It is a general manager's job to maintain his leverage, so Matt Klentak will continue to downplay an offseason that could generate several Phillies trades.
"It's certainly not the end of the world to go into next year with all of these infielders we currently have in the organization," Klentak said last week. "We can make that work."
They could. But a trade makes more sense, even if the rest of baseball is aware of the Phillies' situation. They, despite owning the worst record in baseball for much of the season, have useful players with higher regarded players behind them.
The winter will be a test for Klentak and his lieutenants. Can they trade from the position-player surplus and gain a pitcher?
"I know there's been a lot of speculation about our infield specifically, and how you make room for all these players," Klentak said. "That's something we're continuing to gather information right now to help us make that decision. I'm sure we'll field plenty of inquiries throughout the offseason. We'll just have to see where that takes us."
He added: "If there's an opportunity to utilize that depth to help us in other areas, then we'll consider that as well."
The issue is this: Teams value players more similarly than ever, especially with the rise of analytics in every front office. The trade market for position players was almost nonexistent at the deadline _ Arizona scored J.D. Martinez, the best available bat, for a small prospect cost. Teams are more protective of their prospects than ever. Teams are reluctant to deal pitching, especially if it is young and cheap.
And teams know the shortcomings of Freddy Galvis, Cesar Hernandez, Maikel Franco and Tommy Joseph, the same shortcomings that have the Phillies considering whether those players belong in their plans.
One thing is clear: The Phillies know where an offseason upgrade must happen.
"Just look around the diamond _ we have young, talented players at every position," Klentak said. "So I do think in terms of offseason investments, the areas for us to make investments and make upgrades are probably going to come more on the pitching side than the position-player side for next year."
