Juan Soto- The winter meetings start on Monday and not much has happened yet. Blake Snell signed with the Dodgers and everyone overreacted to the contract. Frankie Montas and Matthew Boyd got interesting 1+1 deals. Nothing else has happened. That also means every option for the Phillies is on the table. The Phillies will probably have plenty of time before much movement begins.

Juan Soto might sign soon

Ken Rosenthal wrote that the industry expects Soto to sign by the end of the winter meetings. Other reporters have given a similar time. While it’s clear the Phillies won’t be in on the Soto sweepstakes, it will impact the rest of their offseason because whoever loses out will move on to other candidates. The Phillies will be forced to show some cards. They have not been directly linked to players besides Garrett Crochet, Juan Soto, and Clay Holmes. It has been widely reported that Alec Bohm could get traded and the front office has said they’re looking for outfield help. So when the rest of the position player market starts to move, we will see more leaks or reports about the Phillies’ interest. More players will come off the board and the Phillies will have to show some cards.

Outfield Depth

One priority the Phillies will have is figuring out ways to acquire position player depth. Keeping a minor league option for Cal Stevenson helps but they will need more answers in the outfield.Maybe someone like Gabriel Rincones Jr. who profiles as a strong side platoon corner outfielder and posted promising numbers in AA (small sample size). There is still not a lot.

Weston Wilson could be optioned but will likely have to play the infield. The other options are Matt Kroon and Ethan Wilson, neither one of them showed the AAAA capability the Phillies should be looking for. One option the Phillies should consider is Dylan Carlson. He was a failed top prospect with the St. Louis Cardinals, got traded to the Rays, and now was non-tendered. His 2024 season was a disaster but there could still be a role here.

From 2020-23, Carlson hit .306 with a .471 slugging percentage against left-handed pitching while providing solid but not great center-field defense. Does that sound like a potential Brandon Marsh platoon partner? The problem is that he was a disaster in 2024, hitting just .209 with a slugging percentage of .277. He carried a solid walk rate but still hit like Johan Rojas overall and was a disaster defensively.

Carlson has minor league options so you can send him down if he’s not good. If he plays well then you could send Johan Rojas down. It’s a way of getting depth. The Phillies did find some solutions at the end of Spring Training last year. David Dahl and Jordan Luplow signed to play in AAA. Dahl hit a couple of home runs last year and didn’t play enough to sink them. That’s all you’re looking for from AAA depth.

Should’ve Added him to the Off-season Guide

My biggest regret of the 2024 off-season guide was not including José Leclerc. I’m shocked Supreme Blog Overlord Ethan Witte let this slip without a mention. But Leclerc would be a great addition to the bullpen as a secondary arm. He struck out over 30% of the batters he faced this year and carried a whiff rate of 36%.

His slider specifically carried a whiff rate over 45% which allowed him to be a matchup nightmare against right-handed hitters. He does have issues against left-handed hitters. He allowed a .803 OPS this year against lefties and a .764 OPS in 2023.One change could help him. Leclerc has thrown 122 cutters over the past two years against lefties and hasn’t generated a lot of swing-and-miss. He only has a 16.7% whiff rate on cutters vs left-handed hitters in this span. He has a 34.8% whiff rate on sliders to left-handed hitters and less hard contact. ‘His four-seam fastball also has stayed over the middle of the plate to left-handed hitters. This makes sense because it’s played off a very good changeup.