With spring training a month away, Phillies fans will soon hear the pop of a fastball landing in the catcher’s mitt; however, the difficulty of acquiring a dependable starter is not just a problem for general manager Matt Klentak but also many of his contemporaries.

Four outcomes:

Reviewing the offseason moves of the Philadelphia Phillies, the faithful see two setup men, a slugging first baseman, and a new manager. Primarily, the organization’s goal is to improve on their second-half success because of the pieces they added and an increased analytical reliance.

IN OTHER WORDS: “All the flowers of all the tomorrows are in the seed of today.” – Croft M. Pentz

The first signs of the new campaign ahead will be the battles for the rotation spots behind Aaron Nola and the bench jobs. Meanwhile, others will hope to avoid returning to the Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs.

During March, two players will be under management’s watchful eyes: Scott Kingery and right-hander Thomas Eshelman. But both will probably begin the first two months of 2018 with Lehigh Valley and receive an earned promotion during a sustained period of excellence.

Although the free-agent market hasn’t had its usual fireworks, one reason is GMs are probably using analytics to determine value. And exceptions involved specific needs. For instance, Klentak overpaid for Carlos Santana because the team has needed a left-handed bat with power for the last two seasons.

Primarily, one theme appears more than the others combined: Phillies fans on the Internet are demanding the signing of Jake Arrieta. They envision a one-two punch of Arrieta and Nola having a legitimate shot at winning the Wild Card Game and advancing deeper in the playoffs.

First off, the Chicago Cubs have offered Arrieta $110 million over four years. And the Phils would only be willing to sign him at that price if he could make them a serious contender for the divisional title. By comparison, Yu Darvish is even more expensive.

Many locals have stated they would outbid other franchises for Arrieta and gladly overpay. However, only one added it’s not his money.

While many supporters only focus on short-term objectives, the front office wouldn’t be inking the ace for one summer, but four. In other words, free agents get older, not better. Ergo, logical.

Deciding on a significant addition, Klentak will not sign an aging star to compete for two campaigns and then eat $55 million to receive prospects. But if the red pinstripes have a solid shot in 2019, the exec might conclude otherwise regarding an ace for meaningful October baseball.