12/21/25 : This and That 👀🧐

Patience is not a virtue of most Philly fans - immediate worrisome reactions like when the Eagles lose a game or god forbid three in a row despite winning the Super Bowl the season before are often the norm. Yet the E-A-G-L-E-S chants sound again after a second consecutive Eastern Division title 🤪. The same holds true for the Phillies - the off-season is a time of speculation and change, however unlike the other major sports MLB off-season transactions generally take time and stretch out over multiple months - the impatient are often vocal in their want for more immediate change - just sayin - perhaps we as fans need to enjoy our teams a bit more - life is far too short to discount the victories and be overly concerned with the critiques 🤦‍♂️.

An important element of organization building is stocking talent that can fill the roles of “next man up” when needed - in a marathon season such as pro baseball there inevitably will be that need. The 40 man roster is the focal point as it both includes and fortifies the active MLB roster - sometimes needs to include developing players there to protect them from the Rule 5 draft that aren’t necessarily major league ready places even more importance in building out the AAA level roster with players who are willing to accept minor league contracts knowing that they are in essence ready reserves. The Phillies have signed twelve new minor league free agents to date, re-signed four others who were with the organization last season and selected two players in the minor league portion of the Rule 5 draft. I attempt to provide articles and announcements of each - ya never know when the “next man up” is needed and whom might just fill the role.

Outfielder Avery Owusu-Asiedu was traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks on 12/19/25 for LHP Kyle Backhus. Each spring training camp my wife and I take a few of the Phillies minor leaguers to dinner - last year it was our honor to share a meal with Avery. He was coming off a rough initial season with Clearwater but his talent was evident, great speed, strong defense and big power lurking - plus a big heart and “want to succeed”.  He never lost confidence in himself as we discussed at dinner and was appreciative of the support both within and outside the organization in faith that he would find success. Avery had a much better season in 2025 and advanced to the High A level where he finished the year - his progress didn’t go unnoticed which resulted in yet another new opportunity for him now with the Diamondbacks organization. Stats don’t always portray the complete picture of a player - struggles of some sort in the minor leagues are generally encountered by every player - impatience isn’t an attribute that fits into player development nor are conclusive statements on future projections based solely on numbers or limited reviews. Knowing the person themselves is vital  - change always occurs whether it be improvements or setbacks. I’m happy for Avery in his new opportunity and have wished him well - it’s a testament to him and the village of support in player development as to his progression to this point.

This will be the first year since 2015 that I won’t be on hand to greet players on the first day of winter High Performance Camp or be there to watch Phillies Phantasy Camp. I’m a five time player participant in Phantasy Camp but have limited my interaction to that of a spectator in recent years. My wife and I are in process of purchasing a new home in the Philly area so we won’t be down to Clearwater till late January now. Just yesterday at a family gathering my sons and I chatted about lacing them up perhaps one more time as a group for 2027 Phantasy Camp (my two sons and son in law played alongside me as teammates twice in prior Phantasy Camps)🧐. It is still my intention to write a daily article of camp activities once I’m back in Clearwater this year. For those interested the next Player Development organizational gathering for the Phillies will be 1/19/26 when winter High Performance Camp begins at the complex. The camp will last till 2/13/26 and will be followed by Minor League Mini-Camp with first workouts slated for 2/18/26 - that camp will run thru 2/27/26. The full Minor League Spring Training Camp first workout will be on 3/2/26 with games against other organizations tentatively slated to begin on 3/10/26. Lehigh Valley will break camp on 3/22/26 with Reading/Jersey Shore/Clearwater breaking camp on 3/28/26. Lehigh Valley opens their regular season on 3/27 while the other three affiliates beginning regular season play on 4/2/26 and 4/3/26.

Happy Holidays to all and as always Happy Day, Happy Baseball ⚾️

Note : I've partnered  with Fanatics on Phillies Merchandise - if you would like to help support my website and articles here's a link to order merchandise - I get a small commission on any sales - thanks for the support.

http://fanatics.93n6tx.net/NKjZkK