Bryce Harper To Stick At First Base Going Forward
One of the first things the Phillies had to figure out this offseason was where Bryce Harper would play going forward. For his whole pro career, Harper had played outfield. But an elbow injury kept him out of the field for all of 2022, and out of the outfield last season. And while he awaited to be cleared to make the throws needed to play Outfield, he made a move to first base for the second half of the 2023 season. It went far better than expected for a guy who had no experience playing first. And it created the question, would Harper stick at 1st, or move back to the outfield. Apparently we have our answer. Dave Dombrowski spoke to Bryce Harper, and they decided he will play 1st Base going forward. Pete Abraham of MLB Network was the first to report.
The decision has a lot of implications for the Phillies past just Bryce Harper. For one, as Sean Kane pointed out, it means Rhys Hoskins time with the Phillies is over. There was some thought he could return if Harper went back to the OF. But now there is no place for him to play. Harper is at 1st, Kyle Schwarber is the DH, and we don’t ever need to see Hoskins in the OF again.
But it also opens up some room in the OF going forward. A lot of the Phillies best prospects are out there. We saw Johan Rojas last year. They also have Justin Crawford who could be closer than most think if he continues to play at the high level we saw from him last year. And Carlos De La Cruz has impressed the team as well.
Now that they have that piece of the puzzle figured out, the Phillies can move onto the rest of their offseason. Their next decision will likely revolve around Aaron Nola, Do they keep him, and if not, who do they get to replace him?
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MLB Offseason Dates Every Phillies Fan Needs To Know
November 6th- Free Agency Begins
There is a lot going on November 6th. It is the last day teams can pick up options on their players. It is also the deadline to give impending free agents a qualifying offer. The Phillies will have a few guys that have to weigh that for, including Rhys Hoskins. But most importantly, it is the official start of Free Agency. But it is not like the NFL or NBA, where the second free agency starts we start getting news. It may take months for some guys to sign.
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November 7th- 9th- General Manager Meetings
GM Meetings are not quite as busy as the Winter Meetings. The purpose of the meetings is to discuss things like rule changes. But when you have all 30 GMs in one place, there will of course be trade talks as well. There will likely be at least a few minor deals worked out in this team. Bigger moves may not happen until December though.
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November 14th- Deadline To Accept Qualifying Offers
The 14th is the final chance players have to accept qualifying offers. In most cases, players wont accept them. It is leaving money on the table. But Rhys Hoskins is the type of guy who could maybe accept it given his situation. Get decent money for 1 year, then try to get the big deal after a bounce-back year. Aaron Nola on the other hand will reject it outright because there is going to be a big multi-year deal out there, whether it is from the Phillies or someone else. The Phillies still need to offer it though, so they get some form of compensation if he does leave.
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November 14th-Deadline To Protect Eligible Minor Leagues From Rule 5 Draft
Team have to decide which eligible players they will protect from the Rule 5 draft by 6pm E.T. on November 14th. Eligible players are any College Player drafted Before 2020, and any High School player or International Player drafted or signed before 2019. Last year the Phillies protected Johan Rojas. Mick Abel will be newly eligible, and will have to be added to the 40-man roster to be protected.
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November 14th-16th - Owners Meetings
The Owners Meetings are not usually a source of Hot Stove News like the GM or Winter Meetings. Owners are not as active in those types of decisions as GMS are. But there will be one huge topic discussed at these Owners Meetings, the vote on the A’s proposed move to Las Vegas. There is no reason to suspect they will vote no. But it is something interesting to follow. They need to get 22 of the other 29 Owners to vote yes for the move to be finalized.
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November 17th- Deadline to Non-Tender Players
The 17th is the deadline for teams to non-tender Arbitration or Pre-Arbitration players. You do not have to finalize a contract with these players, but you have to at least offer them a contract so negotiations can start. If a team decides they just don’t want the player, they can non-tender them, and they will become free agents. It is what happened with Cody Bellinger last year. The Phillies have a decent amount of eligible players this season, so we will see if they do decide to non-tender anyone, but there were no notable players they non-tendered last season.
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November 20th- Hall of Fame Ballot Released
This is not when votes are cast, just when the ballot is released. Jimmy Rollins will be back on the ballot after receiving votes on 12.9% of the ballots last year. But it will also be the first year Chase Utley is on the ballot. Will either have luck? The Sabermetric people love Chase Utley, so maybe he will get more votes than we would think. But Jimmy absolutely deserves more love for what he did compared to other Hall of Fame Shortstops. Just go ask Pat Egan and he will make the case for why J Roll deserves to be in the Hall.
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