In February, the Phillies faithful will count the hours until truck day, the first televised game from Clearwater, and/or the weeks remaining before Opening Day with a full 162 ahead: new expectations to debate.

Picking up the pieces:

When injuries are not an excuse, the Philadelphia Phillies from the owners to the 25th man on the roster are to blame. Yes, the front office couldn’t hide their excitement in March. And they also dreaded September’s end because they had skin in the game, did you? Expect perfection, accept reality!

IN OTHER WORDS: “Designing a dream city is easy; rebuilding a living one takes imagination.” – Jane Jacobs

During the offseason, general manager Matt Klentak has four pitching holes to plug and some combinations to do so: Top hurlers mean inexpensive secondary arms in the rotation and relief corps. So, he must judiciously spend resources limited by last winter’s investments.

Every contending franchise in the National League East needs “back end of the bullpen” help, and last summer’s spending will hamper all four organizations. Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Dodgers must remedy their “eighth and ninth inning” difficulties.

Among those not returning, three veterans are free agents including two who missed substantial time. And the salary dump from the Seattle Mariners wasn’t particularly effective, but injuries kept him on the Fightins for the entire campaign. Basically, $24.875 million is officially off the books.

Klentak could have roughly $50-55 million AAV (average annual value) at most for two starters, two firemen and one contract extension of $20 million AAV. So, the GM will probably allocate $10-15 million AAV for two relievers. Translation: Klentak must really earn his pay to keep his job.

The Phils had two setup men with season-ending injuries. But Adam Morgan and Victor Arano were solid when they were healthy. Unfortunately, the $23 million fireman (Robertson) will miss ’20 as well due to Tommy John surgery, but he won’t need a 40-man roster slot because of his expensive contract.

Escaping 2019 intact, Hector Neris, Jose Alvarez and Ranger Suarez are the first three pieces of eight. And if Seranthony Dominguez doesn’t need Tommy John surgery, he could develop into one of the best of eight relief-corps options for the new skipper. But he’s far from a certainty at this point.