Fresh off a World Series loss, President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski had one thing in mind: more. How much more was Dave going to do though? Was he just going to get Trea Turner and sign cheap pitching? Was he even going to get Trea Turner? These were the questions going through my head as we got deeper into the offseason without a single move or even a rumor.
I think we now have an answer to our “how aggressive will Dombrowski be?” question. The Phils made quite a few moves this offseason ranging from free-agent signings to trades, so let’s talk about them and grade them. Keep in mind I tend to be more optimistic about players, the signing itself, and our front office of late. Going from a 10-year playoff drought to a World Series appearance right after forces me to have faith in the new regime until proven otherwise.
TREA TURNER – SS. Contract: 11/$300M. Grade: A+
Recently ranked #1 shortstop Trea Turner is the guy we were spamming the Phillies about on all social media platforms telling them to sign. Lucky for us, our spamming worked and they signed him to a hefty contract. He signed for 11 years and will be making $300 million during that time. That’s a lot of years and a lot of money, so let’s talk about it.
I gave this contract signing an “A+” because while 11 years is a big commitment, making the contract that long keeps the money under the luxury tax, which helped us sign and trade for other players this offseason. Turner (29) is coming off a remarkable season where he hit .298, had 21 home runs, 100 RBI, and had an OPS of .809. He won his first silver slugger award and notched his first All-MLB first team. Not only is Trea Turner simply good, but he also performs in the postseason. With the Dodgers in 2022, Turner hit .333 with two home runs and six hits in 18 at-bats. That is the production we needed to acquire fresh after a World Series appearance where our bats got cold.
During his press conference, he was asked about the 11 years and what makes him think he’ll have the ability to play at a high level for that long. His response was exactly what I needed to hear, which was “I could go on forever about that.” The way he said it made me relax a little on the length.
The acquisition of Turner moves Bryson Stott over to second base, which he did well at last season in his short time there while Jean Segura was out due to injury. Stott and Turner are going to be a fun double-play duo to watch for what could be a decade. This is a high-risk, high-reward contract for sure, but I think it will end up
TAIJUAN WALKER – SP. Contract: 4/$72M. Grade: A
Taijuan Walker was an unexpected but needed signing after the Eflin and Gibson departures this offseason. His 2022 season saw him with a 3.49 ERA in 29 games (157.1 innings). Walker will be a day three or could even be the day four starter depending on where Thomson wants to put Ranger. During the press conference, they talked about one thing – his slider. They couldn’t stop talking about it and how excited they were to work with that pitch speficially. Like I said before, I have faith in our staff across the board until they show me that they don’t know what they’re doing. Jose Alvarado is a perfect example. Alvarado didn’t have any control until he was sent down to Triple-A Lehigh Valley and we all know how he turned out after.
Walker (3.49) has a lower ERA coming into the Phillies organization than Zack Wheeler (3.96) did in his last year with the same team. This is not to say Walker is going to be a third ace, but clearly if our staff like Walker’s slider that much, this has to be good.
I know some Mets fans and I asked them what they thought of the contract and what they thought of him as a person. Every message I got back stated how great of a guy he is for the clubhouse and that he’s a solid pitcher. They also said it’s a high contract, but with how much pitchers have been getting of late, this is a decent deal. This is a medium-risk, high-reward contract.
CRAIG KIMBREL – RP. Contract: 1/$10M. Grade: A+
To me, the Phillies signing Kimbrel is the most surprising move made this offseason and one I really like, especially after having time to think about it. This is a low-risk, very high-reward deal for the Phillies.
When Kimbrel was with the Cubs in 2021, his ERA was a staggering 0.49 in 36.2 innings. That got him sent across the street to the White Sox where he had the third-highest ERA of his career at 5.09 in 23 innings. In 2022, the White Sox traded him to the Dodgers in exchange for A.J. Pollock. Kimbrel’s ERA dropped to 3.75 in 60 innings. Our pitching staff has done magic with other players, I have all the faith in the world that they can make Kimbrel succeed here, too. This should be a very good signing.
Acquired: Gregory Soto – CP. Traded: Matt Vierling, Donny Sands, and Nick Maton. Grade: B
This final move broke the hearts of every daycare fan. The Phillies traded Nick Maton, Matt Vierling, and Donny Sands to the Detroit Tigers in exchange for Gregory Soto, a hard-throwing lefty. With this acquisition, we now have the two hardest-throwing lefties in all of Major League Baseball with Soto and Alvarado. José Alvarado and Gregory Soto combined to account for 81% of the 100+ MPH pitches thrown by all LHPs in the 2022 MLB regular season. Soto’s ERA (3.28 this past season) has been steadily decreasing every year he’s been in the big leagues, too. The reason I gave this a “B” is because he did have 11 losses this past season. I will continue to say believe in our pitching staff until proven incompetent though and I personally think that it’s an outlier.
The acquisitions look promising and this should be a fun year. Spring Training starts soon and Opening Day is just a few short months away. We have a lot to look forward to as Phillies fans and I just want it to start already.
