The Phillies are to the NL what the Yankees are to the AL, and old and expensive team. They had their 1st losing campaign in over a decade, and are without a 3rd Baseman, Catcher and possibly an OF to fill the holes. That is if they end up resigning Doc Halladay. But 2013 wasn’t an entire loss. Performances by Domonic Brown and Darin Ruf have to give the management some hope. Playing guys under team control, low payroll deals will enable the franchise the flexibility to pursue high end talent in Free Agency. Today, I explain how the Phightins’ can do this.  How will the team fare under 2nd year skipper Ryne Sandberg – after a 20 – 22 finish?

Hunter Stokes (Chief Writer): Follow @stokes_hunter21

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2014 was a tough year on the Phillies.  For one, the fact that the MLB Reports is having an Awareness Day for them today, based on them having the 7th worst record (73 – 89) in the Majors during 2013 is mind – boggling.

We are talking about a team that had 5 Division Titles in a row (2007 – 2011), a huge payroll, and a bountiful nest of ALL – Stars to hit in the lineup, and in the Starting Rotation.

Much like the Yankees though, their core is all hitting their waning years.  Chase Utley, Ryan Howard and Jimmy Rollins are having a tough time staying on the field to be productive.

2013 was always going to be about the team resurrecting its status as an NL Elite, instead they saw Roy Halladay blow up before their eyes, Cole Hamels struggle, and nobody was there to save them.

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Darin Ruf’s Towering Shot in Aug of 2013

Domonic Brown’s career was on life support when he came to camp in 2013. He blasted out of the gate in the 1st half of the year with 23 HRs and 67 RBI, made the NL ALL – Star Squad, before he struggled a little bit in the 2nd half power- wise. Still the 26 Year Old, held down an OPS of .818 – with 27 HRs and 83 RBI – despite playing in just 139 Games for 2013. If he can consistently be within these numbers, the club would be thrilled with the man.  He literally saved the franchise Millions of Dollars, because if the team were to spend on 2 or 3 OF this winter, their $140 Million Budget might have taken a hit up north.  They should still spend that dough, it is just that they may contend with that kind of cash now.

Sure Cliff Lee has an ace-like year, but the club needed all top 3 Pitchers to heave like that if they were going to go anywhere.

The franchise really missed Carlos Ruiz for the 1st 25 games of the year.

This team really got old quick, and the secondary players haven’t emerged to the liking of management.

Lost in the shuffle, was the awesome 1st half put forth by Domonic Brown, and the 2nd half by Darin Ruf.

Another injury plagued season was in the cards for Ryan Howard.  Chase Utley did perform better than most people though, but his numbers do not bear resemblance to his ALL – Star type seasons from 2006 – 2010.

Darin Ruf might actually be the difference between the Phillies operating as a good offense or not. Call me crazy, but he has shown a penchant for some power in his young career. When he received his first full time playing spot in August of this year, the man hit 9 HRs in his 1st 78 AB. Ruf also can Walk, a skillset that is lost on most Philly hitters. Even if the Phillies sign a Free Agent for the OF, I could see Ruf playing as the starting LF, and he is the 1st in to replace Howard on the depth chart at 1B.  Will the team spend a bunch of money on the OF in Free Agency, or will Ruf get a chance to play out there everyday.  Chances are he will see some action at 1B with Howard anyway.

Darin Ruf went from playing as the 4th OF, to splitting time between the grass, and the 1B corner when injuries come to Ben Revere and Ryan Howard.

His numbers are good in the power region.  .247/.348/.506 – with 14 HRs and 30 RBI in 250 AB.  If you project those numbers over 600 AB – then it might equal about 35 HRs and 80 RBI.  This man can hit.

On a team that hardly ever walks – and would likely sprint across the street when the sign said walk – because they simply don’t understand the concept, Ruf had an OBP of .348.

You also have to think the numbers may go up the more he sees action at the Major League Level.

There is the 2012 campaign, which he spent in Reading, PA – crushing the ball to the tune of .317/.428/1.028 – with 38 HRs and 104 RBI in 489 AB.

The team needs a few of its organizational pieces to come along to help save money on salary.  The Phillies should still go after a key OF Free Agent like Shin-Soo Choo or Jacoby Ellsbury.

I often think of teams who gave up on guys that could rake out early HRs, based on limited AB with their 1st organization.

Cecil Fielder led the league in RBI for his first three years with the Tigers (1990 – 1992), and he also finished with 44 HRs to lead the league in homers for his second straight year with Detroit in 1991. He was once property of the Blue Jays in the mid 80’s and showed a great knack for power, yet a numbers game forced him to take his talents to Japan for a few years. He came back and had the 1st 50+ HR campaign in the MLB since George Foster ( 52 HRs in 1977) – when he clubbed 51 Big Fly’s in 1990.

Cecil Fielder, Tor: 1984 – 1987, had 31 HRs and 84 RBI in 506 AB – before signing in Japan (he was also blocked by Fred McGriff and Willie Upshaw.

Chris Davis, Tex:  2008 – 2011:  42 HRs and 124 RBI in 882 AB – but 21 HRs and 58 RBI in 391 AB for the 2009 – when he received normal playing time.

Perhaps the most comparable player to him is even Russell Branyan, who teams would never give a full season too, until the Mariners gave him a shot in 2009, where he rewarded them by clubbing 31 HRs and 76 RBI in 453 AB.

Russell Branyan had raw power and was never given a chance to play full time despite ranking 6th (Tied for 16th ALL – Time with Mickey Mantle) amongst Active players in HRs per AB with a HR for every 15.12 AB. He was the last Mariners player to crank 30 HRs in a year.

By the way, for those scoring at home, Branyan is tied with Mickey Mantle for 16th ALL – Time in AB per/HR – with a tater trot one every/15.12 AB.

Ruf has 17 Career HRs in 284 AB – which right now equals a HR/for every 16.7 AB.  This doesn’t make him Mantle, but maybe he clubs a jack as often as a Mike Napoli (1/16.38 AB) or Mark Teixeira (1/16.77 AB).

Don’t you think he is worth a hard look?

The reason they could afford to do this is because of players like Ruf and Domonic Brown making the league minimum.

I also like Ben Revere manning the OF in CF.

John Mayberry is still a great 4th OF and spare 1B idea. He handles LHP well in his career, with a 3 Slash of .271/.324/.847 – with 25 HRs and 63 RBI in 420 AB. I would use him as a 1st option PH too in that capacity.

As far as 4th OF goes, and a guy who can PH with the best of them, John Mayberry JR. also falls into the RUF category.

With 1B/3B and SS all locked up with the team on their Veterans, it will be the 3B and Catcher positions that will need the most attention too.

Hey guys, how about trying to sign Mark Reynolds to a 1 or 2 year contract.  He can play 1B/3B and won’t cost you much more than $5 – $6 Million annually.

There are limited 3rd Baseman on the Free Agency Market, and the Phillies need some one with power. What I like about Reynolds, is simply that he can also play 1B and 2B in a pinch. These are positions that your veterans are quite likely not able to play everyday as of now anyway. The Phillies should be calling him pronto!

If they are not trying to resign Carlos Ruiz, then they better be on the phone to a guy like A.J. Pierzynski or even Jarrod Saltalamacchia.  The pitching staff is used to hucking to a Veteran Backstopper.

The Pitching should work itself out, and we will address it more in our next State Of The Union Piece.  Count on them signing Roy Halladay, to rejoin Cole Hamels, Cliff Lee and underrated Kyle Kendrick.

The offense is need of patient hitters, who will take Walks, for whoever they bring in.  That is another reason Philly fans should hope for a combination of Pierzynksi, with either Choo or Ellsbury.

Other FA’s that may interest Philadelphia are Nelson Cruz (would help a dominant LHB lineup), maybe Jhonny Peralta, and of course another 3B on the market like Reynolds, as stated before.

Having a couple of guys in the lineup who can play multiple spots is vital when you have Utley, Rollins and Howard patrolling the Infield already.

For all of the Rosters, Depth Charts, State of the Unions and Salaries Posts that we do, please visit our dedicated page link here.

Nelson Cruz should not be Philly’s #1 priority in Free Agency, as they would be better off talking with all around hitters in Choo and Ellsbury 1st. However, if they can’t get a deal with those guys, Cruz would mightily augment a predominant Left Handed Batting lineup – with pop they have been missing fro that side since Pat Burrell and Jayson Werth patrolled the OF. Philadelphia is willing to spend with money to obtain full crowds at Citizens Bank Ball Patk – and to still capitalize on revenue creating from local TV Money with a competing club.  Some have called for an entire rebuild.  I am not of that mindset.  I think they need to sign good FA’s – and to extract healthy years out of the Veteran’s, while their organizational players  must give them a shot in the arm from somewhere.

*** The views and opinions expressed in this report are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of mlbreports.com or their partners ***

A big thank-you goes out to Our ‘Chief Writer‘ Hunter Stokes for preparing today’s featured article.  Hunter is a Baseball Writer for MLB reports.

Hunter grew up in Lynchburg, Virginia and played baseball with Sheldon Bream (Sid Bream‘s son) at Liberty University in the NCAA.

His favorite player is Brian Wilson (how could you guess?), and he hates when people can’t think outside the box! 

His favorite expression – is ‘drive that one out that out and you have 110 LBS worth of crap in a 100 pound sack!

You can reach Hunter on Twitter  Follow @stokes_hunter21

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