How does the Carlos Santana signing affect Rhys Hoskins?
The Philadelphia Phillies just signed Carlos Santana to a 3-year, $60 million deal, but why sign Santana when you have Rhys Hoskins?
The Philadelphia Phillies were pretty hard to watch last season, but one of the few bright spots on an otherwise forgettable season was the emergence of rookie phenom Rhys Hoskins.
Hoskins, the 2017 International League Rookie of the Year came to the Phillies midway through the season after torching the minor leagues, including a 38 home run campaign in 2016, and immediately found success for the Phillies.
As the team’s starting first baseman for much of the second half of the season, Hoskins put up historic numbers, including five straight games with a home run, eleven home runs in 18 games, and ultimately finished the season with 18 home runs and 48 RBIs in only 50 game.
Simply put, Rhys Lightning looked like player whom the Phillies could finally build their new dynasty around, a cornerstone-type talent with power, patience, and a positive attitude. So when the Phillies brass, and new manager Gabe Kapler began to retool the roster in order to help to push the process along, they did the only logical thing and signed 31-year-old power hitter Carlos Santana.
Who also just so happens to play first base.
The addition of Santana does make a lot of sense to a team who’s in desperate need of some veteran leadership, with their most tenured player, Freddy Galvis, having been traded to the Padres on the very same day, but why invest three years and $60 million into a first baseman when you’ve already got one of the best young first basemen in the league?
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The obvious assumption following the trade would be that Hoskins would be moved to left field, a position he flirted with at times during the 2017 season, in a move that would give the Kapler’s crew another power bat in the starting lineup, but unfortunately for the team, this move would also negatively impacts their defensive athleticism.
The Phillie’s current outfield pairing of Odubel Herrera, Aaron Altherr, and Nick Williams is one of the most athletic collections of players in the league, with young ballhawks like Roman Quinn and Adam Haseley waiting patiently in the minors. Now I’m not saying that Hoskins is a bad athlete per say, but when compared to someone like Herrera one-on-one he’s hardly a plus defender.
It’s going to be incredibly interesting to see what the next shoe will be to drop in the Phillies roster rebuild. With the addition of Santana, pitcher Pat Neshek, and Hoskins now inevitable position change, Kapler’s squad is far from a finished product. Maybe the team will finally unload a talented, yet troubled player like Maikel Franco and move Hoskins to third base, or swap out one of their current outfielders for an upgrade to their starting pitching unit, arguably one of the team’s weakest points?
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Regardless of how things play out over the remainder of the offseason one thing for sure, Hoskins will without a doubt be one of the Phillies’ marquee talents, the only question is, what position will he play in 2018?