Cookin' on the Hot Stove

Now that our favorite little baseball team has hired superstud Gabe Kaplar as manager and his coaching staff is in place, it's time to look at the roster.

It seems like the hot stove is starting to smolder and we're likely to see some cooking this week. The Phillies are an interesting free agent player, as Fangraphs noted last week. Do they or don't they? Or do they halfway it?

With the books completely scrubbed, the Phils have just $37 million or so to pay out this year. This is a big-market franchise with a $180 million payroll as recently as 2014. That was the same year the team inked a $2.5 billion TV deal with Comcast.

Somewhere in Phillies Kingdom there is a big pile of money to spend. Logic says it's in a vault at Citizen's Bank.

Let's sort this out. Options include spending short-term, or long-term, signing their own players to extensions, or waiting until 2018 and going hard at Harper, Machado or others.

Or they could do a combination of those things -- or maybe all of them. This team might be the most flexible franchise in MLB.

I'm going to break our potential moves into three main categories:

* Come Back One Year! -- Phillies are not likely to seriously contend for three years. So few expect them to be bidding on the big fish in this pool.

But if they can get someone who they feel will be an important piece in 2020, they should definitely try to sign him.

Unfortunately, that's a small pool. A starting pitcher like Alex Cobb or Lance Lynn. Forget about Giancarlo Stanton -- that ain't happening, nor should it.

Odds: 6-1

* Do The Opposite -- GM Klentak is certainly going to sign some players, we know that much. Most likely, they are going to fall into the supporting player category. Our needs list is headed by a couple starting pitchers, a couple bullpen pieces and perhaps a backup OF.

I have interest in OF Jon Jay here, although he appears close to signing with the Mariners. On the mound, Chris Tillman is a buy-low guy and I love taking a flyer on Drew Smyly. He's coming off Tommy John, so won't be ready until the All-Star Break, or perhaps a little earlier.

But Smyly has a 3.78 ERA in the AL, and he's a lefty at 28 years old. Leftys have a long history of blooming in their late-20s. The Phillies have let a few of these guys get away over the years (JA Happ comes to mind), so this would be a chance to get one back.

Might take two years and $10 million. But that's a lottery ticket worth purchasing. The only downside to this fit is Smyly's home run rate. He gave up 32 bombs in 2016, but he kept the ball in the park much better in earlier years.

Odds: 1-1 (Players will be signed here)

* The Upside-Down Pen -- Here's my wild-card strategy. If Klentak comes up empty with Lynn, Cobb or any other significant starting pitcher, why not turn to a bullpen strategy?

In short, I'd rather spend $50 million on contracts for Brandon Morrow and Bryan Shaw than spending $75 million on a fourth starter Mike Leake/Jeremy Hellickson type. Of course, they won't be able to sign both Morrow and Shaw, but maybe they get one and keep shopping.

I just think a beefed-up bullpen gives you so many options. It really fits the trend that winning teams are using today, and the Phils have a little bit of a foundation with Hector Neris, Luis Garcia and Edubray Ramos. An average rotation backed up by a parade of hard-throwing rightys won Kansas City a ring not long ago.

If the Phils take a big step forward, they can hang on to their pen pieces. If not, they would be very attractive at the trade deadline. Most importantly, the money invested is virtually a non-issue. I think the Phils would happily send $10 million along with a stud RP in exchange for a couple strong prospects.

Odds: 4-1

Phillies are entering an exciting phase of the rebuild. They can go in a dozen different directions. Of course, next year is likely to generate the real fireworks.

Until then, the good news is we should see plenty of action this year. And the better news is it seems Michael Saunders has retired.