Doug Glanville takes look at Phillies future

 

 

It’s been a rough year for the Philadelphia Phillies despite winning four of their last five games.

 

The Phillies have a dismal overall 34-63 record. Earlier this season manager Ryne Sandberg resigned.

 

The Major League Baseball trade deadline is coming up on Friday, July 31. There’s been all kinds of rumors of player trades. This could be a busy time for general manager Ruben Amaro Jr.

 

Of course, the Phillies are taking a look at the some of their young players to see exactly what kind of potential they have down the road. Most recently, they brought up pitching sensation Aaron Nola from the minors. Nola had an impressive outing in a losing effort to Tampa Bay.

 

In addition, the Phillies have to find a manager. Andy MacPhail was hired as team president. So, there’s a lot of work that has to be done.

 

ESPN baseball analyst and former Phillies outfielder Doug Glanville has been following this situation. Glanville covers baseball for ESPN Wednesday Night Baseball and Baseball Tonight. He knows there could be changes in the coming weeks as well as down the road.

 

“At this time of year, they’re teams that are looking for next year,” said Glanville, a former baseball standout at Penn, played five of his nine big league years for the Phillies (1998 to 2002 and in 2004). “Anybody who is making substantial money or if their contract is up or see past this season as a particular player. Those guys are movable.

 

“In the Phillies case, whether it’s Cole Hamels or just because they’re in a big transition right now with the front office. Sandberg stepped down and all these changes. They’re a few years away.

 

“In recent history, they’ve had older players that were certainly a part of their phenomenal run culminating in a World Series (2008). Now, (Ryan) Howard and (Chase) Utley are getting later in their careers. It’s hard to keep that level of play and stay healthy.”

 

The Phillies hired Andy MacPhail to succeed Pat Gillick as president of the club following Gillick’s retirement shortly after the season ends. For the remainder of the season, MacPhail will serve as a special assistant to Gillick during which time he will work closely with Gillick and chief operating officer Michael Stiles to get acclimated with the Phillies’ operations and personnel.

 

MacPhail, 62, most recently served as president of baseball operations for the Baltimore Orioles from 2007-2011. During this time, he was responsible for all aspects of major league, minor league and scouting operations for the club.

 

Prior to joining the Orioles, MacPhail spent 12 years with the Chicago Cubs, when the team reached the postseason twice. As general manager of the Minnesota Twins, he led the team to two World Series championships.

 

The hiring of a manager will be a huge decision for this organization after the season. Glanville feels there’s some good candidates out there.

 

“It’s an open field,” Glanville said. “You have Dave Martinez, Sandy Alomar and other former players around the game who have interviewed several times. It’s plenty of guys like Alex Cora and others. It just depends on the direction they want to go or whether it’s in house guys who have come up with the system.”

 

Glanville is very impressed with pitcher Nola. He had a chance to watch him play at LSU. He feels third baseman Maikel Franco has some talent too.

 

“I know Aaron Nola,” Glanville said. “I covered LSU in the Super Regionals. He was so calm. He walked like nobody. I think he walked eight guys. He threw like 93. I was like this guy was a freshman. He kept it going. That was a good pick.

 

“Franco has great power to all fields. He’s holding his own. Obviously, he has to keep developing. He has the athletic skills.”

 

Glanville said other young players to watch are Domonic Brown (rightfield), Freddy Galvis (shortstop), Cody Ashe (leftfield), and Obudel Herrera.

 

“It’s going to take some time for the Phillies to rebuild and get back to being a contender,” Glanville said.

 

They have a lot of moves to make. The Phillies need to take some time and make the right ones. It won’t happen overnight.

 

“It looks like they’re a couple years away,” Glanville said. “They’re in the middle of a transition.”

 

 

Republished from PhillyTrib.com