with them on their Wednesday evening flight west to Denver. There, the early-season league leaders will take on the host Colorado Rockies (6-12) in a four-game set beginning on Thursday night.

The Rockies are expected to be serious contenders for the NL West Division crown this year. Last season, Colorado finished 91-72 and captured a National League Wildcard playoff berth after finishing just a game behind the division-winning Los Angeles Dodgers.

The primary reason for the Rockies early-season failure has been an unusually feeble offensive attack. One might point out that the club has played just five of its first 15 games at home in the rarified air of the Mile-High City. However, the Rockies lost all five of those home games, scoring just 21 total runs in the process.

Colorado enters the series having won three straight behind their pitching. The Rockies staff held West Division rivals San Francisco and San Diego to just four runs in the three wins. That stretch included a complete game one-hitter from German Marquez and Quality Start outings from both Antonio Senzatela and Jon Gray. Those are likely to be the three pitchers whom the Phillies will face from Friday-Sunday. Marquez is likely nice and content after recently signing a contract extension taking him through the 2023 season.

Colorado won’t have an easy road in trying to extend that winning streak and fully get their season on track. Over the next week they will be hosting a pair of NL East contenders, with the Phillies to be followed in by the Washington Nationals.

The Rockies are currently just 27th in all of Major League Baseball in runs scored. The bats have produced a cumulative .210/.268/.310 slash line. Those figures leave them 26th, 30th, and 26th in all of baseball in the AVG, OBP and SLG categories.

On the mound, Colorado has been a middle-of-the-pack club. The staff collective 4.22 ERA is 14th in baseball and sixth in the National League, while their Batting Average Against mark of .240 is 13th in the game but fifth-best in the NL. The Rockies pitchers have surrendered just 21 homers over 18 games, fourth-best in the NL, but you can probably expect that rate to rise as those arms pitch in more home games.

The Phillies improved lineup comes to town with the sixth-highest scoring offense in MLB to this point and an OPS ranking seventh in the game. The club is fifth in doubles, and with the wide-open spaces of the Coors Field outfield territory you can expect that placing to rise by the end of the weekend.

Phillies long-term answer at third base just might be Maikel Franco

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With rumors swirling, Franco hopes to prove he is the third base answer

There were rumors floating around during much of the off-season that the Philadelphia Phillies were possibly going to be moving on from third baseman Maikel Franco.

It would be understandable if that theory grew from the possible signing of young superstar infielder Manny Machado. If the Phillies indeed were to sign Machado, and if he were to agree to play third base with Jean Segura staying at shortstop, then Franco would clearly be expendable.

However, such speculation should never have been considered as likely. For one thing, the Phillies had a number of realistic competitors for the services of Machado. For another, Machado had already made it known publicly that he wanted to play shortstop. Also, the Phillies were involved in the pursuit of Bryce Harper, and were unlikely to sign both players.

None of that stopped folks such as NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Corey Seidman from making statements such as this one regarding the Phillies incumbent third baseman:

It’s difficult to see, short of replacing Franco with someone like Machado or Mike Moustakas, why this would necessarily be the case. Neither Phillies management nor manager Gabe Kapler has done or said anything to indicate that “Franco is not their 3B of the future.”

The public pursuit of Machado doesn’t say that at all. What that says is that management recognizes that the team desperately needs a truly dynamic bat for the middle of their order. It speaks to the impact talent of Machado, not to any lack of talent regarding Franco.

Though he was able to play in 10 games, Franco missed most of last September with various injuries. Despite ultimately playing in just 131 games he banged 22 home runs in 433 plate appearances. He also hit a career-high .270 while raising his OBP by 30 points, his slugging percentage by 58 points, and his OPS by 90 points from the 2017 season.

Had he been given the health of his first two full years as the Phillies starting third baseman, Franco was on a 30-homer, 90+ RBI pace last season before that final month.

State of the Phillies address given by GM Matt Klentak during radio interview

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Matt Klentak answered numerous questions today on 97.5 FM The Fanatic

It was just shy of three months ago now that I wrote here at Phillies Nation that general manager Matt Klentak should be considered as being on the proverbial ‘hot seat’ during this current ‘hot stove’ off-season.

My principle argument could be summed up at that time in one paragraph from that November piece: “Phillies fans have waited through those six losing years. Klentak has not done a single thing to this point to elicit their confidence. His statements so far this off-season, and those of club president Andy MacPhail, have done nothing to excite them.”

Since that time, the GM has made a handful of moves that could be pushing the club further along in their attempt to return to consistent contending status.

On December 3, Klentak shipped away the horrible Carlos Santana contract to the Seattle Mariners, correcting a misstep of his from a year earlier, along with perennially disappointing shortstop J.P. Crawford. In exchange he brought back a legitimate big-league shortstop in Jean Segura, as well as a pair of veteran relievers in righty Juan Nicasio and lefty James Pazos.

Just three days later he dumped righty reliever Luis Garcia, who had fashioned an ERA north of the 6.00 mark in two of the last three years, to the Los Angeles Angels. In return the Phillies GM brought back experienced southpaw reliever Jose Alvarez, who at age 29 is coming off the best season of his six-year big-league career.

Less than a week after that deal, Klentak signed free agent outfielder Andrew McCutchen to a three-year, $50 million contract. The 32-year-old former National League Most Valuable Player is certainly not the player that he once was during his 2011-17 peak with the Pittsburgh Pirates. But he will definitely improve the team’s left field defense, if nothing else.

Klentak started off the new year of 2019 strong when he inked veteran right-handed reliever David Robertson to a two-year, $23 million free agent contract. Robertson has been one of the best relief pitchers in the game for a decade, and further strengthens a bullpen that appears to be a strong suit heading into spring training.

That was a busy month for the GM, with two solid trades and two nice free agent signings between December 3 and January 3. But while he was making those moves, his counterparts in the NL East Division were not sitting on their hands.

NL EAST RIVALS ALSO MAKING MOVES

The Atlanta Braves, who won the division a year ago, added third baseman Josh Donaldson and catcher Brian McCann and re-signed outfielder Nick Markakis, all as free agents.

Phillies third baseman of the future? Alec Bohm ready to show it is him

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Bohm was the Phillies 2018 first round draft pick out of Wichita State

Fans of the Philadelphia Phillies have justifiably been distracted in recent weeks by two names. But while Bryce Harper and Manny Machado are gathering contract offers and making their final decisions, perhaps we can take some time to talk about other topics related to the ball club?

There are other possible Hot Stove situations further out on the horizon that have also received some attention from the fans. One of those could come next Fall, when third baseman Nolan Arenado is due to become a free agent if he and the Colorado Rockies cannot reach a contract extension.

Having acquired Jean Segura via trade earlier this off-season, the Phillies would like Machado to play third base for them. If that were to come to pass, then the hot corner would be filled for the foreseeable future.

However, should the club fail to land Machado this year or Arenado next, the Phillies future third baseman could already be in the organization. And I’m not talking about incumbent Maikel Franco.

Last June the Phillies made Alec Bohm of Wichita State University their choice in the first round at third overall in the MLB Amateur Draft. With an advanced bat, it shouldn’t take more than a couple of seasons before Bohm is ready for a crack at the big-leagues.

When Bohm was drafted there were many who speculated he would eventually end up at first base or an outfield corner. But as the Phillies (hopefully) learned this past season with the Rhys Hoskins left field experiment, you cannot simply stick a player in the outfield and hope that his bat makes up for defensive deficiencies.

Hoskins is not a left fielder and never will be one. Nothing about Bohm suggests that he would be a solid defender out there either. With Hoskins now apparently back and settled in at first base for years to come, that position presents more than a roadblock to Bohm.

Based on what we know at this point, Bohm is the Phillies third baseman of the future. As the RotoWire staff pointed out for CBS Sports, if the 6’5 Bohm were to make it and become a regular at the position he would be bucking the odds. Troy Glaus and Kris Bryant are the only players 6-foot-5 or taller to have ever played 200 games at the position in the majors.

Neither Glaus, who bashed 320 homers over a 13-year big-league career from 1998-2010, or Bryant who is one of today’s premier power hitters, would ever be considered a defensive whiz. Their bats were their calling cards.

There is little doubt that the bat will be what carries Bohm as well. If anyone knows hitting, it’s Charlie Manuel. The Phillies 2008 World Series-winning manager was quoted on that bat by Jim Salisbury for Baseball America back in November:

Phillies reportedly still involved in Corey Kluber trade discussions

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Kluber is one of baseball's few genuine ace-caliber starting pitchers

Phillies Nation was rocked by a report on Boxing Day that the two high-profile free agents who the club has publicly pursued with big contract offers this off-season, Manny Machado and Bryce Harper, may hold a negative opinion of the city, the Phillies organization, or both.

MLB insider Joel Sherman made the statement, writing the following in the New York Post: “Word is neither player particularly likes Philadelphia…”

That statement must be taken with a bit of a grain of salt for a number of reasons. The biggest, of course, is financial. The odds are that if either superstar turns down the Phillies, they would almost certainly be leaving tens of millions of dollars and multiple years of security on the table.

Then you have the source itself. Sherman is a New York guy. Of course, he would prefer to have Machado or Harper playing in his town, where he could enjoy watching them play and reporting on their exploits.

Finally, you have the statement itself. “Word is?” Where does this “word” come from exactly? And neither guy “particularly likes Philadelphia?” What does that even mean? Do they both hate Philly? Do they hold such a negative opinion that they would never play here? Do they even have a negative opinion at all, or are they simply ambivalent about our town?

Set aside the extremely questionable nature of the report, and let’s assume that it is completely accurate on its face. Neither Harper or Machado wants to play in Philly. Both go to a place they really do want, neither deciding to take the “stupid money” that John Middleton is offering. What next for the Phillies?

As Sherman’s report came out on the day after Christmas, at the same time another report was being released by Jon Paul Morosi at MLB.com that again linked starting pitcher Corey Kluber to the Phillies. The Cleveland Indians have been dangling their ace, hoping to land a package of younger players and prospects in return.

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Corey Kluber trade talks are most intense with NL clubs now, sources say. #Padres, #Dodgers, #Phillies, #Brewers, #Reds involved to varying degrees. @MLBNetwork @MLB

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While Morosi’s sources have the San Diego Padres as the current front-runners and the Dodgers perhaps a close second in a possible Kluber deal, the Phillies are indeed again lurking and involved.

Tribe GM Mike Chernoff is reportedly looking for a package led by a young, MLB-ready player with upside potential and a couple of solid prospects. Nick Cafardo at The Boston Globe stated the following on the Kluber situation last week:

“…from what we’re hearing, the Indians won’t deal him unless they get value-plus. There would have to be an overpayment of prospects and young players to get a deal done.”

While Rhys Hoskins and Scott Kingery would certainly be off the table, a Phillies package could lead with any or a combination from among Maikel Franco, Nick Williams, Odubel Herrera, and Roman Quinn.

Any starting pitcher not named Aaron Nola or Jake Arrieta could go. From the prospect ranks, anyone below top prospect Sixto Sanchez should be in play.

Harper and Machado may prefer Yanks, Dodgers to Phillies respectively

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The Dodgers appear to have passed the Phillies as leaders for Harper

It has long been speculated that the Philadelphia Phillies would be spending big money this off-season. The primary focus of such speculation has been on the two biggest free agents available, outfielder Bryce Harper and infielder Manny Machado.

The Phillies have tons of available cash and a desperate need to add impact offensive punch to their lineup. Each of these 26-year-olds will be looking for monster financial deals. Seems like a perfect match.

Problem has always been that the Phillies are not the only team interested in the two players. They are also now increasingly looking like a second choice, at best, for each superstar player.

Machado is rumored to have long held a desire to play for the New York Yankees. Jim Bowden at The Athletic reported today the following:

“Machado has told friends in Miami that his preference is the Yankees, and if the offers are close, he’ll be headed to the Bronx.”

However, Bowden and others also believe that the Yankees are not prepared to make the same commitment in years and dollars, possibly as much as $350 million over 10 years, that the Phillies are believed willing to spend.

If that is indeed the case, then the Phillies may slip past the Yankees and win his services. Machado has reportedly told the three teams with whom he met this week – the Phillies, Yankees, and Chicago White Sox – that he won’t be making his decision until 2019.

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Manny Machado’s decision will come in 2019http://go.si.com/8aJAAkh 

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Report: Manny Machado's decision to come in new year

Machado has reportedly told the Phillies, Yankees and White Sox that he will decide where to sign in 2019.

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Of course, 2019 is now just over a week away. It is very possible that the Phillies made the best financial offer, and that he and his wife now have to decide whether to accept less, perhaps tens of millions less, in order to fulfill his Yankees dream. That could well  be what is taking place over the next couple of weeks in the Machado power circle.

Harper may also have the Phillies as a second choice. He appears to have more options than Machado, with the Phillies joining the White Sox and the Los Angeles Dodgers as the leaders of a group that could also include the Chicago Cubs and San Francisco Giants.

The Dodgers just completed a major trade this afternoon with the Cincinnati Reds. In that deal, Los Angeles sent starting pitcher Alex Wood, outfielders Yasiel Puig and Matt Kemp, and catcher Kyle Farmer to Cincy in exchange for pitcher Homer Bailey and two prospects.