Younger does not always mean better. The Phillies’ re-signing of Chase Utley on Thursday to a two-year extension -- which could be worth as much as $75 million over five years if he stays healthy -- proves they agree with that thinking.
Keeping Utley was necessary. He may be starting the new deal at age 35, but he’s still one of the most productive players at his position and there was no suitable short-term replacement. Utley leads all second basemen this season with a .513 slugging percentage. Outside of Robinson Cano -- who may make $200 million in free agency this winter -- no external candidate could have maintained or exceeded Utley’s production at second.
There were a few internal candidates, but none of them possess Utley’s skill set. Cesar Hernandez has hit .294 in more than 2,300 minor-league plate appearances, but he’s a singles hitter. The Phillies would have lost a lot offensively by letting Utley walk and replacing him with Hernandez.
There's another player, though, who hasn’t been mentioned much lately but had his role with the Phillies clouded even more by the Utley extension -- Freddy Galvis.
Remember Freddy? The elite defensive infielder who’s hit .218 across 364 major-league plate appearances? Galvis has shown more power at the major-league level than was expected, slugging a modest .365. Many thought he’d have as little power as Ben Revere, based off his minor-league numbers. But Galvis has produced an extra-base hit in just about one of every 10 at-bats at the game’s highest level.
At the end of June, Galvis was sent down to Triple A so he could play regularly. He’s hit .248 with a .288 on-base percentage in 38 games. He’s still not reaching base consistently enough to warrant everyday playing time, no matter how brilliant his defense may be.
“Freddy’s got great versatility,” Phillies GM Ruben Amaro said Thursday after a press conference to announce Utley’s new contract. “Whether he ends up being a major-league utility player or an everyday shortstop or second baseman remains to be seen. But that’s all part of being a good club -- you have as much depth as possible. Who knows when these guys go down?”
MLB
Utley has gone down plenty in recent years. His last full season was 2009, and he missed a combined 138 games in 2011 and 2012 with chronic knee tendinitis. A revamped offseason regimen kept Utley more active over the winter and has kept him upright this summer. His knees haven’t been an issue, but Utley did miss a month with an oblique injury. Ryan Howard is also on the shelf, and Jimmy Rollins is having the worst season of his career from a power standpoint.
“They’re getting older and we’ve seen them go down before,” Amaro admitted about his aging infield. “To have that kind of depth is important. I think Freddy’s going to be an everyday player at some point. He’s still working on some things offensively. He’s done a pretty good job down there, but he’s not lighting it up offensively. But ... he’s been outstanding defensively. It’s a matter of him growing up. He’s a young kid, he’s 23 years old, he’s got a ways to go. Whether he plays a bigger role for us or a small role kind of remains to be seen.”
Position switch for Utley?
One topic that didn’t come up during Utley’s press conference was a possible position switch later in his career. Utley has played more than 98 percent of his major-league innings at second base, but Amaro revealed after the press conference that Utley might in the future spend some time at first base or the outfield.
“That’s one of the things that we did talk about, and I talked to Chase about the possibility of moving around in case we have breakdowns, in case Ryan Howard does have another knee problem or there’s something that happens in our outfield,” Amaro said.
“He was very open to it, so if he feels like it’s the best thing for the club then that’s something he’ll do and he’ll do it gladly.”
Any open spots?
From the looks of it, the Phillies have five spots locked up for 2014. Howard will be at first, with Utley at second, Rollins at short, Ben Revere in center field and Domonic Brown in a corner outfield spot. If Darin Ruf and Cody Asche keep hitting, they could start in 2014, too.
There won’t be too many positions up for grabs, but that’s a good problem to have. The Phils seem to be well-stocked at second base with Utley, Hernandez and Galvis, and at third base with Asche and the developing Maikel Franco, who has hit .313 with 24 homers and 82 RBIs in 108 games this season between Class A Clearwater and Double A Reading.
“We’ve thought about a lot of different things and I hope that we have that problem,” Amaro said Thursday. “I mean, I hope we have a problem where guys are competing for jobs because you can’t ever have enough talent. Who knows who goes down? These things always have a way of working themselves out, but I hope Maikel Franco becomes the guy we think he can become. He is your prototypical run producer on the corner.
“Cody, as we’ve talked about, probably is athletic enough to maybe move around in different positions. But until that happens, Cody’s our third baseman right now and he’s going to get a chance to play third base and we’ll see what happens after that.”