Phillies GM Matt Klentak taking a big gamble with this bullpen
The bulk of the Phillies’ work this past offseason was done early. The signings of Zack Wheeler and Didi Gregorius both came in December about a week part.
And from that point on, from the second week of December all the way through now, the only player the Phillies signed to a major-league contract was reliever Tommy Hunter.
Every other signing was a minor-league deal with an invite to camp. The Phillies’ front office under Matt Klentak has made a ton of these signings during his tenure, opting to add extra men without guaranteeing a full season’s salary.
When those moves work out, money is saved. When they don’t, front offices take a no-harm, no-foul approach. The issue is when most of those players fail to make the team, either because of financial reasons or because they weren’t good enough.
Josh Harrison, Logan Forysthe and Francisco Liriano looked poised to make the opening day roster and all were granted their releases. With at least Liriano and Harrison, money appears to have been a factor.
Bud Norris, Anthony Swarzak, Drew Storen, all gone. Where this matters most is in the bullpen, by far the Phillies’ shakiest unit and one that we have seen can derail a talented roster. The Phillies are set to enter 2020 with only a few proven relievers in Hector Neris, Jose Alvarez and Adam Morgan. Only one of them, Neris, classifies as a late-inning reliever you’d send out there with the game on the line in the ninth inning. And what happens if Neris falters? Who would even be trusted to occupy that role for a short while?
Of all the players the Phillies signed to minor-league deals this offseason, it looks like only three will make the team: Neil Walker (he’s already been told he has), Phil Gosselin and Ronald Torreyes. Blake Parker could possibly land a bullpen spot.
The Phillies did acquire players in other ways this offseason – Kyle Garlick was acquired from the Dodgers; Robert Stock, Reggie McClain and Deolis Guerra were waiver claims. Three of them could make the opening day roster as well.
If the Phillies’ bullpen does struggle, their decision to forego adding proven relievers to instead add pitchers off the scrap heap will again come under the microscope, just as it did last summer when the Phillies’ only midseason bullpen additions were other teams’ cast-offs. Every other team in the NL East, and 21 of 30 teams overall, signed at least one reliever to a major-league deal this offseason.
The avoidance of paying the luxury tax has played in a role in all of this, as have failed bullpen signings like David Robertson and the amount of money paid to Pat Neshek and Tommy Hunter, who were injured for large chunks of their deals. Missteps like that can make a GM gun-shy. The Phillies would certainly be in a different position headed into 2020 if Robertson was healthy and ready to go as the setup man or closer.
Sergio Romo, Steve Cishek, Hector Rondon, David Phelps, Yoshihisa Hirano and Pedro Strop all signed one-year deals with teams ranging from $1.5 million to $6 million. Any of them would have slotted into a prominent bullpen role here. It would be one thing if the Phillies’ young relievers with potential like Ramon Rosso and Damon Jones were set to play large roles but neither is even on the 40-man roster yet.
Every team’s depth will be tested in 2020. The Phillies begin the season by playing 22 games in 23 days. The universal baseball talking point this summer has been, “Ya gotta get out to a fast start.” Nothing can derail a promising start like a bad bullpen, and if the bullpen turns out to be bad, it will be a reflection of how it was built.
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