Phillies make minor progress at GM meetings, adding Francoeur

PHOENIX - The first major act of baseball's offseason came and went Thursday morning, and it proved to be nothing more than a feeling-out process for Phillies acting team president Pat Gillick and embattled general manager Ruben Amaro Jr.

The team made some minor news on the final day of the general managers meetings by announcing the signing of eight players to minor-league contracts. The list included outfielder Jeff Francoeur, a former first-round pick of the Atlanta Braves who once upon a time was capable of driving in 100 runs.

What we discovered most at these meetings is that if an opposing team wants one of the Phillies' players, it should make an offer because they are all available if the price is right. It is also clear that the three players the Phillies would most like to rid from their roster are Ryan Howard, Jonathan Papelbon, and Marlon Byrd.

Howard, of course, is the headliner of that trio because he was literally the Big Piece of the core that created all those good times at Citizens Bank Park. Now, it just seems to be a fait accompli that his days in Philadelphia are over even if it means the Phillies have to eat the $60 million remaining on his contract.

Amaro was asked during the week what he said to Howard during the first baseman's 2014 exit interview.

"We've had discussions with him," the general manager said. "He's aware of what the goals are. He's going through his normal routine to prepare for the season."

If the Phillies had any desire to see whether Howard could recover some semblance of the form that made him one of the most feared power hitters in the game, they would likely be more proactive about the first baseman's offseason routine. There have been times in the past when they wanted him to work on his defense in the offseason or they carefully monitored his recovery from Achilles tendon surgery.

Now, it seems all they want to do is make sure he is gone by spring training in the hope that they can insert Maikel Franco at first base to see whether he can be part of the next core that returns good teams and good times to Citizens Bank Park.

Trading Byrd should be a little easier than Howard because it involves far less money. It will be fascinating to see what the Phillies can do with Papelbon, who has performed well on the field but often behaved badly off it.

It's clear the Phillies want better clubhouse chemistry than they have had in recent seasons.

"Yeah, that is one of the elements we have discussed very openly in our organizational meetings," Amaro said. "It's pretty clear the teams that have success, the teams that have more success have [good chemistry]."

The only big splash that the Phillies could make in free agency is the addition of Yasmany Tomas, but that's far from a certainty with so many teams also talking to the Cuban outfielder.

The Phillies will be younger when they arrive in Clearwater, Fla., for spring training. It remains to be seen how they will get to that desired destination.

Lefthander Elvis Araujo, 23, agreed to terms on a major-league contract with the Phillies. The 6-foot-6 Araujo played last season at double-A Akron and single-A Carolina and went 2-1 with 11 saves and a 3.42 ERA in 43 games. . . . In addition to Francoeur, the Phillies also signed Andres Blanco, Brian Bogusevic, Russ Canzler, Chase d'Arnaud, John Hester, Darin Mastroianni, and Xavier Paul to minor-league deals. Blanco, an infielder, hit .277 in 25 games for the Phillies last season. Bogusevic, Paul, and Mastroianni are outfielders, and Canzler and d'Arnaud are capable of playing the infield and outfield. Hester is a catcher.

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