The Crane Pool Forum

A week or so ago the Phils announced that Bryce Harper will be their full-time 1st baseman going forward with no intent to use him in the OF at all.
Age 31 is a bit earlier than you'd like to move your long term FA commitment to the end of the defensive spectrum but I guess TJ surgery sometimes makes
that decision for you.
What this move also does is cements the fact that the knee injury suffered by Rhys Hoskins during ST (if only he were in the WBC where he'd be safe)
effectively ended his Philly career. He's a FA anyway and while Philly hasn't officially closed the door on him they did make a point of talking to him about the
Harper move and, with Schwarber anchored in the DH slot, there's nowhere else for him on the team.

Aaron Nola staying in Philly: 7 years, $172 million.

Still only 30 y/o (31 in June ... I would have guessed a year or two older) so not an unreasonable deal.

All long-term deals for pitching are starting to feel unreasonable.

Zack Wheeler extended for three years and 142 zebulonvermillion dollars.

That is one very large contract.
ZW turns 34 in May, so this deal would be for his age 35-37 seasons.

As far as big deals for pitchers go, that is probably as sound an investment as any. Wheeler is currently Bill James Online's #2-Ranked Starting Pitcher — not so much because he's the most dominant starter, but because he's A dominant starter that almost always takes his turns, only missing a handful of starts over the last five years, going back to his last year with the Mets. And this deal only asks three more years of that from him, not seven. In our era of starting pitchers dropping like flies, that's increasingly meaningful.

Also, pseudo-scientific reasoning suggests you always want to bet on the bald guy on the mound. The heavy testosterone pumping through their systems robs them of their beautiful cranial follicles, but sends wee, helpful microbodies in the bloodstream to repair tiny, not-yet-detected tears in their muscles, tendons, and ligaments after every start.

That was Nolan Ryan's secret weapon. Baldiness.

J.T. Realmuto is hurt. And J.T. Realmuto never gets hurt.

Having dealt with knee pain the last several weeks, J.T. has opted for a surgical procedure that should put him out longer than he's ever been out before, which still should allow him to return well before the end of the season, because he's J.T. Realmuto.

As the Mets have been juggling catchers in recent weeks, look for potential short-term replacement candidates to include Omar Narváez and Tomás Nido.

Kyle Schwarber (mild groin strain) and Bryce Harper (low-grade hammy strain) both hitting the 10-Day IL.

Neither absence is expected to be extended, but J.T. Realmuto is still out for at least a few more weeks (and possibly more) following knee surgery, so if ever there was a time to make a move on the Phils, this is it.

(Checks standings, sees that they're still 12.5 games out).

Christopher Sanchez delivered a complete game shutout. The guy has given up one home run in 93 innings.

Caleb Cotham is this generation's Leo Mazzone. And possibly the next generation's as well.

Matt Stranm, your newest Phillie All-Star and Nic Cage cosplayer.

Phils get a sponsor patch from Blue Cross. Nats the only team in the division without one

No uniform patch sponsor, and no stadium name sponsor.

That's a lot of money on the table they've walked away from. Much respect on that score.