Connie Mack Chapter Hot Stove meeting recap – 11/17/2018
YO! Ten members of the Connie Mack Chapter braved the mass transit and auto effect of the Philadelphia Half-Marathon on Saturday, November 17, 2018, to attend the first Hot Stove of the offseason. We met in the Community Room of the PCI Library in Rittenhouse Square. There must have been a lot of pent-up opinions since the close of the season and the end of the playoffs because we spent ALL of the 4 hours jawing about “All Things Baseball.”
They included:
Causes of Phillies collapse
– Chemistry upset by roster additions in August?
– Pitchers/batters hit wall, remember they ARE young
– Flaws became apparent, especially poor defense and very poor runs scored
– Arrieta & Santana could have performed better, same with Herrera & Altherr
Free agents
– It was agreed that Harper and Machado would improve team. And that the Phillies can afford them. QUERIES: Does Machado have the heart to play for Phils, does Harper want to come to Philly?
World Series
– Most in room expected/wanted Sox to win
– Agreed that Sox were BTinB
– Sox featured interchangeable parts
– Cora greatly out-performed Roberts
Bad call in Sox/Astros game
– It WAS a bad call, should have been HR, MLB needs to put cameras on foul line corners. Also noted, parks should have clearly demarcated yellow fair/foul delineation
A’s season
– They came out of nowhere, almost caught Astros and should have beaten Yanks
Phillies 2019 outlook
– Klentak did not give any prospects when he added roster additions August
– Santana needs to score, he gets on base but HAS to be knocked in, his defense is good
– Pitching should be stronger, age improves endurance
– Defense must!! Improve, MUST IMPROVE, Kingery could help, Hernanandez tradeable
– Have to score more runs, Franco is improving, Hoskins has more experience, Williams is OK, Altherr is big IF
– Crawford not answer at shortstop, injuries throughout career, can’t hit
– Alfaro must!! work on defense
– Nola is real deal
– Bullpen needs to improve, Domingo & Suarez need help
Join us for our next HOT STOVE meeting, from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. on Saturday, December 15, 2018, at the PCI Library, 1905 Locust Street in Rittenhouse Square in Philadelphia. For questions, please contact Seamus Kearney at seamus1942@me.com.
— Dick Rosen & Seamus Kearney