High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - High Hopes Mailbag Edition

Episode Date: January 10, 2018

Jon Marks checks the High Hopes mailbag in this edition of High Hopes. He covers Yelich rumors and much more! See omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information. To learn more about liste...ner data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Starting point is 00:00:45 Well, hello, everybody, and welcome to High Hopes, the podcast. I am John Marks, your host. Sometimes you hear James Seltzer in this space. Sometimes you hear Jack Fritz. Sometimes you hear all of us at once. But it's just me tonight, solo style. So we're going to be doing a first ever Twitter mailbag show. And I was going to do a little opening segment and then get to the questions. But I've got so many good questions
Starting point is 00:01:12 tonight from the tweet that I put out at John Marks Media and also at High Hopes Pod. That's how you get involved. You should follow that Twitter handle if you want good baseball talk. And I had somebody earlier ask me, like, well, what are you doing that podcast for? I'm a big Phillies fan, and I also am a host here on 94 WIP. And Eagle season, it's tough to talk a lot of baseball,
Starting point is 00:01:40 but it's also a very hot stove-ish type time. So it kind of gives the people out there what they want with some Phillies talk. And it also lets me talk about something I love, which is Phillies baseball. So we will do this, a combination of us will be doing it here every week, at least once a week, sometimes more. I think the last podcast that went out was Thursday with James and Jack. So it is Tuesday night when I'm recording this. So, yeah, I wanted to get something out there.
Starting point is 00:02:12 Because I haven't talked Phillies in a couple weeks. I've kind of been out of the loop. I moved. There was Christmas. There was New Year's. So I'm still unpacking boxes and everything else. But I'm ready to go. So let's do it. I asked you questions,
Starting point is 00:02:26 and I'm going to give you answers. So let's get it started right now with my man Daniel Quigg, who, excuse me, let's get it started right now with my man Daniel Quinn, who asked, if you had to trade one of the three outfielders, who would it be? And this is going to go into the Kristen Yellich question that's going to be out there because it's not even really a rumor more than it's people just proposing trades because you know Yellich is on the trade market. The Marlins are trying to get rid of everybody. And the Phillies have been one of the teams that's been rumored to be interested in Yellich. So I absolutely believe that there's discussions that are going on.
Starting point is 00:03:04 But if I had to trade one of the three outfielders, who would it be? Well, I think Oduble Herrera gives you the most value because it's a very team-friendly contract and he's very productive. Aaron Altair, and if you're talking about the three outfielders, I'm assuming you're talking about Williams, Altair, or Odubes.
Starting point is 00:03:24 I would, I like all three guys. Altair worries me because of the injury history. Nick Williams, not a high on-base percentage guy. I like what I saw out of him this year, and I think you can get pretty good value out of Nick Williams. So I don't want to trade them, but if I'm trading them for a guy like Yelich, who, by the way, I'm not ready to just jump in and do the Jelich trade.
Starting point is 00:03:48 I know a lot of people like him. I am warming to the fact, I know in the last podcast, I kind of busted in on James and Jack talking about it, and I'm like, I don't want Jelich. Depends what you're giving up. But if I'm trading one of the three, you're going to have to give value, and I guess I would have to give up Nick Williams if you're looking to get a starting pitcher or you're looking to have to give value, and I guess I would have to give up Nick Williams if you're looking to get a starting pitcher
Starting point is 00:04:05 or you're looking to get something of real value. I'd be okay with moving on from Nick Williams. Aaron Altair, I'm not sure what he's going to get you at this point, just because of the injury history. I love his bat. Can't stay healthy. So if you can't be on the field, you're not much value to a lot
Starting point is 00:04:21 of people out there. But listen, I'd be okay with trading any three of them. So we'll see what happens. It doesn't look like it's going to happen at this point. Maybe it could for Yellich. You're going to have to give up real value, but real value doesn't include what's
Starting point is 00:04:37 being proposed, which is Jorge Alfaro, because I don't have a backup plan to catch her. So I would not include Alfaro in the deal. I'd rather just hang on and see what you can do. You know what it is? I'm just not ready to force a trade right now. Yelich has a team-friendly contract,
Starting point is 00:04:57 but I also don't want to give up a ton right now. I kind of want to play it out and see what these young guys look like before making a trade. Jersey Josh asks, is 2018 a make or break year for Eflin, Thompson, Jake Thompson, Dylan Cousins, and Roman Quinn? I don't think it's make or break for any of them. The person with the most to lose here probably is Jake Thompson just because he gets such a bad year in AAA. He could find himself off the 40-man roster if he has another year like he did. It looked great two years ago. I saw him a couple times in person. I was not impressed with his stuff. I questioned how he had such good numbers at AAA. He got a lot of double plays. He had a lot of fortunate starts that I saw firsthand. I think Eflin kind of is what he is.
Starting point is 00:05:45 Is he a starting pitcher or is he a reliever? Got good stuff, got good velocity, but is he a middle of the rotation guy? Probably not. So I don't think it's a make or break year for Eflin. More for Thompson. If he struggles again at AAA this year, he's in
Starting point is 00:06:02 trouble. Dylan Cousins is really interesting because full year at AAA, you see the power, you see that he can't hit lefties, and you know what it is? The approach at the plate really hasn't improved with Cousins. So kind of like with Ryan Howard at the end of his career, he would hit mistakes. He's a power hitter.
Starting point is 00:06:21 If you left a fastball over the middle of the plate and he was looking fastball, he can hit the ball out of the park. I feel like Cousins right now is the same kind of player. So can he turn himself into an everyday starting power prospect or power starter? He can, but the approach to the plate's got to really, really get better. And Roman Quinn's just got to stay healthy. Roman Quinn will play in the majors, there's no doubt in my mind. Dylan Cousins will be a major leaguer too.
Starting point is 00:06:48 Can he be an everyday guy? Roman Quinn can be an everyday guy, but he can't do it unless he's healthy. And he has not been able to stay healthy, and he's done it every year. He's exciting, he disrupts on the base path, he has that kind of Jimmy Rollins power where he's a
Starting point is 00:07:03 smaller guy, but he's powerful. He is. I'm a big Roman Quinn fan, but he has to. Has to. Has to. Has to. Stay healthy to do that. Our buddy Vince Quinn, who was my producer and the Phillies producer this past season before
Starting point is 00:07:20 he moved on. Now he's a full-time host here and he does the BGN stuff, but he's a big baseball guy. Vince asked me and he's a full-time host here and he does the BGN stuff. But he's a big baseball guy. Vince asked me, and he's trying to be funny, Michael Franco, is he fun to party with? So if you haven't heard this story, he got suspended from his Dominican team because there was
Starting point is 00:07:35 pictures out there on some social media, I forget what it is, might have been Instagram, might have been Snapchat or something, where it was like 6 a.m. and him and a couple teammates were still out there partying and it was a 2 p.m. and him and a couple teammates were still out there partying, and it was a 2 p.m. game, and they're in the playoffs. So getting to Franco, and Matthew Groves asked this as well, at High Hopes Pod, at John Marks Media, did Franco get the wake-up call he needed in the DR, or is he a lost cause at this point? Well,
Starting point is 00:08:02 I would say he didn't get the wake-up call and he's not taking his craft all that seriously. But am I ready to move on from Franco? I'm not ready to move on from him yet. Do I think he's going to miraculously turn it around and have a better approach at the plate and he's going to look like a different hitter next year? I don't. I'm more or less right now looking to what we're doing in 2018 and beyond at third base. Crawford's the everyday shortstop, so he's not going to play third a lot unless something else happens to where they bring in a shortstop
Starting point is 00:08:34 because they want JP at third. That's most likely not going to happen. I'd be coming up with a backup plan. But at this point, I'm not trading Franco because the return you're going to get isn't going to be anything great. You're selling low, and I'm not selling low on him right now. I would want to bring in Kapler and a new hitting coach and see if they can get to Franco. But right now, he swings out of his cleats. He tries to pull everything. He's also got great raw power. So if someone can get to him and change the approach at the plate,
Starting point is 00:09:08 I'm not going to call him a total loss cause yet, but I'm not expecting a big change going forward. Could happen. I'm not trading him just to trade him. But that's where I stand with Franco. Moass. JoeMo84. When can you expect to see Franco
Starting point is 00:09:25 and Oduble gone? I'm not trading Franco to Franco, as I just said, just to trade him. And Oduble, listen, I don't know why you would want him gone. He's a very productive player. He's an all-star type player. He really is. So, I
Starting point is 00:09:41 know a lot of people out there get fed up with his Oduble being Oduble. I don't think he's a bad guy. I know a lot of people out there get fed up with his Oduble being Oduble. I don't think he's a bad guy. I know he frustrates teammates, but he's still, he's just a knucklehead. He's still just, he doesn't know any better. And he's got to learn, but it's not, he's not a bad guy. You understand what I'm saying? He's not, he's not affecting, he's not affecting the locker room to where he's hurting chemistry on the team.
Starting point is 00:10:08 A couple teammates came out last year and really kind of called him out and said, like, listen, he's got to grow up. He's got to change, and I'm totally fine with that. But the production that he gives you when he gets hot, you saw it the second half of the season, and he's very affordable. So I'm not worried about a doable. And unless again, anybody on this team's tradable, as long as you're getting equal or better value in return at different positions. And I don't need to do that right now. Matt Ennis
Starting point is 00:10:35 asks, after Nola, who do you have hope for? Well, I have hope for some guys in the minors. A lot is said about Sixto Sanchez, but there are a couple of other arms that have real shots. I'd say that if you're looking for the future with guys in the minors, you have a Jojo Romero. You have a Ranger Suarez. You have Sixto Sanchez. So among those guys, if you can get two, three or better starters out of those guys by maybe 2020, because they're all still so young, you're looking good.
Starting point is 00:11:10 But 2020 is two years away. So after Nola right now, you're going to have a veteran guy. You're going to have somebody if they can acquire via trade. And the biggest thing right now with the Phillies in 2018, because I actually like their lineup and I like their bullpen, is their starting pitching. And it's going to be tough. It's going to be tough because you don't have the guys. Nick Pavetta has great stuff.
Starting point is 00:11:34 I don't know if he has the mental capacity to be a starting pitcher. At least that's the sense I get from talking to people and being around the park all year last season. You have a lot of guys that have a chance to be back of the rotation guys, but you really don't have at least somebody that I see right now that's ready to step up on the major league level that's going to be that guy. Joe Cornick asks, Assuming no significant lineup changes or trades,
Starting point is 00:12:05 what's your lineup? Do you hit Santana three? Where do you hit JP? And the elephant in the room is what happens when Kingery's ready in May? And he asks about the starting pitching, but I have no good answers for you on the starting pitching. Let's start with the lineup here. This is what I see.
Starting point is 00:12:22 And I know Santana wasn't used a lot. He was a leadoff hitter a lot last year with the Indians. But Cesar, I just don't see a better place to put Cesar. And again, this is the beginning of the season. I don't see a better place to put Cesar than at leading off. So I think you're going to see
Starting point is 00:12:39 Cesar leading off, and then it's just where you want to go from there. Santana is a high on base percentage guy. He should hit 25 to 30 home runs year one in Citizens Bank Park with his power. I think you hit him two, three, or five. And that would put Oduble, I guess. I just don't know if you want to put Oduble at two when he's shown that he is probably your best hitter other than Reese Hoskins who you're going to want to hit cleanup.
Starting point is 00:13:14 And Nick Williams isn't a guy that you want hitting that high up in my lineup. So I'd probably go Cesar and then maybe Santana second, Oduble third, Hoskins four. I think you have to, you're assuming Alfaro's your starter. You hit him down in the lineup, maybe Nick Williams sixth, Franco seventh. I'm also okay with, depending on who the starting pitcher is, whether it's a lefty or a righty starter, flip-flopping Nick Williams and Franco so you're not having too many lefty or a righty starter. Flip Focking, Nick Williams, and Franco. So you're not having too many lefts or too many rights
Starting point is 00:13:47 up there. So that's what I would do with the lineup. The question about, and I still got to think on this too, so you have to, when we get to spring training I'll have a better idea. As far as the elephant in the room with Kingery, yeah, so he will come up, there's a day in May, later on in May, where he will,
Starting point is 00:14:03 I don't even know if he'll come up then, but they're going to try to get the most out of Cesar Hernandez as far as his value. And they've been trying to trade him the last two offseasons, and they just don't see the return being fair coming back. They traded Freddie Galvis because they knew J.P. Crawford needed to be the starter. If Scott Kingery was able to start the season without worries about him
Starting point is 00:14:26 in free agency and him being eligible for free agency a year earlier if you start him from the beginning of the season, so that's why he's coming up towards the end of May, you'd probably trade Cesar and get the most that you can right now. But as it stands, there's no rush to trade him. So you'll probably see Kingery come up beginning of June, depending on what he's doing in the minors, and Cesar gets moved at the trade deadline. And Kingery, by the way, also was taking ground balls. Remember this. He was taking ground
Starting point is 00:14:56 balls at third base, and he was playing in games in third base. So Kingery, if Franco bleeps the bet again, Kingery could be the guy that comes in and plays third base. Why not? Crawford showed he could do it. Why couldn't Kingery? Not ideal third baseman, kind of like Chase Utley tried third base when they had Polanco however many years ago. But Kingery, could he do it?
Starting point is 00:15:18 I think you're going to find out in the minors in the first two months. And you're taking away he's a really good defensive second baseman, and I get that. But to get that bat and make your're taking away he's a really good defensive second baseman, and I get that. But to get that bat and make your lineup better, Cesar Hernandez is a good second baseman. So I'm not going to trade him just to trade him. So that's how I would handle the Scott Kingery thing. Can't wait to see him.
Starting point is 00:15:37 Can't wait to see him. Casey Young asks, who's the lone all-star on this team? Well, I think you could say Oduble or Reese or Santana. It's tough because Santana plays first base. There's a lot of first basemen out there that hit for power. But who knows? He hits 20 home runs the first half of the season, which
Starting point is 00:15:53 he could come out and he could catch fire before he's an AL player. And you get starting pitchers that aren't sure what he does and what his tendencies are. Advantage batter. It are, advantage batter. It's always advantage batter first time around. Second time around, we'll see what happens.
Starting point is 00:16:10 They'll make adjustments. But Santana, there's no reason why he couldn't get hot in the first half of the season. So I think you could see a couple guys, but Hoskins, yeah. Oduble, yeah. No doubt. Charles asked a great question here. And he says, if you didn't hear, the Phillies, you know, L.A. isn't doing the away games.
Starting point is 00:16:32 He's only doing home games for the radio broadcast. So who's Scott Franski going to be working with when it's not L.A.? There's 81 games on the road. That's a lot of games. So it's going to be a combination of Kevin Jordan, who I heard filling in for LA last year. I thought he was decent. Kevin Stocker, who I also heard, he did some games last year. He was pretty good. And Kevin Franston, who was really in Philly only for, I think, two seasons. But being a radio guy and following what happens in radio across
Starting point is 00:17:06 the country, Franzen was working in San Francisco. He's from the area. He played for the Giants. So he's been doing sports radio out there for the better part of a couple years. So I'm assuming he's going to continue to do that kind of stuff and then he's going to join the Phillies while he's on the road.
Starting point is 00:17:22 But Franzen is going to be very good because he understands the game. He's entertaining. I've had him on for interviews a couple times, and he just seems like he gets it. So I'm really intrigued. He has a little bit of an edge to him, too. So I'm intrigued about Franston.
Starting point is 00:17:38 I'm sure Kevin Jordan and Stocker are going to be fine, but Franston, I think, is going to be pretty cool. Pretty cool. So, looking forward to hearing that. And as far as all of the and with respect to everybody that's out there, from Merrill and Mike, to
Starting point is 00:17:57 Tom McGinnis, to Tim Saunders and Coetzee, everybody does a great job. We're blessed in this city to have really professional and top broadcasters. Being the big fan of baseball that I am and growing up with listening to Harry and Whitey on the radio and really that being the soundtrack of my childhood. When Whitey died and Harry died,
Starting point is 00:18:21 it took me back to summers in Ocean City where I'd be sitting out on the porch and smelling the ocean and having the game on the radio and having my grandparents down there and kind of thinking about them when all that happened. So radio, baseball radio, has always been very, very special to me and will continue to be. But it'll be interesting. I loved the Franski and L.A. from the first time I heard them. Scott's as good as it gets in the business, no doubt about it.
Starting point is 00:18:52 Scott's as good as it gets in the business. And L.A. just is the perfect fit for them. Really, really good. So, you know, looking forward to hearing what the new guys have. L.A. took a lot of time off last year, so you got to hear a bunch of different guys, and J.C. Romero did some games, and I thought he was pretty good. But, so we're going to end with the Christian Yelich thing,
Starting point is 00:19:16 and this is something that's being talked about. There's a lot of rumors out there. Makes sense for the Phillies from a lot of different levels, but what's it going to take to get them? And you look at the Phillies and their prospects, you don't really have, from the Marlins perspective, you don't really have an everyday player that makes sense, that has real, real value. Cesar Hernandez is a good player. He doesn't have great value. You're going to have to give up top guys to do it. So I'm looking at a
Starting point is 00:19:47 story that's on here on Fansided, and it's the blog that balls out of here. And with all due respect to the author, who normally does a good job, he's talking about the two most extendable prospects are Cornelius Randolph, who was the first round pick
Starting point is 00:20:04 a couple years ago, the outfielder who doesn't have power, but he's coming around a little bit, and Dylan Cousins. Yeah, Dylan Cousins is a nice prospect. He ain't getting you anybody. Dylan Cousins is a nice third prospect to throw in there because he does have that power potential. If you're going to be getting Christian Yelich,
Starting point is 00:20:21 you're going to be having to give up guys like, you're not giving up Sixto Sanchez, you're not to be getting Christian Yelich, you're going to be having to give up guys like, you're not giving up Sixto Sanchez. You're not giving up Kingery. Are you giving up Mickey Moniak? Are you giving up a Jalen Ortiz? I'm not giving up Jalen Ortiz. Am I giving up Mickey Moniak? I am.
Starting point is 00:20:38 I am. And I hate to bail on a first overall pick from just a couple years ago, who I think is only 20 years old right now. But I see the upside of Mickey Moniak as being at best an average to above average outfielder, and I'm not even sure he's that based on what he's done. Strikes out a lot, doesn't hit left-handed pitching, doesn't really do anything great. He hasn't shown great speed, hasn't shown great defense, hasn't really shown any power, hasn't hit high average, hasn't shown great speed. Hasn't shown great defense. Hasn't really shown any power. Hasn't hit high average. Hasn't done
Starting point is 00:21:07 anything with on-base percentage. He just really hasn't done anything. So I'm not calling him a total bust. He's not Brian Taylor. If you remember the prospect from the Yankees. I'm not saying that. The upside doesn't look very good right now. Adam Haisley, who was their first round draft pick a year
Starting point is 00:21:24 ago, he's a major leaguer. I think he's going to be good. That name is going to interest the Marlins. You try to spin Mickey Moniak, they'll take him. And believe me, they'll take him. But I don't think you can headline a deal for a guy like Yelich with a Mickey Moniak. I wouldn't be interested.
Starting point is 00:21:40 And people around Major League Baseball aren't necessarily stupid. So if they know that this guy doesn't have a whole ton of potential, I'm pretty sure that the guys around baseball that do this for a living, the scouts, also know that maybe he doesn't have a lot of potential. He's not even a top five prospect for me in the Phillies organization. Not even close. There's so many guys. This is a deep minor league organization right now.
Starting point is 00:22:03 It really is. There's a lot of guys that have a chance. But you're not going to get away with just giving away, we'll trade you Moniak and we'll give you Dylan Cousins. Doesn't work like that. You're going to have to give up something. If that means you give up Paisley, then I guess you're going to give up Paisley. I honestly, and I like Yelich, it may have come off in previous podcasts
Starting point is 00:22:24 or talked, I don't think he's that. He's a good player. I like Jelich. I like Jelich. It may have come off in previous podcasts or talked. I don't think he's that. I just, he's a good player. I'm not ready yet. I want to see what these young guys have. And there's a danger of keeping these prospects and keeping them a little bit too long. They're called prospects for a reason.
Starting point is 00:22:38 I understand that. But I'm not ready to do it yet. I'm still patient with the Phillies. Give them another year. Let's see how these kids develop. If you can trade Moniak and maybe some of the other guys, maybe one of their young pitchers like Arranger Suarez. Don't trade JoJo Romero.
Starting point is 00:22:53 I really like him. But that's how I would handle that particular thing. You're not trading Sixto Sanchez. Absolutely, positively not. They're stacked. They really are. If you look at this organization, as far as their top 30 prospects, they don't have a lot of high-end guys to where you're looking at superstars
Starting point is 00:23:13 in this league. You're looking at a ton of depth. They might have 30 future major leaguers in their system. Legitimately, they might. That's how deep they are right now. But depth and high-end talent is a lot different. So remember that. All right. Again, High Hope Pod on Twitter, at High Hope Pod. You can follow me at John Marks Media. We'll be talking Phillies until
Starting point is 00:23:39 the season starts right around the corner, everybody. It's only January. So February happens. Then it's spring training. And then the Philly season actually starts before April 1st. So we're only a couple months away from Philly's baseball. So definitely check us out every week, at least once a week. We're going to be putting out fresh content. And then we'll be doing, during the season, a few more a week. That's it for us.
Starting point is 00:24:03 We will be back sometime this week, next week. I don't know. But enjoy the Phillies talk, everybody. Talk to you later. See you. All-star closer, Kenley Jansen. We have a question. What's the best podcast of all time?
Starting point is 00:24:15 Baseball isn't boring, baby. I'm Rob Bradford, and every single day I'm sitting down with the biggest names to show you this great game is the greatest game. It's my podcast. It's my passion. It's a cause I started more than two years ago and is now the most prolific national daily baseball pod there is. Another fact.
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