Phillies Discussion (11/1/2026)

Other Stuff

Here’s a new Phillies Discussion. 

I’m including some bits and pieces that have been cluttering my memory, both laptop and physical.

After the Phillies were eliminated, I had little TV or rooting interest in the playoffs.  I found myself wanting there to be a sweep by the team that won the first game of each series.  Why? To lessen the amount of money that would go into the owners’ coffers.

The players’ playoff pool collects money from gate receipts and gate receipts only.  All other postseason monies go to the owners.  The breakdown is as follows –

  • 50% of the gate from the Wild Card Games;
  • 60% of the gate from the first three games of the Division Series;
  • 0% of the gate from the remaining two games of the Division Series, if needed;
  • 60% of the gate from the first four games of the LCS;
  • 0% of the gate from the remaining three games of the LCS, if needed;
  • 60% of the gate from the first four games of the World Series;
  • 0% of the gate from the remaining three games of the World Series, if needed.

The owners also receive all TV, streaming, etc money that was negotiated for playoff games outside of season contracts, merchandising connected to the playoffs, playoff parking, concessions, anything playoff income related to the playoffs not part of the players gate receipts.

Here’s a list of recent transactions.  Some have not actually made it to the MLB or MiLB transactions lists.

November 2026
Phillies to DFA C Garrett Stubbs
Phillies signed FA LHP Tim Mayza
Phillies signed FA RHP Connor Gillispie to an MiLB contract
Phillies signed FA RHP Estibenzon Jimenez an MiLB contract
Phillies signed FA C Luis Caicuto an MiLB contract
October 2026
10/29/2026 – LHP José Alvarado elected free agency
10/29/2026 – LHP Nestor Cortes elected free agency
10/29/2026 – LHP Brooks Raley elected free agency
10/29/2026 – 2B Luis Arraez elected free agency
10/29/2026 – 3B Alec Bohm elected free agency
10/29/2026 – SS Edmundo Sosa elected free agency
10/29/2026 – RF Adolis García elected free agency
10/13/2026 – C Payton Henry elected free agency

As of November 2nd, the domestic minor league player limit increases to 175 players, twenty or so eligible Phillies’ minor league players become free agents at 5:00 p.m. ET, around 30 or so Phillies minor league players will be activated from the 60-day and full season injury lists, as well as 4 Phillies’ players on the MLB 60-day IL.

With the end of the world series, several tentative dates became set.  Here are the important dates remaining up until the expected shutdown not including fall and winter leagues.  The newly established dates are in bold green text.  Of the few dates I included after December 1st, dates that might be affected by a lockout are in blue italic text.

  • October 28, 2026: End of World Series
  • October 29, 2026, 9:00 AM, First Day After the World Series:
    • Start of the “quiet period”
    • Eligible XX(B) players become free agents (start of the quiet period)
  • October 30, 2026, Second Day After the World Series:
    • Players may be traded between Major League Clubs
  • November 1, 2026, Fourth Day After the World Series:
    • Last date to request waivers on draft-excluded players until next spring
  • November 1, 2026: Deadline for the 2027 International Player Registration Period
  • November 1 – December 5, 2026 – Window for Nippon Professional Baseball clubs to post players available to sign with MLB clubs.   (unless affected by a lockout)
  • November 2, 2026, Fifth Day After the World Series:
    • Last date to outright potential Minor League free agent without Major League contract, if applicable
    • Last date for former Club to tender qualifying offer to XX(B) free agent players, if applicable
    • Domestic Minor League Player Limit increases to 175 players
    • Minor League players become free agents at 5:00 p.m. ET, if applicable
    • End of Quiet period, XX(B) free agents may sign with any Club
    • All players on the 60-day Injured List (Major and Minor) and Full-Season Injured Lists must be reinstated
    • Deadline for clubs and players to exercise or decline contract options for the 2026 season.
  • November 10-13, 2026: GM Meetings in Las Vegas
  • November 11, 2026 – April 30, 2027 (or the 30th day of the next season): Outright Waiver period.  (unless affected by a lockout or new CBA)
  • November 17-19, 2026: Quarterly owners’ meetings in New York
  • November 17, 2026: Deadline for XX(B) free agent players to accept or decline qualifying offer from former Club by 4:00 p.m. ET. 
  • November 17, 2026: Rule 5 Protection Deadline – Reserve lists for all Major and Minor League levels filed by 6:00 p.m. ET (Transactions MUST be entered by 5:30 p.m. ET)
  • November 20, 2026 (8:00 p.m. ET): Non-Tender Deadline – Final day for clubs to tender/non-tender contracts to unsigned players on the Major League Reserve List (40-man roster) who have less than 6 years of service time including arbitration eligible players.  Non-tenders become free agents.
  • December 1, 2026: Release of the 2026 International Registered Players List
  • December 1, 2026: Last date for any activity under the old CBA.
  • December 1, 2026 (11:59 p.m. ET): MLB Collective Bargaining Agreement expires.
  • December 1, 2026: Expected lockout by owners
  • December 6-10, 2026: Baseball Winter Meetings, San Diego, California
    • December, 2026: MLB Draft Lottery
    • December 9, 2026: Major League Rule 5 Draft – Winter Meetings
    • December 9, 2026: Minor League Rule 5 Draft – Winter Meetings (Note: during the last lockout, the major league phase of the draft was cancelled but the minor league phase was held.)
  • December 15, 2026 (5:00 p.m. ET): International signing period closes
  • January 15, 2027 (9:00 a.m. ET): Opening of the 2027 signing period for international amateurs (not expected to take place)

I’m having some issues again.  Sorry for the delay publishing this and if it’s not as coherent as I think it is.

I don’t read comments anymore, haven’t since mid-August.  In fact, the only comment I posted since then was about Miller being activated in Reading.  A friend told me that comment generated a negative response, so I haven’t commented since other than to point you to the next discussion.

If you feel a need to reach me, I think Romus has my email address and can forward any of your concerns about PP.  Romus, if you have it please don’t share it.  The old Prospect Poll address was deleted by yahoo due to lack of use.  If Romus doesn’t have it, I think he can reach me through a mutual friend.

81 thoughts on “Phillies Discussion (11/1/2026)”

  1. Thanks for the data on the division of revenue in the playoffs. No wonder the owners want to shorten the season and lengthen the playoffs!

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  3. The thought always creeps into my head with every CBA which is I can take issues with both sides which is to say Owners and Players perturb me with their non-sensical talking points.

    Fans are always under represented in these negotiations yet they are also the root cause because they/we/me keep paying.

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    1. When Haroer kicked out the Commissioner from the locker room in July 2025 when the subject of a hard cap came up……immediately I sided with the owners.

      Why….because a hard cap also brings with it a hard floor.…..and that benefits all those majority of players who do not get the $25M AAV and up salaries. Approximately 4.96% to 6.03% of MLB players have a contract with an AAV of $25M or more…..so almost 95% of the rank and file would benefit with that hard cap that brigs with it a floor..

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      1. Correct, but the 95% could be doing much better without capping anyone’s earning ability. That’s the problem. It happens in baseball and it happens in the real world. The billionaire class want to control how much the people under them make. Sure they want to maximize profits, but when is enough, enough?

        Perhaps the most illustrative case is a Trillionaire spending about a half-a-billion dollars on an election so he doesn’t have to pay taxes. That money could be used to help others who truly need it or pay better wages and benefits to his employees. But nope. It’s spent on television ads to get favorable people elected that will actually CUT his taxes.

        It’s the same with the owners in the MLB. An MLB team is basically a money-making toy for them. They’ve all made a ton of money outside of baseball. This is just the icing on the cake. And rather than do right by everybody look at what they’ve done. Shrinking the minor leagues, umpires will soon be on their way out, and they want all of us to believe that the top 5% of contracts are ruining the sport. Incredible.

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        1. Basically what the owners did in making their fortunes and how they run their organizations/companies, it is called capitalism…..which in of itself is not bad, as some would like people to believe.

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          1. I don’t know man…, I see how many tax cuts the rich get and all the free tax-payer funded handouts they get and it looks a lot more like socialism for the rich, capitalism for the rest of us.

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            1. Meh, I have no issues with the how the players or owners got their money. Good for them. It’s not my money, well at least not a lot of it! I will say when its costs $1,500+ to go to a playoff game… that crap has to stop. it ruins the game imo. Paying some of these crazies prices…and then your team loses 😂, I’d blow my top off.

              ultimately they need spread the money out more imo. Too much success has gravitated it to the top. Some of that is deserved, but for The game will grow it needs a recalibration. Baseball is up against new forms of entertainment, it needs to spend more money on acquiring new life long fans. I suggest player minimums should be higher in the Majors, and the minors. These raises should be funded by take money out of the pool for the top players & owners. Also, cut out some of the redundancy of the minors. Revamp a lot of the ballparks, add to the fan experience from playoff game proceeds & annually budget percentage … in a significant way. it’s gotten better over the last decade, but im Sure it can still improve. Create state of the art training centers. Create a community GYM with very low membership fees from these profits. So many things to do passed the top arguing over who gets more “pie”

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  7. Since I submitted the final comment of the last set I’ll resubmit it below figuring most missed the original posting:

    Phillies have a lot of limitations due to their long-term contracts given to the adult day care crew. However, the team can’t afford to be captive to them. I say move Turner to the outfield. Period. No mollycoddling. And let him know that he’s expected to hit like a veteran exhibiting plate discipline like he knows the difference between a ball and a strike. The only thing worse than ridding the team of the long-term contract albatrosses is to allow their existence to dictate decisions that win or lose games.

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    1. Interesting, the new hitting coach talked about Turner. So their emphasis will be on turning his hitting around. Moving him to the OF seems to be a very prevalent theme among the fanbase…..hopefully they decide to do that also.

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    2. Turner to the OF is the long term plan. Thats agreed upon by all parties. The FO, the Phans, and even Turner himself. The only argument left is.. when is the short term over.

      IMHO, I really hope they move Miller & Renteria along faster than they normally have. At minimum, it sounds like the defense would improve. If the Phillies could sign Sato, it would make a very interesting decision for playing time. Unlikely he signs imo, so … promote the kids.

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      1. Why do people want to push the team to promote players from the minors so quickly? Players are ready when they are ready – and they tell you they are ready by the way they play. Promoting a player too soon is either pointless or counterproductive. Believe me, the Phillies want some young players to replace older players because that’s how they get salary relief and Dombrowski is not afraid to promote a player who is ready just because he is young or has not played much (or even at all) in AAA. Fortunately, the Phillies have some young players that I think probably are ready or are close to ready, Aidan Miller being the prime example of this.

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    1. My gut says no…..a baseball player officially becomes a member of the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) as soon as they sign a contract with a Major League club.

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  9. I don’t know why I find it so hard to believe that Alec Bohm is not in the top 50 free agents according to MLBTR. He gets a mention in the 51-60 but that’s it. I never thought he was that bad or considered him to be unworthy of being in the top 50. Am I that naive?

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    1. Well, he’s not really a good hitter (87 OPS+ this year), he’s not fast or a good baserunner, and while he’s no longer a sore thumb in the field he’s not a good fielder either (- .9 dWAR), and it’s hard to project him getting substantially better in any of these areas, so his not being in the top 50 doesn’t surprise me in the least.

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      1. Truthfully, Edmundo Sosa has been a substantially better player over the last 3 or 4 years than Bohm, even with many fewer at bats. The fact that the Phillies (or at least Dombrowski) are stuck in their 1990s methodologies for evaluating players is beyond frustrating and it shows in the results.

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      1. Yup – 10 for Sosa, 5 for Bohm, even though Sosa gets like half the playing time (or less) than Bohm does. Case closed.

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    3. USA have him at 41.

      41. Alec Bohm (INF, age-30, Phillies)

      Just a wild seven seasons in Philly for Bohm, who was an All-Star and Rookie of the Year runner-up, a defensive liability turned playable third baseman and a target of boos only to be relatively appreciated by the end of his tenure. After all that, he landed on almost exactly league average (career 101 OPS-plus). Yet if Bohm can survive that he can certainly help in a less-demanding situation, particularly with his family financial flap now behind him.

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    4. I think a lot of fans have rose colored glasses on for our own players and prospects.

      Yes, Bohm is that bad. He is an above average hit tool but has no power, doesn’t draw walks and so a low OB% and a bad defender. Also he might be the slowest non-catcher in MLB. He moves so slow.

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      1. All the Phila outlets were posing the unserious question of should they give him the QO? Not even anti-change DD could’ve possibly been that stupid. This guy is just a TERRIBLE all around baseball player who has shown no ability to improve his offensive results. (I’ll give him credit that he worked really hard on his defense to go from totally unplayable to below average)

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        1. Yes, Marcus Hayes, who seems like a nice guy and is fun to listen to on the radio, wrote a whole article about why they need to sign Bohm which shows that Hayes obviously knows NOTHING about baseball. It’s one of the stupidest things they could do, especially with Aidan Miller waiting in the wings, Stott’s positional flexibility and the possibility they could extend Sosa, which still might not be a bad idea. There is zero reason to sign Alec Bohm. None at all.

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  10. i kind of just stopped caring…. basically.. do we think we can beat the brewers next year? i don’t think we can… don’t think we can beat Tampa either.. i’ll tune back in a few years… will still watch but it’s just old dogs dying at this point and tobacco jawn trying to stretch the revenue a bit longer while folks get used to new names coming and with the owner stuff and CBA i’m just not interested in following the death breaths

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    1. First, I think there will end up being some type of cap – when and how it is implemented will be anyone’s guess. But I do think they will play baseball next year and the reason is that the MLB will know how to appeal to the game’s rank and file and those guys will ultimately approve a deal over the strenuous complaints and objections of the sport’s true superstars. Oh well.

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      1. I agree. I think it is coming. What will be very interesting, and I haven’t seen any information on this, is how the transition will work for the teams above the cap? Will they be forced to sell to get under it? The low salary teams will be forced to buy. That could be very interesting. A contract like Trea Turner might become interesting to some teams that need to add a lot of salary. Bet on a bounce back. Otherwise they have to overpay for mediocre free agents.

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    2. Floor $180M…that is higher than I would have thought……some small market owners may have bristled at that. MLBPA better be happy with that….helps plenty rank and file at the lower end of the salary scale. Also like to hear what Harper has to say about that now…July 2025 his impetuousness may have been ill-placed.

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      1. OF COURSE THEY WON’T BE HAPPY WITH THAT!! It’s an opening offer, this won’t get resolved anytime soon.

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  12. I hope that floor stays at $180M or even a little higher…a Trea Turner contract may be beneficial for a small market team trying to reach their floor….say a good team like the Rays….surely Turner would not object to playing in Florida with a good team. Their payroll was $115M last season…ranked 22nd.

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  13. I don’t think there will be a cap or a floor. I think if anything, they will make the penalties harsher for those who go over the top tier. When the last CBA was agreed upon, there were 4 tiers of penalties. The top tier was known as the “Steve Cohen tax” because everyone feared the richest owner in the game was going to spend whatever he wanted.

    Fast forward, and Cohen has indeed spent a ton, to pretty crappy results. But the Dodgers are just blowing everyone away. Obviously, the deferred money issue is something they should shut down immediately. Put a “cap” on the over-spenders by taking away international money and draft picks. The Dodgers frustrate the heck out everyone because they can buy whomever they want AND their farm system is the highest-rated. Take away their abilities to draft and sign amateur talent. That would mean more talent for everyone else.

    As far as a salary floor, let the owners police that on their end. Baseball wants expansion. But if they’re going to allow some franchises to be cheap AND non-competitive, then that’s on them. Look at the Athletics. They’re now going to a new location. That’s one less possible location for expansion. Let them police their own.

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    1. Dan Are you joe Biden ? Restrict what people can make who invest a ton of money. What happens if they lose money? People now what to stop investors. Crazy idea

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    2. There are only three paths to wealth in our country:

      1. Crime. which I don’t suggest
      2. Inheritance. which is cool if you have it, but those people become losers.
      3. Owning assets.

      It always amazes me how workers focus on wages and income taxes and miss the big picture. If the players were smart, they would agree to a salary cap on the condition that they get a piece of any team sale. A 10% transaction bonus. Get a piece of the pie. Align incentives to GROW the pie.

      Putting a cap on team sales is a dumb idea. it shrinks the pie for everyone involved. Socialism doesn’t work kids. everyone loses.

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      1. I agree that if the players (and owners) were smart, they would finally settle on giving the players a fair percentage of the pie and that would solve most problems going forward because the percentage would dictate everything else for all intents and purposes and the percentage essentially would not change and, instead of fighting a zero sum game, the players and owners could work on how to grow the pie. It’s how the NFL arrived at relative labor stability. Owners get X percent, players get Y percent and the salary cap follows, at some level, the Y percent. The problem is that there are no owners in sports more secretive and less willing to open their books than major league baseball owners. And that desire to be secretive and controlling has actually cost them greatly – it’s why MLB players have negotiated for better and guaranteed contracts, it’s why they had to bend over backwards to create the only draft system where there is no trading for picks and odd salary restrictions, it’s why the Dodgers can virtually buy a WS (and certainly a trip deep into the playoffs) year after year while other franchises have almost no chance to compete consistently (the Rays and Brewers are outliers). They have paid dearly for their poor decisions and guarded approach and it’s why we are still in a bad place.

        I like your idea, but I still don’t think the owners are ready to disclose and share and that’s too bad.

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        1. Currently MLB players receive roughly 45% to 47% of total league revenues. The highest they may want go is 50%.

          Comparison:

          MLB: ~45% – 47%……….NFL: ~48% – 50%…….NBA: ~49% – 51%….NHL: ~50%

          But their contracts, along with the NBA, are the best of all pro sports.

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      2. Ah yes. Socialism bad.

        So you’re not paying into Social Security, nor will you be withdrawing from it. Right? You also surely won’t be taking advantage of fire fighters, police, highways, public education, libraries, the postal service, city services, public transit…

        McCarthyism was the start of a long and steep decline of critical thinking in this country that we’ve never recovered from. It’s okay to take the best parts of different systems to create something new and better than what came before it. Don’t deny ideas out of hand because they have their roots in something you don’t agree with (or understand).

        But just so you know, my comment was meant to be ridiculous to show how absurd it is that so many find it acceptable to limit the earnings of workers while allowing unlimited profit/growth from the ruling class.

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        1. Nobody is limiting your earnings, and roads aren’t an example of socialism. As for SS, you’ll be lucky if you see a dime from it, bc its been so badly mismanaged by the gov’t.

          If you love the social welfare state so much, may want to pay attention to what’s going on in France, Germany, etc. Higher taxes, way less billionaires, and yet riots in the streets as they slowly realize that trying to tax their way to prosperity and promising cradle to grave welfare doesn’t work.

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          1. “roads aren’t an example of socialism”

            You use a lot of privately owned roads in your neck of the woods? Because personally, I tend to drive on roads that were paid for and up-kept through taxes. You know… that social funding to benefit the general populace thing.

            “Nobody is limiting your earnings” well firstly, I was talking about MLB players. Which they explicitly ARE trying to limit their potential earnings. What do you think the proposed cap is for? But secondly, people ABSOLUTELY have tried to limit my earnings throughout my life. Are you serious? Have you never have contract/salary negotiations in your life? Also, I’ve worked for Amazon in the past and they explicitly fire people who are due for raises as a way of keeping salaries suppressed.

            “If you love the social welfare state so much, may want to pay attention to what’s going on in France, Germany, etc.” I’m no lover of France, but you have a massive misreading of what is happening there. They riot because it works. But the way you speak tells me you’ve probably never been outside of the United States. No country is perfect, but it is very telling that the US has consistently trended DOWNWARDS in many quality of life, education, and HAPPINESS scores in the past decade. Is all of that because of capitalism? No. But the absolutely absurd degree of wealth inequality in this country is a huge contributing factor.

            As it pertains to MLB, it may seem like supporting the players over the owners is still ridiculous because we’re talking about millionaires here. But the important thing to note is that it is progress in the RIGHT DIRECTION. Ideally, athletes wouldn’t be making millions per year. But protecting workers rights at least sets precedents for the rest of us. We can worry about spreading the wealth out even more equitably after this first step.

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        2. Any time you mention spreading the wealth, the immediate hot-button word, “Socialism” gets thrown at you like you’re some kind of communist idiot. Capitalism, on paper, works great. But every Republican President in my lifetime (42 years) has done nothing but give tax-breaks and handouts to those who need it least. Still waiting for the trickle-down, I suppose.

          You’re right, Dan K, we should always be trying to improve. And rather than put policies and people into one of two baskets isn’t going to improve anything. Try different things.

          RG is talking about the downfall of Germany and France, but did he mention how capitalism has put us in $40 Trillion in debt and how long that can sustain? Nope.

          So back to baseball….maybe there shouldn’t just be a cut and dry, “cap or no cap” fight. The sides should somehow meet in the middle. But as usual, the controlling owners, won’t honestly tell you how much revenue there is to be made.

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          1. Lol, look at France’s debt, and Europe’s in general. Then compare standards of living to the US. Ain’t no Republicans, tax cuts, or “trickle down” to blame in Europe. And saying capitalism put the US gov’t $40 tril in debt is an amazing shell game. It’s reckless social spending by government that wracked up that debt.

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            1. The standard of living in EU countries is exceptional. Have you ever actually been to the countries you’re criticizing?

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  15. Goodbye Stubby:

    Garrett Stubbs with a goodbye to Philly. “We may not have always seen eye to eye, but I gave you everything I had. And for what it’s worth, boos and all, I loved every one of you crazy phuckers whether you liked me or not.”

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  16. I like some of the proposals in the new CBA:

    • 5 year limit on FA contracts, capped at 15% of the Cap. Player can get one extra year and a 1% bump if they stay.

    that should stop some of the overpaying we see, and give an advantage for home grown guys to bolt for more money. An interesting wrinkle would be how the Jim Thome & Bryce Harper FA would have played out differently. im not sad to see the 13 year contract go away. Instead it’s either 5+6… and then sides can agree to part. Depends obviously when they hit FA ,but Turner’s deal is not gonna happen again.

    No more deferred money … so … how long does LAD have an advantage for if the old contracts will not be amended?

    Schwarbers last FA deal seems like the new standard. Under this proposal, Wheeler gets an automatic pay cut. Hope he can manage 🙂

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    1. I didn’t see that but I did see that MLB is talking about phasing in the cap and floor over the next two seasons.

      My guess is owners who are well above and well below need some capitulation from one another to make it work.

      Whether or not any of it appeals to the MLBPA is something different.

      I still don’t believe we lose the season and I see a shortened ST with games starting on time.

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      1. You raise an interesting point on this CBA negotiation. More now than ever, this negotiation is as much about the more poor franchises versus the richer franchises as it is the owners against the players. In terms of approach, I expect the overall approach to be more tilted toward the middle tier and poorer franchises because, frankly, there are more of those teams than there are richer teams. Also, I wouldn’t waste too much time now trying to extrapolate what the latest offer by this party or that party means for the Phillies or the state of baseball – we won’t know the effect of all of this until there is a new CBA, but my guess is that this is the year that things seriously change because they need to change. Too many teams are relatively non-competitive, which suggests a hard cap or something very close to that, and there are more than a few “poorer” teams that seem far too willing to bottom out on salary just to carve up some profits, which may be good for them, but it’s not great for baseball and suggests a salary floor could also be coming (which the players should want).

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        1. I have been saying for awhile now that the owners need to get their house in order before negotiating with the players. Right now, there are 3 people at the table. The rich owners. The cheap owners. The players. You can’t make three parties happy.

          If all the owners came together on a united front, then they might be able to get the cap. But right now, there won’t be a cap.

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        2. I don’t think today’s owners worry all that much about the team being profitable. Some but not a lot.

          What they concern themselves with most is their valuation. Which is by far worth far more than they could ever generate running a franchise.

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  17. Owners proposed shortening the season, and making all rounds of the playoff best of 7, spaced out so there are none of the days games that limit who can watch.

    Proposal cut off about. 8 games. Everything would be adjusted to it, as in performance bonuses but dumb take imo. Why not shortening spring training instead. 162 is sacred. Can’t be touching that 💩. No one cares about spring training games except for the local businesses that get a boost from the games. It’s not nothing but … come on, not the regular season

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    1. Spring training is so long for one overriding reason – stretching out starting pitchers. If it wasn’t for that it could easily be 2-3 weeks shorter.

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      1. I wonder if both parties would be open to shorter Spring Training on the condition that teams have extra roster slots at the beginning of the season.

        I’m thinking 3 extra spots for the first two weeks (two pitchers, one position player), and then remove one of the extra pitchers for the next week. After the third week of the season, teams are down to their regular roster.

        Numbers could obviously be adjusted (but number of players and length of time). But if we’re going to cut games, it should be the, “pointless” ones.

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          1. I actually don’t think it’s a horrible idea to have a slightly more manageable 154 game season (baseball had that number for decades) in the hopes of having more meaningful postseason baseball in the sense that you want each series to be decided through a reasonable sample size – 3 or even 5 games is not a reasonable sample size. It also gives players more off days during the season, which, to be honest, they could really use. I’m fine with all of this.

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      2. And this is why I hate the lock-out stuff like last time. The Phillies have A LOT invested in their pitching. I want our guys to have a “as close to normal” spring training as possible. If Zack Wheeler normally gets to Florida on January 10th and has a nice routine, I want him doing the same routine. These players are investments, after all. They should allow training practicing so injuries are kept to a minimum.

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  18. I like the idea of a cap … Like capping the cost of parking, hot dogs, beers, tickets, etc. The owners and players are fighting over how to split up billions of dollars received on the banks and backs of fans. Maybe we need a union!

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  19. BA grades on Aidan Miller

    • Hit: 55
    • Power: 55
    • Run: 50
    • Fielding: 60
    • Arm: 60
    • Overall: 50

    ChatGPT says this translates into MLB stats of:

    • AVG: .255–.270
    • OBP: .330–.350
    • SLG: .420–.450
    • OPS: roughly .750–.800
    • HR: 15–22
    • SB: 8–15
    • wRC+: ~100–115 (league average to solidly above)

    This would typically support 2–3+ WAR in a good season, driven by the defensive grades and on-base skills.

    Baseball America (@BaseballAmerica) ·

    NEW PHILLIES TOP 10 🔥

    Aidan Miller is quickly showing signs of returning to form and ranks No. 1 entering 2027.

    Preseason rankings: https://t.co/ZRPpaGrZ8k pic.twitter.com/oIAppOzG58

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    1. These rating scales, for reasons I don’t understand, always ignore plate discipline. Miller has excellent plate discipline which should raise his OBP and allow his power and average to tick up. Also, I think if you combined those stats with plus fielding, you’re probably looking more at a 3-5 WAR player and, yes, in my book, with the possible exception of Renteria (who has the highest ceiling of anyone in the system), Miller is a clear #1 prospect. But we will need to be patient with Miller, like we had to be patient with Painter. Miller’s history is that he can struggle for long periods of time, but when the light goes on, it goes in a big way. They need to keep running him out there.

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    2. ChatGPT….is not infallible. Like to think those stats are his rookie year stats.

      Wonder what it would come up with if you put in ‘Aiden Miller’s metric projections after three years of MLB experience’

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      1. Unlike the “day care” group (I HATE that phrase), Miller has truly significant growth potential – like perennial all-star level potential. If Miller hits his ceiling, he’s the next Scott Rolen. For real.

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  20. CSN Weintraub suggest Phillies try to get Jeremy Pena form the Astros…..start with Bryan Rincon and go from there as an offering.

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    1. Jeremy Pena is 29, has 1 more year of arbitration left, and his agent is Scott Boras. He’s looking to get seriously paid.

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      1. Sure, sign Jeremy Pena to a long-term contract and trade valuable assets to get him and take the bullet (and then some) that you dodged by missing out on Bo Bichette. I’m going on record that I absolutely hate this idea.

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