Philadelphia Phillies are Showing Signs of Progress

When he took over the rebuilding effort, team president Andy MacPhail had no idea that the Philadelphia Phillies would come so far, so quickly.

Andy MacPhail knows a thing or two about rebuilding efforts after overseeing the final few dark years with the Baltimore Orioles before they became true contenders. So for him to say that the Philadelphia Phillies have come further than he expected, faster than he expected is saying something. In an interview with MLB.com MacPhail was quoted saying, I’m actually more encouraged today than I ever would have dreamed I would have been after my first month with the Phillies.”

When MacPhail took over the Philadelphia Phillies got swept in a four-game series against the Brewers showing that it was clear that he had work to do. Along with general manager Matt Klentak MacPhail dug in and shipped off aging veterans for prospects to raise the Philadelphia Phillies’ farm system to be the seventh best in baseball. Granted, Ruben Amaro was able to execute some good deals too, like getting Zach Eflin for Jimmy Rollins but MacPhail and Klentak deserve a great deal of credit.

This year they are beginning to see the fruits of their labor and the early returns look good. Players like Zach Eflin,Edubray Ramos, Vincent Velasquez, Jerad Eickhoff and Odubel Herrera are showing that they are the major league core of the Philliedelphia Phillies while each Minor League affiliate is in first place in their respective league.

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Each of those teams has legit prospects that could see major league time in the near future. In fact, the Philadelphia Phillies have so many prospects that when they’re ready to contend they could easily make a trade in order to acquire the final pieces of the team. They’ve come a long way from the days when Ruben Amaro was reluctant to begin the rebuild but the Phillies look set to contend for the long run.

When asked about the prospects and when they will actually arrive in the big leagues MacPhail said,

"“I’m not going to be the final arbiter of that my hope would be as the team president that we would be able to introduce players that deserve the opportunity to be here. And I know that it’s important to [general manager] Matt [Klentak] and baseball operations that once we get them here, we want them to stay here. We want to give them every opportunity to succeed when they get here. And that means you need to build up their repetitions in the Minor Leagues to give them that opportunity.”"

The Philadelphia Phillies expect to be cautious on the trade market because there is no one that they truly need to trade. While they do have trade chips those players will only be moved for the right deal. The Phillies would trade Ryan Howard if the right deal came along but due to his contract, that’s unlikely. When asked about Howard, MacPhail said, “To me, [Howard is] one of our 25 best guys right now in the role he’s in I don’t think Matt or I see this thing as teetering. [Manager] Pete [Mackanin] has done a magnificent job of handling the situation.”

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The Philadelphia Phillies find themselves in an enviable position where they are close to competing they just need to augment what they have, and that’s thanks to the combination of MacPhail and Klentak. They’re at a point where they only need to make deals, both in the free-agent market and the trade market when they make sense for both sides.

When a baseball team is operating without scrambling to fill a need, that’s how contenders are built. Look at how the Texas Rangers and Chicago Cubs have risen to the top of their leagues on the back of strong farm systems. One day soon, that will be the Philadelphia Phillies.

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