With Bryce Harper joining the Philadelphia Phillies, here’s a look at what it could mean from a trade standpoint for the Phillies’ roster.
Ok, so Bryce Harper finally found a new home. In yet another stagnant free agent market, the outfielder stayed on the market until late February. He inked a deal with the Phillies.
Harper’s move to the Phillies will be discussed, and rightfully so, ad nauseum. But for now, we’re going to focus on the trade implications of the addition.
With the ex-Nationals standout, not to mention fellow offseason signing Andrew McCutchen in town, the Phillies are now overflowing with outfield depth and options. Plus, with Harper, McCutchen, Jean Segura, David Robertson and J.T. Realmuto in town, Philadelphia is clearly in win-now mode. There shouldn’t be any more waiting around for the prospects.
What does that all mean?
Well, for one it means that it wouldn’t exactly be a shock to see Adonis Medina, Alec Bohm, Spencer Howard, JoJo Romero, Mickey Moniak and the other remaining top prospects in the system potentially moved in the coming months and years. Although that’s purely speculative, it would make sense for the Phillies to go for it more aggressively now that they’ve secured two impact players in their primes (Harper and Realmuto) to pair with the likes of Rhys Hoskins, Aaron Nola, Jake Arrieta and Scott Kingery.
(This is all purely speculative, mind you.)
In addition to potentially shopping prospects for Major League upgrades by flipping prospects, the Phillies could trade the young talents unseated by said upgrades.
Odubel Herrera had a bit of a down year at the plate and could be benched in favor of a new center fielder if an upgrade is available.
With Roman Quinn and Aaron Altherr also on hand, Herrera could be moved. He’s young enough that rebuilding teams could still view him as a potential long-term piece as part of a larger deal for another center fielder.
Maikel Franco rebounded nicely in 2018 after a down 2017, but his production and value (1.2 fWAR, .314 OBP, 105 wRC+) don’t exactly scream starter on a pennant-chasing team. If a larger deal for an upgrade at third base presents itself (Jake Lamb? Kyle Seager?) Franco could be used as a makeweight in any transaction.
Nick Williams is another trade chip to watch. With Harper and McCutchen in the corner, the only outfield spot left might be center field. And Williams wasn’t all that convincing from a metrics standpoint when he played 111.1 innings at the position in 2017 (-1.0 Def, -13.8, -4 DRS).
A team seeking a controllable bat with some power could match up with Philadelphia on a trade.
Moving further down the organizational outfield depth chart, slugging prospect Dylan Cozens is another name to watch for in potential deals. Cozens has some serious power but strikes out a lot and has yet to find his footing in the Majors.
To his credit, he’s destroyed Triple-A pitching to the tune of a .378 wOBA and a 141 wRC+ in 348 plate appearances last year despite hitting just .246, but if someone like Quinn or Altherr is somewhat buried and in need of a change of scenery, Cozens is really buried on the depth chart. He also occupies a 40-man roster spot, so moving him would also give Phillies some added roster flexibility.
If anything, Harper’s arrival means anything could conceivably go from a player acquisition standpoint.
Philadelphia is all in, and if they wanted to go out and get one more big fish, they have the pieces (Kingery, Medina, Bohm, Franco, Herrera, Williams, Howard, Romero, etc.) to make a suitable offer without messing with their starting lineup, starting rotation or bullpen.
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