MLB 15 The Show: Rebuilding the Phillies

Feature Article

Submitted on: 05/19/2015 by Jeremy Chisenhall

The Phillies are not exactly setting the league on fire so far in the early 2015 season. They are a struggling team, and it is quite clear to everyone that they need to rebuild. For fans of MLB The Show, Philadelphia can be a fun and challenging project to rebuild in franchise mode. For those of you trying this, here are a few things to try out.

Dump Some Starters

The Phillies have 11 starters on their roster, which is right up there with other teams for the most in the league. Only four of those pitchers have a potential of B or above, so not all of them are going to be groundbreaking talents at the Major League level. Set your five-man rotation, and then trade off or release some of the lower-rated pitchers in order to free up more space for prospects to build around, or stars to make changes right away.

Trade One Veteran

The Phillies have a roster loaded with players who were some of the best players in the league. Now, they essentially have a roster of guys either past their prime or just about to pass their prime. Cole Hamels, Cliff Lee, Ryan Howard, Chase Utley and Aaron Harang are all veterans on this team who could probably be let go in order to bring some younger players into the organization. Let go of at least one or two of the veterans and use the space and money that you save to acquire some new young talent.

Ben Revere and Cody Asche

Revere and Asche are two of the higher-rated players on the roster for the Phils, and they are still pretty young with high potentials. Revere has an 81 overall rating with a B potential, and Asche has a 73 overall with a B potential as well. The higher potentials show that these guys could important pieces in your rebuild, and the MLB experience they’re getting now could go a long way to further preparing them for vital roles. Be sure to train these two and develop them as well as you can.

Find a Shortstop

The shortstop is often the captain of the team for a reason: they have to be one of the best players on the team and play an important role. The Phillies are really lacking in ability at the shortstop position. The starting SS, Freddy Galvis, has a 73 overall rating and only a C potential, so there is not likely to be a lot of further development for him. His backup, Andres Blanco, is not looking any better. A good idea would be to look to free agency for a replacement. Ian Desmond will be a free agent in 2016, and he is a major step up in talent from what the Phillies currently have. Acquiring Desmond in the offseason would be a major step forward in the rebuilding process.

Find Ryan Howard’s Replacement

At 35 years old, Howard is likely not too far from retirement. His overall is now just 75, and there is no doubt he is in decline. The best thing to do for first base is find a replacement for the power-swinging Howard. There is not a lot of potential within the organization below him, so it may be best to look to free agency and the draft. Chris Davis is a 2016 free agent, so he would be a good replacement if you can get him. Otherwise, look to the draft to find a corner infielder with high potential that you can develop into a power threat for years to come.

The Phillies are not likely to be winning any league pennants this year, but anyone who likes to rebuild can have them on the fast track to Championships if they put the work in...*cough* Hamels*cough*

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Member Comments

# 1 geisterhome @ 05/19/15 03:50 PM

Quote:


	Of course a total rebuild including shipping all their last assets like Cole Hamels and giving up on year one seems like the most logic way of approach here. BUT taking a closer look at how their (injury free!) roster shapes up to my surprise I figured that the Phillies could in my opinion even still be a contender this year. Pitching The Phillies have an ace in Cole Hamels and a very good number 2 starter with Cliff Lee. Then there are a bunch of guys who could make a solid number 5 or depth starter on a contender. So what we need would be 2 middle of the rotation pitchers. Looking at the free agent pool (I'm using osfm v1 rosters) I found Jhoulys Chacin, signed him to be my number 4 starter. 1 more pitcher was needed to make a very good rotation out of an imo already above average one- I found Josh Collmenter to be a very good option for that porpose, so I traded Aron Harrang plus 2 Porspects (T. Windle -B 63 and M. Imhof- C 60) to the Diamonbacks. Now there was the Bullpen: Pappelbon still is a legit Closer, some decent MR were also there, all I needed to add was actually some depth, that Ifeel I overachieved with signing Rafeal Soriano and aquiring David Hernandez in the Collmenter trade. At catcher the Phillies have veteran Carlos Ruiz who is still one of the best Catchers in the game but no decent backup for him. Again and not I looked at the free agent pool and found J.P. Arencibia. The infield looked ok to me, both on defense and offense, no need to change much there. The outfield was another story, I signed FA Dayan Viciedo as RF and moved Revere to CF. Domonic Brown to LF. Grady Sizemore an alright 4th OF. For sure not the best OF defensively but Citizens Bank Park doesn't have the largest dimensions so it could work. After that transformation I'd say the Phillies have one of the better Pitching rotations and BP, are mediocre on defense overall, have a lot of power (playing in a HR friendly Ballpark) and slightly below average speed and contact hitting. Sure they still aren't the best team in baseball by any means but if things go right and barring any major injuries to their key players they could make a run for a wildcard spot. And with some big contracts to veteran players coming of the books some nice additions could be made during the next FA period.

That is what I did with them; no real rebuild but anyways thought it would be worth the try!

# 2 peavy_44 @ 05/20/15 11:19 AM

I must say, it's very weird seeing such an article as I have played this game since its inception and first time I am ever seeing my team in one of these articles.

I have started playing as the Phillies and plan on keeping this Franchise in carry over mode etc.

I am 12-7 with the current team, minus Lee and Brown etc and I am taking a wait and see approach come the deadline. I have a long way to go.

Unfortunately in my season, I have lost Revere for 6 months already, thus making the Cody Asche transition to LF immediate. I have recalled Chris Nelson to play 3B for the time being. I am having fun for the first time in a long time playing a franchise.

Odubel Herrera has 13 steals in 19 games, Carlos Ruiz is hitting .439, Galvis has an OBP hovering around .500 with like 15 walks. Asche is clobbering the ball. Utley and Howard are meddling, not doing much.

# 3 bbking26 @ 05/21/15 08:52 AM

Do a Cubs one.

# 4 RogueHominid @ 05/21/15 09:45 AM

I decided to take on this challenge, and I agree with the notion that the team can compete in year one if all goes well.

I disagree on Galvis. I'm using a re-rated roster that corrects for several issues in the base rosters and that uses 3-year averages to generate ratings, and Galvis is a monster defensively who has great positional versatility across the infield. Plus he switch hits. He's a keeper for me.

I really like the way Franco and Herrera look, too. For me, the odd man out might be Asche, though I've always kind of liked him for some reason.

Cesar Hernandez is a great pinch hitting weapon off the bench.

I'll report back after a month.

# 5 jyoung @ 05/23/15 11:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MMChrisS


	They are a struggling team, and it is quite clear to everyone that they need to rebuild. For fans of MLB The Show, Philadelphia can be a fun and challenging project to rebuild in franchise mode. For those of you trying this, here are a few things to try out.

There's no need to undertake a complete rebuild when you can just start paying Philadelphia's bat boy a little extra money to "accidentally" pick up fair balls.

That will guarantee an 81 - 81 record for the Phillies, at worst.

# 6 Ghost Of The Year @ 05/23/15 11:13 PM

My first thought is why rebuild 'em? I think contraction would be more interesting, speaking strictly as Braves fan

Attachment 98838

# 7 RogueHominid @ 05/24/15 10:24 AM

At the draft, I'm 30-25, 4 games behind the Braves, who are cruising at 33-20.

So far the interesting stories regarding pitching center on Hamels and Lee.

My playing strategy is to use one pitcher, pitch all of his starts, and sim the rest. Hamels is my personal pitcher. In 11 starts, I have yet to be the winning pitcher of record once. I'm 0-2 with a 3.18 ERA and a WHIP of 1.38. Only 5 of those starts have been quality starts. Hamels has been laboring consistently, with lots of 20-pitch innings.

Lee by contrast has been a killer. He's 8-2 with a 1.94 ERA, 3 CG, 2 SO, and a .95 WHIP. If he keeps this up, he'll likely be the more attractive trade chip at the deadline.

On the other side of things, I'm having a terrible time generating consistent offense.

Ryan Howard (.161 AVG, 3 HR) and Domonic Brown (.171 AVG, 2 HR) have played their way out of the lineup, and I now have Ruf in RF, Franco at 1B, and Asche at 3B.

Utley is by far the most productive hitter, with a .290 AVG and 5 HR. It's sad that I'm having to contemplate this, but I may move him to cleanup.

The first year draft was encouraging. Here's what I got:

1. Sergio Quintero, SP, A POT, 64 OVR
2. Julio Vasquez, LF, A POT, 71 OVR
3. Steven Gonzales, RP, C POT, 61 OVR
4. Henry Soriano, 2B, C POT, 63 OVR
5. Abraham Barton, CF, D POT, 70 OVR
6. Samuel Valentin, 3B, D POT, 56 OVR
7. Lincoln Kaufman, 1B, D POT, 42 OVR

I think my top 3 will contribute in 2 years, and my 4 and 5 picks could contribute in 3-5 years if they do well in the minors.

# 8 37 @ 05/26/15 06:40 PM

so im gunna be using the Phillies and would like an honest, unbiased assessment on the trade value of Cole Hamels...

# 9 towncryer3921 @ 05/26/15 07:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jyoung


	There's no need to undertake a complete rebuild when you can just start paying Philadelphia's bat boy a little extra money to "accidentally" pick up fair balls. That will guarantee an 81 - 81 record for the Phillies, at worst.

I have had this happen except the ball boy never came out and the play was called dead so the runner stayed at first.

# 10 tessl @ 05/27/15 01:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 37


	so im gunna be using the Phillies and would like an honest, unbiased assessment on the trade value of Cole Hamels...

I don't use the Phillies but for a team which is in contention and can afford the contract I'd say he has high trade value. Worth at least a couple of high prospects. Hamels is the only big contract player the Phillies have on their books who is performing to a level close to his salary.

IRL the Phillies won't compete until the contracts of Utley, Lee and Howard are off the books. Utley will be gone after 2015, Lee's injury probably gets the Phillies out of their club option, Howard is still around for a couple years unless they can trade him and pick up some/most of his salary. If I was using the Phillies the one high salary guy I'd want to keep would be Hamels.

A useful addition to trade logic although it may be difficult for the developers to program would be the ability to trade a player and pick up part of his salary.

# 11 geisterhome @ 05/27/15 02:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tessl


	I don't use the Phillies but for a team which is in contention and can afford the contract I'd say he has high trade value. Worth at least a couple of high prospects. Hamels is the only big contract player the Phillies have on their books who is performing to a level close to his salary. IRL the Phillies won't compete until the contracts of Utley, Lee and Howard are off the books. Utley will be gone after 2015, Lee's injury probably gets the Phillies out of their club option, Howard is still around for a couple years unless they can trade him and pick up some/most of his salary. If I was using the Phillies the one high salary guy I'd want to keep would be Hamels. A useful addition to trade logic although it may be difficult for the developers to program would be the ability to trade a player and pick up part of his salary.

I would keep Hamels, it's hard to find a guy like him in free agency and get him to sign for less money.

Depending on how you go about injuries I'd trade Lee, Ruiz and Papelbon they should still have some decent value. Maybe try to land a catching prospect?
Howards contract is too bad for him to have any value so he'll have to stay.
Utley you gotta decide. I'd keep him, his contract is running out at the end of the year.
Maybe you could sign an international FA? Jose Fernandez could be a replacement at 2nd Base.

With Ruiz, Lee, Utely and Papelbon(and about 60mio $!) off the books and the Phillies being a big market team anyways you should have some very decent room for a few big time FA signings.
1 Ace Pitchers (of the Category Price/Zimmermann/Cueto) another 2 like Gallardo, Samadzija, Fister, Latos could be possible. There you invested those 60 mio that became availble. With Hamels already on your team you'll likely have one the best rotations in baseball.
Now you should still have a good amount of budget space left. That I'd invest into 2 good relievers (Giles could be your closer going forward).
As well as 1 player like Upton, Heyward, Wieter, Desmond, Caspedes or at whatever position you need somebody.

The thing is you have some serviceable to decent young positional players already on the Phillies roster: Asche, Revere, Crawford and Franco all have the potential to be everyday players. Ruf Hernandez, Galvis or Brown should also be able to fill in nicely for now.

I think with that kind of approach you have an outside chance to contend already the 2nd season, what you are really aiming for should however be year 3, that year you'll get Howards huge contract off the books and you can sign another one or two top FA, while those you signed last year will still have a still some good years left. And some of the young players have gained experience.

All in all due to the Phillies being a big market team a rebuild isn't really all that difficult

Rotation
Price
Hamels
Latos
Gallardo
Nola

Lineup
Revere CF
Fernandez 2B
Heward (or any FA) RF
Howard 1B
Asche LF
Franco 3B
Crawford SS
Catcher (acquired via Trade for e.g. Lee, Ruiz, Papelbon)
Pitcher

Closer
Giles

# 12 37 @ 05/27/15 02:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tessl


	I don't use the Phillies but for a team which is in contention and can afford the contract I'd say he has high trade value. Worth at least a couple of high prospects. Hamels is the only big contract player the Phillies have on their books who is performing to a level close to his salary. IRL the Phillies won't compete until the contracts of Utley, Lee and Howard are off the books. Utley will be gone after 2015, Lee's injury probably gets the Phillies out of their club option, Howard is still around for a couple years unless they can trade him and pick up some/most of his salary. If I was using the Phillies the one high salary guy I'd want to keep would be Hamels. A useful addition to trade logic although it may be difficult for the developers to program would be the ability to trade a player and pick up part of his salary.

the bolded part is exactly the reason why he'd fetch the most in a trade.....but trade options would be really limited due to his salary so its a double-edged sword really.....and the other part is how you view him....as a real good #2 or a legit ace.....which in turn makes the definition *top prospects* kinda foggy......Lee's injury history and high salary doesn't help in shipping him away but he has to go.....then there's Papelbon and his salary...I'd prefer Giles to be my closer for the forseeable future.....Utley is the easiest to move....can think of a few destinations but not the possible return....Howard and Ruiz would go by the deadline cause they need to accumulate some kind of serious value.....so yeah, it'll be a chore

# 13 37 @ 05/27/15 02:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by geisterhome


	I would keep Hamels, it's hard to find a guy like him in free agency and get him to sign for less money. Depending on how you go about injuries I'd trade Lee, Ruiz and Papelbon they should still have some decent value. Maybe try to land a catching prospect? Howards contract is too bad for him to have any value so he'll have to stay. Utley you gotta decide. I'd keep him, his contract is running out at the end of the year. Maybe you could sign an international FA? Jose Fernandez could be a replacement at 2nd Base. With Ruiz, Lee, Utely and Papelbon(and about 60mio $!) off the books and the Phillies being a big market team anyways you should have some very decent room for a few big time FA signings. 1 Ace Pitchers (of the Category Price/Zimmermann/Cueto) another 2 more like Gallardo, Samadzija, Fister,Latos could be possible. There you invested those 60mio that become availble. With Hamels already on your team you'll likely have the best rotation in baseball. Now you should still have a good amount of budget space left. That I'd invest into 2 good relievers (Giles could be your closer going forward). As well as 1 player like Upton, Heyward, Wieter, Desmond, Caspedes or at whatever position you need somebody. The thing is you have some serviceable to decent young positional players already on the Phillies roster: Asche, Revere, Crawford and Franco all have the potential to be everyday players. Ruf Hernandez, Galvis or Brown should also be able to fill in nicely for now. I think with that kind of approach you have an outside chance to contend already the 2nd season, what you are really aiming for should however be year 3, that year you'll get Howards huge contract off the books and you can sign another one or two top FA, while those you signed last year will still have a still some good years left. All in all due to the Phillies being a big market team a rebuild isn't really all that difficult

I plan to start my franchise as if everyone was healthy....in regards to the bolded part, if salary didn't play a part, I'd agree with you...i was told of a workaround about the salary issue..not sure if i wanna go that route though.****iz and Howard wont get back anything if they're traded day 1.....im not letting Utley walk for nothing so it'd probably be wise to let him go and see what Cesar Hernandez (or anyone else for that matter) can do.....don't think im gunna go the international FA route unless the Phillies sign them IRL.....probably go with stopgaps and hope for the best.....interesting blueprint you laid out though

# 14 RogueHominid @ 05/27/15 03:17 PM

I've done the permutations that the game will allow in my franchise, and it boils down to this: you can get one very high level prospect, perhaps on C level prospect, and then you have to eat one massive salary from a vet the trading team doesn't value.

If you're playing with force trades on, that's another deal, but if you have budgets on and are not forcing trades, you get 1 and 1/2 usable players for your farm. To me, that's not enough return to justify trading Hamels. He'll be good for 3 more years in-game, and you really don't have as many holes to fill as you might think.

If you take a SP #1 in the draft and get 2 SP in FA, grab a RP in rounds #3-5 plus 1 in FA, and then use your #2 pick on a position player and spend on 1 position player in FA, you're all of the sudden in good shape to contend now and win later.

You can then use one trade--Papelbon--to either get a really good prospect or two pretty good ones at whichever position is least well stocked on your farm.

So I wouldn't go HAM with the trades personally, and I would keep Hamels.

You will likely find Asche, Herrera, and Revere worth keeping in the OF, and Franco, Galvis, and Hernandez worth keeping in the IF. That's my experience, having played a lot with the team.

# 15 37 @ 05/27/15 03:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trojan Man


	I've done the permutations that the game will allow in my franchise, and it boils down to this: you can get one very high level prospect, perhaps on C level prospect, and then you have to eat one massive salary from a vet the trading team doesn't value. If you're playing with force trades on, that's another deal, but if you have budgets on and are not forcing trades, you get 1 and 1/2 usable players for your farm. To me, that's not enough return to justify trading Hamels. He'll be good for 3 more years in-game, and you really don't have as many holes to fill as you might think. If you take a SP #1 in the draft and get 2 SP in FA, grab a RP in rounds #3-5 plus 1 in FA, and then use your #2 pick on a position player and spend on 1 position player in FA, you're all of the sudden in good shape to contend now and win later. You can then use one trade--Papelbon--to either get a really good prospect or two pretty good ones at whichever position is least well stocked on your farm. So I wouldn't go HAM with the trades personally, and I would keep Hamels. You will likely find Asche, Herrera, and Revere worth keeping in the OF, and Franco, Galvis, and Hernandez worth keeping in the IF. That's my experience, having played a lot with the team.

a C-level prospect is not considered *very high level*...but yeah that consensus from everyone so far is to get anything of value, I'd have to eat salary (which makes sense)...I will not be forcing trades or ignoring budgets...if im forced to stay with Hamels, so be it and the same if I h to accept 50 cents on the dollar for him.....I do agree 1.5 prospects is not enough of a return for him....I'd take one pretty good prospect for Papelbon and run haha.....Asche and Herrera will be given opportunities to stick....im meh on Revere....Franco is definitely staying....Hernandez too...meh on Galvis

# 16 KingV2k3 @ 05/27/15 05:08 PM

I'm restarting soon with PHI, but I noticed in my previous CHC franchise that due to regression, Lee "falls off a cliff" (

) after year one...

His OVR takes about a ten point dive, along with attributes across the board...

Has anyone tried to deal him away in Season One?

From the look of things, I'm now considering building a rotation around Hammels, while trying to deal Lee and Papelbon away for prospects in 2015 / pretty much eating the Utley and Ruiz deals and then possibly trying to dump Howard for whatever in 2016...

# 17 RogueHominid @ 05/27/15 05:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 37


	a C-level prospect is not considered very high level...but yeah that consensus from everyone so far is to get anything of value, I'd have to eat salary (which makes sense)...I will not be forcing trades or ignoring budgets...if im forced to stay with Hamels, so be it and the same if I h to accept 50 cents on the dollar for him.....I do agree 1.5 prospects is not enough of a return for him....I'd take one pretty good prospect for Papelbon and run haha.....Asche and Herrera will be given opportunities to stick....im meh on Revere....Franco is definitely staying....Hernandez too...meh on Galvis

I may have not used the best syntax: you can get one really good prospect in the high B range, plus a mid-level C-range prospect, and then you have to eat a big contract for someone on the decline. So basically one reasonably sure-fire future starter, pending normal development and no major injuries, one role player, and then whomever you have to take on contract-wise to make it happen.

# 18 redsox4evur @ 05/27/15 05:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 37


	so im gunna be using the Phillies and would like an honest, unbiased assessment on the trade value of Cole Hamels...

If you are going for realism it's 2 top 5 organizational prospects, which turns out to be 2 top 100 guys and a package of lesser prospects probably in the 7-10 organizational range.

# 19 37 @ 05/27/15 06:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trojan Man


	I may have not used the best syntax: you can get one really good prospect in the high B range, plus a mid-level C-range prospect, and then you have to eat a big contract for someone on the decline. So basically one reasonably sure-fire future starter, pending normal development and no major injuries, one role player, and then whomever you have to take on contract-wise to make it happen.

gotcha....taking on a bad contract isn't an option....I rather receive a lesser deal in return

# 20 37 @ 05/27/15 06:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by redsox4evur


	If you are going for realism it's 2 top 5 organizational prospects, which turns out to be 2 top 100 guys and a package of lesser prospects probably in the 7-10 organizational range.

yes im going for realism......to be fair, since every organization's farm system is different, cant really go by that....I know what you're trying to say though

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