The article begins with a rather wild statement: "Sometime before next summer begins, the Phillies could have five capable infielders for three positions. It is a decent problem to face. They could enter the season juggling some combination of Cesar Hernandez, J.P. Crawford, Freddy Galvis and Maikel Franco — with Scott Kingery expected to arrive at some point in 2018."
That is not a remotely accurate description of the Phillies situation. Start with this painfully obvious fact: as he is today, Franco is in no way shape or form, offensively or defensively or on the bases, a capable 3B and he cannot play 2B or SS. His bat is bad for 3B and an absolute joke at 1B. In any realistic view, Hernandez is not a capable 2B or SS defensively -- at best he is an emergency fill-in for a game or two., Galvis can handle all three positions defensively, but his offense falls way short for a 3B. Crawford, at least for 2018, is likely in the same boat as Galvis. So, to be totally honest about it, the Phillies have 2 guys who are adequate SS, 3 (4 when Kingery arrives) who are adequate 2B, and nobody who is an adequate 3B. Combining offense/defense the Phillies may not have anyone who is a clearly above average MLB starter at 2B, SS, or 3B in 2018. I am open to the possibility that Hernandez will be an above average starting 2B in 2018, but see that as less than a sure thing. If we had a clearly above average IF who could play multiple positions, that would be an easy trade to make, as there would be a ton of demand. Unfortunately, we don't have that player on the roster. I see Hernandez as about average at 2B, Galvis as about average at SS and 2B, and Crawford as a guy who is likely to be above average at 2B or SS in the future, but not likely in 2018.