Keepers (So Far)

[VoteForKalas]

Using the lingo of fantasy baseball, who are the players on the current ML team that people would consider keepers at this point in time? The definition of a keeper for the exercise is a player who you would need to get a very good offer to trade and that you think has potential to be a player on the next Phillies contender. They do not absolutely need to be a starter on that contender, but good enough to be on the roster.

I'll list mine:

Position Players
Herrera
Franco
Rupp
Joseph

I could see Herrera in CF or being moved to a corner, Franco at 3B, Rupp at C and Joseph as a bridge 1B that eventually shifts to the bench. I do not confidently see any of the current bench or rotational players making it to the next contender - Blanco, Bourjos, Ruiz, Howard, Hernandez and Paredes will be gone. Asche, Galvis and Goeddel have the best shots IMO, but probably only one makes it.

Starting Pitchers:
Nola
Eichoff

We have a lot of pitching talent coming and others on the current team that have not had enough time to establish a track record yet, but I'm confident both Nola and Eichoff have the skill and mindset to stick and keep improving. Velasquez has opened my eyes for sure, but consistency and health concern me.

Bullpen:

I have nobody here due to the fungible nature of bullpen arms and what can change in 1-2 years. Gomez & Neris are doing the best now, but Gomez is 28 and Neris 27. The rest are an assortment of some older arms (Hernandez, Bailey) and young arms (Ramos, Stumpf). I think the turnover will be extensive here by the time we see contention again.

[Philsmania]

Using the lingo of fantasy baseball, who are the players on the current ML team that people would consider keepers at this point in time? The definition of a keeper for the exercise is a player who you would need to get a very good offer to trade and that you think has potential to be a player on the next Phillies contender. They do not absolutely need to be a starter on that contender, but good enough to be on the roster.

I'll list mine:

Position Players
Herrera
Franco
Rupp
Joseph

I could see Herrera in CF or being moved to a corner, Franco at 3B, Rupp at C and Joseph as a bridge 1B that eventually shifts to the bench. I do not confidently see any of the current bench or rotational players making it to the next contender - Blanco, Bourjos, Ruiz, Howard, Hernandez and Paredes will be gone. Asche, Galvis and Goeddel have the best shots IMO, but probably only one makes it.

Starting Pitchers:
Nola
Eickhoff

We have a lot of pitching talent coming and others on the current team that have not had enough time to establish a track record yet, but I'm confident both Nola and Eickhoff have the skill and mindset to stick and keep improving. Velasquez has opened my eyes for sure, but consistency and health concern me.

Bullpen:

I have nobody here due to the fungible nature of bullpen arms and what can change in 1-2 years. Gomez & Neris are doing the best now, but Gomez is 28 and Neris 27. The rest are an assortment of some older arms (Hernandez, Bailey) and young arms (Ramos, Stumpf). I think the turnover will be extensive here by the time we see contention again.

I would add Eflin to the starting pitcher list though perhaps his track record isn't long enough. I am not sure about Joseph.

[donaldorc]

Using the lingo of fantasy baseball, who are the players on the current ML team that people would consider keepers at this point in time? The definition of a keeper for the exercise is a player who you would need to get a very good offer to trade and that you think has potential to be a player on the next Phillies contender. They do not absolutely need to be a starter on that contender, but good enough to be on the roster.

I'll list mine:

Position Players

Herrera
Franco
Rupp
Joseph

I could see Herrera in CF or being moved to a corner, Franco at 3B, Rupp at C and Joseph as a bridge 1B that eventually shifts to the bench. I do not confidently see any of the current bench or rotational players making it to the next contender - Blanco, Bourjos, Ruiz, Howard, Hernandez and Paredes will be gone. Asche, Galvis and Goeddel have the best shots IMO, but probably only one makes it.

Starting Pitchers:
Nola
Eickhoff

We have a lot of pitching talent coming and others on the current team that have not had enough time to establish a track record yet, but I'm confident both Nola and Eickhoff have the skill and mindset to stick and keep improving. Velasquez has opened my eyes for sure, but consistency and health concern me.

Bullpen:

I have nobody here due to the fungible nature of bullpen arms and what can change in 1-2 years. Gomez & Neris are doing the best now, but Gomez is 28 and Neris 27. The rest are an assortment of some older arms (Hernandez, Bailey) and young arms (Ramos, Stumpf). I think the turnover will be extensive here by the time we see contention again.

I would add Eflin to the starting pitcher list though perhaps his track record isn't long enough. I am not sure about Joseph.

Agree with your list! I would also add Eflin to the pitchers.

[VoteForKalas]

That was my thought too, Philsmania, on Eflin. He is so young and we've only seen a small sample so far at this level. It is not fair to judge yet IMO.

Joseph is on the line for me too which is why I see him as being a bridge 1B who goes to the bench once we find a better all-around 1B.

[saycheese]

That was my thought too, Philsmania, on Eflin. He is so young and we've only seen a small sample so far at this level. It is not fair to judge yet IMO.

Joseph is on the line for me too which is why I see him as being a bridge 1B who goes to the bench once we find a better all-around 1B.

Interesting comment on Joseph. Where do you see his flaws? I might be missing something but I think finding a guy with that type of power is hard to find.I think he has a chance to be that first baseman of the future. .803 ops even after a pretty bad slump, a home run every 13 at bats is nothing to sneeze at. It is however a small sample size but I think its way too early to say he is a bench player at this point.

[VoteForKalas]

That was my thought too, Philsmania, on Eflin. He is so young and we've only seen a small sample so far at this level. It is not fair to judge yet IMO.

Joseph is on the line for me too which is why I see him as being a bridge 1B who goes to the bench once we find a better all-around 1B.

Interesting comment on Joseph. Where do you see his flaws? I might be missing something but I think finding a guy with that type of power is hard to find.I think he has a chance to be that first baseman of the future. .803 ops even after a pretty bad slump, a home run every 13 at bats is nothing to sneeze at. It is however a small sample size but I think its way too early to say he is a bench player at this point.

Joseph is on my list so I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt. Its not flaws I see in Joseph; its more the small sample size and needing to see more before I can be as confident as I am with the other players on my list.

In AAA earlier this season, he turned around what had been struggles there in 2015, but it was only 100 AB. He definitely deserved to be called up, but we've only seen 169 AB so far at the ML level.

I'd play him every day and see what I have, but the Phillies refuse to release Howard so the musical chairs will continue.

[Austinfan]

It's really too early to judge most of this team.

C: Rupp is having a great year, changed his swing, is it sustainable
1B: Joseph has a great power swing, but he's still working on pitch recognition
2B; Hernandez struggled for a while, but has really improved against breaking balls (over .300 BA), still some upside
3B: Franco struggles when he tries to hit the ball too hard, can he learn to "relax, don't do it . . ."
LF: Asche had a hot streak, cooled, is he regressing back, or progressing forward
CF: Herrera had a great start, then got impatient, pitchers took advantage, will he learn from that?
RF: Altherr?

Nola - dead arm led him to screw up his mechanics, now he looks like he's back
Eflin - great potential, size, velocity, 4 pitches, understands pitching
Eickhoff - a mature pitcher making the most of his stuff
Velasquez - great stuff, but lack of experience shows
Ramos - great stuff, just needs time
Neris - splitter is a great out pitch but still inconsistent, but paired with a 94 MPH FB

[saycheese]

That was my thought too, Philsmania, on Eflin. He is so young and we've only seen a small sample so far at this level. It is not fair to judge yet IMO.

Joseph is on the line for me too which is why I see him as being a bridge 1B who goes to the bench once we find a better all-around 1B.

Interesting comment on Joseph. Where do you see his flaws? I might be missing something but I think finding a guy with that type of power is hard to find.I think he has a chance to be that first baseman of the future. .803 ops even after a pretty bad slump, a home run every 13 at bats is nothing to sneeze at. It is however a small sample size but I think its way too early to say he is a bench player at this point.

Joseph is on my list so I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt. Its not flaws I see in Joseph; its more the small sample size and needing to see more before I can be as confident as I am with the other players on my list.

In AAA earlier this season, he turned around what had been struggles there in 2015, but it was only 100 AB. He definitely deserved to be called up, but we've only seen 169 AB so far at the ML level.

I'd play him every day and see what I have, but the Phillies refuse to release Howard so the musical chairs will continue.

Perfect answer,and I agree its is a small sample size and he should play everyday from here on out in my opinion.

[Squire]

On a completely unrelated note, way back on the day when this group was on the Phillies.com original message board one of my favorite posters was a guy by the name "keeper" I remember the night we went back and forth thinking that the Phillies were going to acquire Jeremy Giambi (during his prospect status days).

[VoteForKalas]

Thats awesome, Squire.

[tom81]

Using the lingo of fantasy baseball, who are the players on the current ML team that people would consider keepers at this point in time? The definition of a keeper for the exercise is a player who you would need to get a very good offer to trade and that you think has potential to be a player on the next Phillies contender. They do not absolutely need to be a starter on that contender, but good enough to be on the roster.

I'll list mine:

Position Players

Herrera
Franco
Rupp
Joseph

I could see Herrera in CF or being moved to a corner, Franco at 3B, Rupp at C and Joseph as a bridge 1B that eventually shifts to the bench. I do not confidently see any of the current bench or rotational players making it to the next contender - Blanco, Bourjos, Ruiz, Howard, Hernandez and Paredes will be gone. Asche, Galvis and Goeddel have the best shots IMO, but probably only one makes it.

Starting Pitchers:
Nola
Eickhoff

We have a lot of pitching talent coming and others on the current team that have not had enough time to establish a track record yet, but I'm confident both Nola and Eickhoff have the skill and mindset to stick and keep improving. Velasquez has opened my eyes for sure, but consistency and health concern me.

Bullpen:

I have nobody here due to the fungible nature of bullpen arms and what can change in 1-2 years. Gomez & Neris are doing the best now, but Gomez is 28 and Neris 27. The rest are an assortment of some older arms (Hernandez, Bailey) and young arms (Ramos, Stumpf). I think the turnover will be extensive here by the time we see contention again.

I would add Eflin to the starting pitcher list though perhaps his track record isn't long enough. I am not sure about Joseph.
Agree with your list! I would also add Eflin to the pitchers.

I'd add Velasquez to the list of keepers and might remove Joseph who might lose his job in spring training next year if Hoskins lights it up.

BTW I have Rupp, Herrera, and Eflin on my fantasy team, the first two I can keep next year at $3 and $8 and can keep Eflin the next two years at $5.