What Carlos Santana's Signing Means For The Phillies: 5 Takeaways

PHILADELPHIA, PA — When the Phillies signed former Indians slugger Carlos Santana earlier this month, the move left many scratching their heads.

After all, rookie Rhys Hoskins is the organization's future at first base, the Phillies greatest need is pitching, and it seems like they are still a year away from playoff contention.

But as a grizzled Luke Skywalker, were he a baseball analyst, might say: everything just said in that sentence is wrong.

Here's a look at five important reasons why.

1. Rhys Hoskins will shift to left field, most of the time (and the Phillies could have four starting outfielders).

Santana plays above average defense at first base (though he can also catch and play third base), so he will be the preferred option there. That leaves the Phillies with four very good, if not excellent outfielders in Hoskins, Aaron Altherr, Odubel Herrera, and Nick Williams. Conventional thinking would place Hoskins in left full time and Herrera in center full time, with Williams and Altherr sharing right. But the Phillies are conventional, and no matter what, there are four starting-caliber players for three full time spots. Here's why that could be a good thing:

• Injuries happen. Both Altherr and Herrera missed significant chunks of time last season due to injuries. Depth is a key part of what has kept the greatest teams over the past few years great: the Dodgers and the Nationals each lost their best player - Clayton Kershaw and Bryce Harper - for over a month last season, yet they remained among the game's best teams.
• Consistency. While Herrera has proven himself over several seasons, Williams, Altherr, and even Hoskins do not have that kind of major league track record.
• Matchups. New manager Gabe Kapler has gone on record multiple times about using non-traditional lineups and mixing up the batting order. This could mean that matchups with pitchers, weather, the ballpark in question, or a range of other factors, determine how many innings each outfielder gets per game or per week. In 2017, the NL Central winning Cubs shuffled six high-caliber outfielders in and out of the lineup, with Kyle Schwarber, Jon Jay, Ian Happ, Albert Almora, Ben Zobrist, and Jason Heyward all getting significant playing time.

2. Depth now exists, from which to trade for pitching.

Of course, there is a very real possibility - perhaps even a likelihood, that Williams or Altherr (or Herrera or Hoskins, though much less likely) could be traded for starting pitching help. Signing Santana gives the Phillies the ability to keep a prospect and trade a major league ready piece to help bolster their unproven starting rotation. Some possible trade targets include Chris Archer, Gerrit Cole, Michael Fulmer, Danny Duffy, and Zach Greinke.

3. The Phillies want to compete in 2018.

An improvement on their 2017 showing of 66 wins was a foregone conclusion, given that they played about .500 ball in the second half. However, the signing of Santana this year indicates that management thinks with a few tweaks, the Phillies have a shot of at least making a run at the second wild card spot in 2018.

4. On base percentage is a favored metric of the McPhail-Klentak regime.

This was already common knowledge, but this winter's moves have reinforced the importance of OBP to the new sabermetric-oriented upper management of the Phillies. While Santana doesn't hit for a stellar average, he is known for his excellent pitch selection and his walk rate. When the Phillies traded Freddy Galvis to the Padres (the same day they signed Santana), they were selecting the youth of J.P. Crawford, but also a player who, even through his struggles, has been noted for his patience at the plate.

5. The 2018 free agent class will take the Phillies seriously.

Even if Santana's signing does not result in a postseason berth for the Phillies in 2018, it does show to the free agent market next winter that the Phillies mean business. If the Phillies are near .500 next year, it means they were probably in the hunt for the second wild card for at least a few weeks. Showing significant strides in the rebuild shows 2018 free agents like Harper, Kershaw, Manny Machado, and Dallas Keuchel that they would be signing on to a team that has built a franchise ready to be sustainably successful.

(AP Photo/David Dermer)