The one giant competitive advantage the Phillies could have is Abel, Painter, and Sanchez at well below market salaries. It’s a big ask to hit on both but if the baseball Gods would help them out a bit, having those three at the salaries they will pay them the next 2-3 years is huge.
2025 Phillies Thread
- Thread starter Tom McAndrew
- Start date
Quite an outing for Lazardo. I want some of whatever he's chewing on!!!
Hear ye, hear ye.
I pronounce July 9, 2025, as the day Bryce Aron Max Harper returned to lead the Philadelphia Phillies to the promise land.
I pronounce July 9, 2025, as the day Bryce Aron Max Harper returned to lead the Philadelphia Phillies to the promise land.
Wow, I hadn't noticed that. Fangraphs has their SP at 24th in WAR and 26th in FIP. Hope it stays that way.
Nice win. More important is seeing Harper get going. Now if only they’d scored some of those 13 run in the past 5-6 games!
Injuries are driving that. I’d expect that to regress to the mean as they get some guys back.
True. Although Yamamoto is their top guy and he doesn't look all that special. Agree on regression back to the mean though.
Is your glass half full or half empty?
The boys are basically right there for the best record in a jumbled NL even with a bullpen that has been terrible, a superstar player who has struggled, and a big reduction in team slug year on year. With all those negatives, they are right there based on the strength of a staff that has been better than even envisioned.
So, if you’re a glass half full guy, you’d think that a bullpen arm is coming and that Harper has a better second half and jump starts the offense. If Nola can approximate career average Nola for August/September, he becomes the best #5 you will ever see. If Luzardo has addressed the tipping and mechanical adjustments he’s mentioned and is closer to April/May Luzardo, it’s almost not fair. This staff will keep them in every game and prevent losing streaks.
If you’re a glass half empty guy, you worry about Harper’s health, question whether the staff can continue to deliver at this rate, specifically Ranger and Sanchez, and question if the pen is fixable. If you’re a half empty guy, you see a lot of offensive issues including failure to hit with RISP and a general decline in an aging core.
What this team shows is that pitching is what every baseball executive says it is. They have in abundance what every team desperately chases. It covers up a lot of warts. Nobody wants to face that starting pitching in October. It’s not going to be an easy ride but they are more than capable of going deep and winning the whole thing. This thing is wide open and any result shouldn’t surprise you. But the game still revolves around pitching and the boys have that in spades.
Stay the course and keep the faith.
The boys are basically right there for the best record in a jumbled NL even with a bullpen that has been terrible, a superstar player who has struggled, and a big reduction in team slug year on year. With all those negatives, they are right there based on the strength of a staff that has been better than even envisioned.
So, if you’re a glass half full guy, you’d think that a bullpen arm is coming and that Harper has a better second half and jump starts the offense. If Nola can approximate career average Nola for August/September, he becomes the best #5 you will ever see. If Luzardo has addressed the tipping and mechanical adjustments he’s mentioned and is closer to April/May Luzardo, it’s almost not fair. This staff will keep them in every game and prevent losing streaks.
If you’re a glass half empty guy, you worry about Harper’s health, question whether the staff can continue to deliver at this rate, specifically Ranger and Sanchez, and question if the pen is fixable. If you’re a half empty guy, you see a lot of offensive issues including failure to hit with RISP and a general decline in an aging core.
What this team shows is that pitching is what every baseball executive says it is. They have in abundance what every team desperately chases. It covers up a lot of warts. Nobody wants to face that starting pitching in October. It’s not going to be an easy ride but they are more than capable of going deep and winning the whole thing. This thing is wide open and any result shouldn’t surprise you. But the game still revolves around pitching and the boys have that in spades.
Stay the course and keep the faith.
seems like a a filler article, or a click-bait tweet. It was just a repackaging of Matt Gelb's info. Every other team is going to ask about Painter, and the Phillies are not going to part with him. To paraphrase you, "well, duhhh."
Lee Elia, manager of Cubs and Phillies, dies at 87
Lee Elia, who managed the Cubs and Phillies in a pro baseball career that lasted more than 50 years as a coach and player, died Wednesday at the age of 87.
www.espn.com
Saw him in Clearwater this spring and he looked very frail. He was a true baseball lifer. One of the joys of spring each year is seeing Bowa on the back fields. It is one of the great parts of the game when you see lifers still engaged doing what they love. Elia, Bowa, Charlie and the like are such a special part of the game.Lee Elia, manager of Cubs and Phillies, dies at 87
Lee Elia, who managed the Cubs and Phillies in a pro baseball career that lasted more than 50 years as a coach and player, died Wednesday at the age of 87.
The Rant. Uncensored so beware if you have sensitive ears.Lee Elia, manager of Cubs and Phillies, dies at 87
Lee Elia, who managed the Cubs and Phillies in a pro baseball career that lasted more than 50 years as a coach and player, died Wednesday at the age of 87.
The mostly Complete Lee Elia Rant (Unedited - with bad words)
Address the bullpen and they’ll have a great shot to win it all. I think the offense can be good enough, especially once Harper gets going.
But this pen will get them dumped out of the postseason in a hurry.
Scott Lauber, beat writer of the Fightins for the Philadelphia Inquirer, has an article on their web site about potential trades. I'm not sure when it will be published.
I won't copy and paste his article. His key points:
- yes, they could use an upgrade in LF and CF
- but the realistic trade options at those positions are, in his words, "lacking"
- he also notes that the run-scoring depression is not unique to the Fightins, and is manifest across MLB
- he does think Taylor Ward (Angels), Adolis Garcia (Rangers) and Harrison Bader (Twins) are outside possibilities for OF trades, but he's dubious they'll trade for an OF upgrade
- as such, he thinks bullpen is where the Fightins will be active
- unlike the OF situation, there appear to be several BP upgrades that could/will be available
- he lists Kyle Finnegan (Nats), Aroldis Chapman (Red Sox), and Ryan Helsley (Cardinals) as rental options, as all are only signed thru this season
- he thinks the Phils may be more interested in a BP addition that is signed/has team options, past this season
- he lists Jhoan Duran (Twins) and Emmanuel Clase (Guardians) as likely targets IF their respective teams decide to trade
- he does caution that even a rental will be pricey in terms of prospects
- he indicates that for multiple highly ranked prospects, the Fightins will insist on a reliever that is controllable beyond this season
I won't copy and paste his article. His key points:
- yes, they could use an upgrade in LF and CF
- but the realistic trade options at those positions are, in his words, "lacking"
- he also notes that the run-scoring depression is not unique to the Fightins, and is manifest across MLB
- he does think Taylor Ward (Angels), Adolis Garcia (Rangers) and Harrison Bader (Twins) are outside possibilities for OF trades, but he's dubious they'll trade for an OF upgrade
- as such, he thinks bullpen is where the Fightins will be active
- unlike the OF situation, there appear to be several BP upgrades that could/will be available
- he lists Kyle Finnegan (Nats), Aroldis Chapman (Red Sox), and Ryan Helsley (Cardinals) as rental options, as all are only signed thru this season
- he thinks the Phils may be more interested in a BP addition that is signed/has team options, past this season
- he lists Jhoan Duran (Twins) and Emmanuel Clase (Guardians) as likely targets IF their respective teams decide to trade
- he does caution that even a rental will be pricey in terms of prospects
- he indicates that for multiple highly ranked prospects, the Fightins will insist on a reliever that is controllable beyond this season
There are so many possibilities but Dombrowski really is focused on trying to build the pen out for this year and beyond (see Tom’s post above). My gut tells me he’d prefer Mason Miller over Clase if just trading for relievers. But you'd have to give up at LEAST Aiden Miller and Abel. Maybe the Twins guy comes cheaper (doubtful).
To me, the big issue is Aiden Miller. If the Phillies infield stays static as presently put together, I’m not sure where Miller plays. It gets more interesting if either Turner or Harper would consider an OF move. But Miller is a Top 50 and guys who draft these guys are often more reluctant to move them since they invested in them. The other intriguing thing about Miller is that he has 31 SB’s. I didn’t see that coming.
DD has some BIG decisions.
Taking a look at betting odds (via bookmaker.eu) to win it all as we approach the break. The pct chance to win are implied odds based on the betting lines. They are probably a touch low since there is vig built in. For betting odds, +250 means that you bet 100 to win 250.
| Odds | Pct to win WS | |
| Dodgers | +250 | 28.6% |
| Tigers | +656 | 13.2% |
| Yankees | +766 | 12.4% |
| Phillies | +871 | 10.3% |
| Astros | +1026 | 8.9% |
| Cubs | +1131 | 8.1% |
| Mets | +1251 | 7.4% |
Be nice to see him hit better before projecting his MLB role -- currently batting .237 in Double-A
I don’t see them trading Painter or Miller. With Bohm about to go full-Hoskins, they need someone who slots in as a high-potential 3B. That’s Miller who is under team control for a long time yet.