Important off-season dates for the Phillies and Major League Baseball

Rob Manfred leads MLB into a big off-season

It has finally arrived, one of the most anticipated Major League Baseball off-season periods in years. Fans of the Philadelphia Phillies have been led to believe that the team will be a major player in the free agent market during this ‘Hot Stove’ season.

As of 9:00 a.m. EDT on Monday morning the contracts expired for dozens of players. They are now free to negotiate for deals covering 2019 and beyond. Their former team has exclusive negotiating rights for the first five days. After that, it’s on to the open market.

The list of available names at this point includes Bryce Harper, Manny Machado, Josh Donaldson, Craig Kimbrel, Michael Brantley, Patrick Corbin, Andrew McCutchen, Dallas Keuchel, and World Series MVP Steve Pearce among dozens of others.

The list of big names could increase by midnight on Halloween, as star pitchers Clayton Kershaw and David Price have until that point to decide whether or not to exercise player options on their contracts. If either or both turns down the option, they would also join the free agent ranks.

A number of players who appeared with the Phillies during the last few years are also available as free agents. That list includes Freddy Galvis, Wilson Ramos, Asdrubal Cabrera, Clay Buchholz, Charlie Morton, and Jake Diekman.

Other names available on the market and very familiar to Phillies fans from their time with the team include outfielder Hunter Pence, starting pitcher J.A. Happ, and reliever Ryan Madson. The latter two own World Series rings from the Phillies 2008 championship team.

Here is an exhaustive list of the important dates to look for as we move through the MLB off-season and into the start of the 2019 season:

OCTOBER 31: Halloween. Okay, okay. Besides candy, the majority of contract options must be exercised by teams or players for the following season. Already picked up were team options on players such as Madison Bumgarner and Carlos Carrasco. Shortstop Elvis Andrus exercised his player option. The big name here is Clayton Kershaw with the Dodgers. He has until the clock strikes midnight after the trick-or-treaters are tucked in bed to make his decision.

NOVEMBER 2: This is the deadline by which MLB teams must tender a qualifying offer (click link for detailed explanation) to eligible free agents. The one-year offer this season would be for $17.9 million. For example, the Nationals could make a qualifying offer to Harper. He could accept and play with them next year on a contract worth $17.9, or decline and become a free agent. If a qualifying offer is made, players have 10 days maximum to make their decision. However, players acquired in mid-season deals cannot have such an offer made. Therefor, the Dodgers cannot make a qualifying offer to Machado. He is automatically headed to free agency.

Phillies are expected to be major players in the bidding for free agent Harper.

NOVEMBER 3: The date on which the full and open free agency period will begin. This would, for instance, be the earliest that the Phillies could formally negotiate with Harper or Machado. It is also the earliest that free agents can sign with a new team, though you won’t see that happen in most instances since the player would need to negotiate a contract first. That would likely happen after entertaining multiple offers.

NOVEMBER 4: Rawlings and Major League Baseball will announce the winners of the 2018 Gold Glove Awards.

NOVEMBER 5: Finalists will be announced by MLB for each of the major awards, including the Most Valuable Player in each league, the Cy Young Award, the Rookie of the Year, and Manager of the Year. Also, the MLB Executive of the Year will be announced on this date.

NOVEMBER 6-8: GM meetings held in Carlsbad, California. Big deals don’t usually happen here, but the groundwork is often laid for those consummated later, including at the later Winter Meetings.

Dodgers will have 2008 Phillies World Series hero Ryan Madson in their bullpen for the Fall Classic

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Madson will be trying to win his third World Series ring with a third different team

The Los Angeles Dodgers punched their ticket to the Fall Classic with Saturday night’s 5-1 victory in Game 7 of the National League Championship Series over the host Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park.

The Dodgers will now open the 2018 World Series at Fenway Park in Boston on tonight against the host Red Sox.

This is a return trip for the Dodgers, who a year ago advanced to the 2017 World Series. Los Angeles was edged out in seven games by the Houston Astros last October.

This also marks something of a return to baseball’s biggest stage for two key members of the 2008 Philadelphia Phillies World Series championship team, second baseman Chase Utley and relief pitcher Ryan Madson.

While Utley and Madson are under contract with and have played with the club this season, only Madson will actually be seeing action in the Fall Classic roster that was submitted today.

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Madson began this season with the Washington Nationals. He was dealt to the Dodgers on August 31, three days after his 38th birthday.

He would make nine appearances for Los Angeles in September and was particularly effective over the final two weeks of the season. Madson allowed just one run on two hits with seven strikeouts and no walks in five innings down the stretch as the Dodgers battled for a sixth straight National League West Division crown.

Madson was on the Dodgers roster and made two appearances in the NLDS win over Atlanta Braves. He was then included on the NLCS roster in the victory over the Brewers. All total, he has seven postseason appearances so far this year, allowing just one run on six hits over 6.1 innings across seven games with a 6/1 K:BB ratio.

Utley has not appeared at all in this postseason for the Dodgers, though he has been given credit by players such as Matt Kemp and Enrique ‘Kike’ Hernandez for helping them.

And then there were four

Jayson Werth raises 2008 World Series trophy

On Wednesday night, October 29, 2008 at Citizens Bank Park, the Philadelphia Phillies and Tampa Bay Rays took to the field to resume Game Five of the World Series.

The Phillies had fought their way to a 3-1 lead in the Fall Classic, and needed just one more victory to secure only the second world championship in franchise history.

Game Five had originally begun two nights earlier, on Monday, October 27. However, rain began to fall early on that night, and grew to torrential proportions by the middle innings.

After the Rays tied the game up at 2-2 in the top of the 6th inning, Major League Baseball finally stepped in, and the game was suspended.

After two days of rains, the two clubs finally re-took the field in South Philadelphia. Geoff Jenkins got the home crowd stoked immediately, bombing a double to center field off of Rays reliever Grant Balfour. Jimmy Rollins then bunted him over to third base.

With the go-ahead run just 90 feet away from home plate, Jayson Werth stepped into the box. On a 2-2 pitch, the Phillies right fielder looped a base hit into center field, scoring Jenkins to put the Phils back on top 3-2.

The two clubs would trade runs in the final frames, and the Phillies would memorably mob closer Brad Lidge on the mound after the final out.

Just yesterday, while playing in the minor leagues of the Washington Nationals organization, Werth revealed that he was retiring from professional baseball.

This brings to the end a career that saw him appear with the Toronto Blue Jays (2002-03), Los Angeles Dodgers (2004-05), Phillies (2007-10) and the Nationals (2011-17) over parts of 15 seasons.

During his four seasons with the Phillies, Werth produced a strong .282/.380/.506 slash line. He slammed 95 homers, drove in 300 runs, scored 320 times, and stole 60 bases.

Compare those numbers to those produced by Jim Thome in his four seasons here in Philadelphia, and you will find that Werth is certainly worthy of consideration to be enshrined on the Phillies Wall of Fame at some point in the future.

However, he is going to have to wait a bit. Most of those 2008 World Series champions are now gone from the game. A number of them are going to be honored before Werth can be considered.

Left fielder Pat Burrell is already on the Wall of Fame. 'Pat the Bat' played his final season with the San Francisco Giants in 2011.

Third baseman Pedro Feliz last appeared in the big leagues with the Saint Louis Cardinals in 2010. He bounced around the minors, winter leagues, and independent leagues for a couple of years, and has not played at all since 2014.

The center fielder, Shane Victorino, won another World Series with the Boston Red Sox in 2013. 'The Flyin' Hawaiian' last played for the Los Angeles Dodgers back in 2015.

It was a mid-season 2016 career finale with the Chicago White Sox for Jimmy Rollins. The heart and soul of the Phillies for a decade and a half and the franchise' all-time Hits leader, 'JRoll' could make an intriguing candidate for the Baseball Hall of Fame one day.

Ryan Howard never wore another uniform in a regular season MLB game other than that of the Philadelphia Phillies, finishing up his career here with the 2016 season.

He tried a comeback last year with both the Atlanta Braves and Colorado Rockies, but 'The Big Piece' couldn't get out of either minor league system. While not officially retired, he is not getting back to the big leagues.

NLDS Prediction: Washington Nationals over Chicago Cubs

Nationals fans believe that this will be their year - so do I

This isn't necessarily a now-or-never situation for the Washington Nationals, as some pundits have claimed.

The Nats are likely to again be favorites to win the NL East crown in 2018, and will have the talent again to be a serious championship contender.

However, it is getting to be time for the Nationals to prove that they can actually win a postseason series, let alone make a deep October run.

This is the sixth consecutive season of contention in our nation's capital. Washington captured the NL East crown in four of those six seasons, and finished second in the other two. This is their fourth shot at postseason play.

In their three previous October series, the Nationals dropped a hard-fought NLDS. In 2012 it was a 3-2 series defeat at the hands of the Saint Louis Cardinals.

The Nats won the opener of that series, and held a 7-5 lead with two outs in the top of the 9th in the decisive Game Five before a Cardinals rally killed their dreams.

In 2014, the eventual World Series champion San Francisco Giants took out the Nats in four games. Each of the three defeats came by a single run: 3-2 and 2-1 in the first two games, and then a 3-2 defeat in Game Four where the Giants clinching run scored via a wild pitch.

Last season, Washington was a clear favorite against the LA Dodgers. A 3-2 loss to Clayton Kershaw in the opener was nothing to be ashamed of, and the Nats bounced back to capture the next two games.

Then in Game Four, the Dodgers tied the series with a two-out, nobody on rally in the bottom of the 8th in which a Chase Utley RBI single drove in the winning run of a 6-5 game.

In Game Five, Max Scherzer was tossing a gem, shutting out the Dodgers for six innings. But in the 7th, LA erupted for four runs, ultimately holding on for a 4-3 victory that again eliminated the Nationals.

This history matters, because if the defending World Series champion Chicago Cubs get out to a series lead, or even take it to a decisive game, that history of playoff losing could work on the Nationals collective heads.

Time is now for Nationals to deal for bullpen help

More than two months into the 2017 MLB regular season, the Washington Nationals are in great shape in the standings. The Nats lead the National League East Division by 8.5 games over their nearest rivals.

The Nationals would appear to be cruising towards a second consecutive postseason appearance. It would be the franchise’s fourth NL East crown, and thus their fourth trip to the playoffs in six years.

But after 36 years as the Montreal Expos and now a dozen full seasons in the U.S. capital city, the franchise has still never even played a single World Series game.

In fact, they have never played in the NLCS either. Washington has been eliminated in the NLDS in all three of the club’s appearances during this decade.

Though the current version of the Nationals appears to be running away with the division, there has been one area of the team that has been a cause of season long concern.

Due to a combination of inconsistency and injury, the Nats bullpen has been a mess. Dusty Baker has tried five different pitchers in the closer role at one time or another over the first 10 1/2 weeks.

Oakland A's Organization is in Desperate Shape

As recently as the 2014 season, the Oakland Athletics were legitimate contenders in the American League. The A’s finished 88-74 that season, good for second place in the AL West standings.

The club had taken the division crown the two previous seasons. In 2014 they were again in the postseason after capturing an AL Wildcard berth.

In that 2014 American League Wildcard Game against the Kansas City Royals, the A’s took a seemingly comfortable 7-3 lead into the bottom of the 8th inning.

The Royals rallied for three in the 8th and a run in the 9th to send the contest into extra innings. In the top of the 12th, Oakland scored to regain the lead. But Kansas City fought back once again, scoring twice in the bottom of the frame for a dramatic walkoff victory.

The loss would prove deflating for the entire Oakland organization, which has not recovered. The following year, the A’s sank to the bottom of the American League standings. Then a year ago, the A’s again finished at the bottom of the West Division.

Just three weeks ago, Baseball America released their annual MLB Organizational Talent Rankings. Oakland finished just 17th in all of baseball, which is actually their highest finish in at least the last seven years.

Unfortunately for the team and their fans in the Bay area, the Oakland A’s have fallen, and they can’t get up. At least not any time soon.

Can Oakland A's Get Back Into Contention Quickly?

The Oakland Athletics have fallen to the bottom of the American League West and look to get back to regular contending status.

In 2016 the Oakland Athletics finished 69-93 and in last place in the American League West Division, 26 games out of first place and 20 behind an AL Wild Card playoff spot.

This was a second consecutive last place finish for the A’s after three consecutive appearances in the MLB postseason.

The Athletics won the division in both 2012 and 2013, losing both years in a tough LDS, each going the distance. Then in 2014 they lost the AL Wild Card to the Kansas City Royals by surrendering two runs in the bottom of the 12th inning.

The A’s had traded away the big outfield bat of Yoenis Cespedes at the 2014 trade deadline to the Boston Red Sox for Jon Lester, and then lost Lester that offseason to free agency.

Then the club dealt away another big bat in Josh Donaldson to the Toronto Blue Jays in the offseason as well. Donaldson was due to begin seeing big contract increases which the small market Oakland Athletics were not in a position to support.

The franchise has not carried a top-20 payroll since the 2007 season, so any improvement is almost certainly going to have to come from within, and from smart, lesser free agent signings.

Phillies Fall Classics XIV: 2009 World Series Game Five

The Philadelphia Phillies were the defending world champions, facing the 26-time World Series winning New York Yankees.

The Philadelphia Phillies, defending World Series champions, had captured the opener of the 2009 Fall Classic against the 26-time champion New York Yankees.

However, the Yanks stormed back, winning three straight to take a commanding lead of 3-1 as the series reached a fifth game at Citizens Bank Park in South Philly.

The Yankees were hoping to add a 27th title, and would be just as happy to get it over with right here in the City of Brotherly Love as to let the Phillies think they could get back into the series.

The Fightin' Phils were fighting now to keep their season, and their dreams of a repeat, from dying in front of their home fans as Game Five of the 2009 World Series got underway.

Yanks' skipper Joe Girardi would give the starting assignment to 32-year old righty A.J. Burnett, who the club had signed as a free agent the previous off-season.

Burnett had shut the Phillies down in Game Two to even things up, and Girardi sent him out to the mound to try to duplicate that effort and nail down a championship.

Charlie Manuel turned back to 31-year old lefty Cliff Lee, obtained in a big trade with Cleveland just three months earlier. Lee had masterfully handled the Yankees juggernaut in winning Game One.

The Yankees wasted little time in trying to send Lee the message that they wanted the crown, and that he wasn't going to get in their way.

Phillies Fall Classics X: 2008 World Series Game Three

After the Philadelphia Phillies had gotten off to a good start by taking the opener of the 2008 World Series against the host Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field in a tight 3-2 decision, the host Rays evened things up, holding off the Phils for a 4-2 win in Game Two.

With their backs to the wall in that 2nd game, Tampa had scratched out four early runs off Phillies’ starter Brett Myers. 

Holding a 4-0 lead, Rays’ manager Joe Maddon turned to rookie lefty David Price with two outs in the top of the 7th.

Just a year earlier, Tampa had made Price the top overall pick in the 2007 MLB Amateur Draft. He quickly rose to become the best pitching prospect in the game, and made his big league debut that year on September 14th, pitching in five games down the stretch as Tampa held off the Boston Red Sox to win their first AL East crown by two games.

In the ALCS, Price had pitched in three games. He got the win in Game Two with a clutch 11th inning performance as Tampa tied that series with the Red Sox. 

Then in the decisive 7th game, Price pitched 1.1 innings to get the Save in a dramatic 3-1 win that moved the 1998 expansion franchise into their first-ever World Series appearance.

The Phils would get to the talented rookie with a two-out solo home run by Eric Bruntlett to cut the lead to 4-1, and then put two of the first three runners on in the 9th, scoring another run on a Tampa error to make it 4-2. 

But Price had toughened up, striking out Chase Utley swinging and getting Ryan Howard on an easy grounder to 2nd to tie up the World Series at a game apiece.

Phillies Fall Classics IX: 2008 World Series Game One

The 2008 Philadelphia Phillies were an explosive offensive juggernaut that had been playing together for a few years, with most of their key players just entering the prime of their careers.

The previous season of 2007, the club had gotten over a bit of a hump when they ran down the New York Mets in September to take the franchise’ first NL East crown in almost a decade and a half.

For the previous half-dozen seasons, stretching back to the dying days of Veteran’s Stadium and moving on through the 2004 christening of Citizens Bank Park, the Phillies had been consistent winners. 

However, prior to that ’07 squad, which team leader and shortstop Jimmy Rollins had declared in the beginning were “the team to beat” in the division, the Phils had kept falling a few games short of a postseason berth.

‘J-Roll’ had been around since the turn of the century. He, left fielder Pat Burrell, known since his college days as ‘Pat the Bat’, and pitcher Brett Myers were the lineup’s still-young senior citizens and cornerstones.

A trio of even younger players had come along over the previous 2-3 years, and were beginning to emerge as superstars in their own right. Together they would help supply much of the final push towards an actual world championship.

Phils Fans Follow Former Heroes in Postseason

If my Twitter timeline is to be trusted, and with hundreds of Phillies fans, it usually can be, then there remains a great deal of baseball interest among that fan base despite a 4th consecutive season out of the playoffs for the Fightins.

A number of ex-Phillies players are participating in this year's MLB postseason, and that includes a handful of the 2008 World Series championship team.

As most everyone is already aware, both Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley are now in the NLDS with the Los Angeles Dodgers. JRoll played 15 seasons in a Phillies uniform, Utley played parts of 13 seasons in red pinstripes. They were the starting MIF together in Philly for over a decade.

They are taking on the New York Mets, whose starting catcher is Travis d'Arnaud, the Phils' 1st round pick in the 2007 MLB Amateur Draft. He was dealt to Toronto as part of the package for Roy Halladay in December of 2009.

The Dodgers knew they were acquiring older players who had their best years in the rear-view mirror when they took on Jimmy and Chase. But they got those players specifically for October play, hoping their long, winning experience would help get the team over the top in postseason play. 

That kind of tough, no-fear play was on display yesterday, when Utley's key play accounted for a pair of difference-making runs in evening the series.

Over in the American League, the Texas Rangers hold a 2-0 lead in their ALDS with the powerful Toronto Blue Jays. 

One of the Texas keys has been former Phillies' ace lefty Cole Hamels, dealt to the Rangers at the trade deadline for a 5-player package.

Hamels pitched for the Phillies for parts of 10 seasons before being dealt as a key piece to the current rebuilding process. 

He was 7-1 down the stretch for Texas, with a 78/23 K:BB ratio over 83.2 innings in which he allowed just 77 hits. Hamels got a no-decision in Texas' huge Game 2 win on Friday.

Jake Diekman went with Hamels in that Texas trade, and he really got his act together with the Rangers. 

In 26 games with Texas over the final two months, Diekman recorded 10 Holds with a 2.08 ERA and .169 batting average against. 

In 21.2 innings he allowed just 13 hits, with a 20/7 K:BB ratio. He has pitched 2 innings in both LDS games, allowing no baserunners.

The Blue Jays have Ben Revere in left field. Revere hit .319 with a .354 on-base percentage in his two months with the Jays since his own trade deadline deal. 

In the 56 games that he played with Toronto, Revere scored 35 runs and stole 7 bags. Thus far, in his first postseason experience, he has gone 3-10 with a run scored and an RBI.

In the other ALDS, the Astros have righty Chad Qualls in their pen. Qualls spent 35 largely ineffective games with the disappointing 2012 Phillies. 

They also have Jonathan Villar, signed by the Phils out of the Dominican Republic back in 2008 and traded to Houston as part of the Roy Oswalt deal in 2010.

Playing a more important role in that ALDS should be the lone Royals ex-Phil, and along with Hamels, Utley and Rollins, the only other 2008 World Series hero left in action. That would be reliever Ryan Madson, who made an amazing comeback this season.

Madson, who hadn't pitched in the Major Leagues since leaving the Phillies following the 2011 season, signed with both the Reds and Angels as a free agent. But injuries kept him from returning, and appeared to be ending his career.

But the Phillies' 9th round pick in the 1998 MLB Amateur Draft got it back together with the Royals this year, and has been better than ever out of their pen. 

In 63.1 innings across 68 games, Madson allowed just 47 hits with a 2.13 ERA, 0.963 WHIP, and a 58/14 K:BB ratio.

How crazy would it be for Phillies fans to watch a key World Series game in a couple of weeks where Utley and/or Rollins steps into the box in a key moment against either Hamels or Madson? Now that would blow up Philly-area Twitter for sure.