Philadelphia Phillies: Is trading Franco the right move?
It’s no secret that the Philadelphia Phillies have severely underperformed this season. The biggest problem the team has had is the disappearance of Maikel Franco, who is now reportedly on the trade block.
In just one year, the Philadelphia Phillies have gone from a surprisingly mediocre (when expected to be terrible) team with several building blocks for the future, to easily the worst team in baseball. While the building blocks are still in place with many top prospects still in he minors, the pieces already in the majors are struggling badly.
It is hard to blame the entire season on one player, but when the organization has made it clear that a player like Maikel Franco is someone they want to build around, it’s difficult to look past his shortcomings.
Maikel Franco has tons of talent, it’s obvious when you watch him at times. He can hit moonshots off opposing pitchers or make an incredible defensive play at third base. The problem is there isn’t enough consistency.
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When a team looks at its major building blocks it should be someone who can do these things everyday, not just some of the time. The major league baseball season is a grind. 162 games of consistency is hard to accomplish, but over parts of four seasons Franco hasn’t shown the ability to do it in the slightest bit.
Recently there have been reports that Franco is available to be had in a trade. I just don’t think it has reached that point in time for drastic measures. A better option would be to give Franco some time to clear his head in the minors. He is only 24 years old, and the possibility of getting some confidence back in Triple A may do wonders. With Scott Kingery playing so well in the minors and former utility man Cesar Hernandez being able to play third base, there is a simple in house fix to the problem by bringing up Kingery to play second while Hernandez shifts to third.
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The talent is there, Maikel Franco just needs to put all the pieces together. The days of him being the player to build the team around may be over, but it’s not too late for him. Pulling the trigger on a Franco trade could be a big mistake. At 24 I’m willing to gamble on keeping the young slugger and hoping for his extended slump to pass.