Eagles Schedule Change, 7 Phillies Offseason Targets

In a happier universe, we’re previewing a Phillies / Yankees World Series today.

In the real world, we’re looking at potential Phillies offseason targets instead.

We’ll also discuss a schedule change for the Birds and check in on Union fans.

In the email today:

• 🖕 Eagles Lose SNF Slot Because Doug Pederson's Jaguars Are Unwatchable

• 🎯 Potential Phillies Offseason Targets

• 😱 Union Say "Thank You Fans," Fans Fire Back on X

  • 📆 This Day in Philly Sports History

  • 📊 Poll

  • 🔗 Links

  • 📺 Coming Up

The November 3 tilt against the Jaguars at the Linc was shaping up to be special.

LeSean McCoy will be inducted into the Eagles Hall of Fame. Doug Pederson, an assistant under Andy Reid when McCoy played here, will (maybe? probably?) be on the opposite sideline coaching the Jags.

There was enough story here to merit the game being played on Sunday Night Football. The operative word here is “was.”

As of this writing, it definitely isn’t the Eagles and their play so far this season that led to this game’s demotion to the dead-ass 4:05 slot. If this game stinks — and it might — the trouble projects to come from the Jacksonville sideline.

The Jags have scored 145 points in seven games. That math is easy even for us — it’s less than 21 points per game. And if you want to spin that stat even harder, 32 of those points came on Sunday against the Patriots, who (it pains us to say it) suck out loud.

A moribund Jaguars offense was on track to deal with an Eagles defense that in recent weeks has found something.

Maybe the best news in that stat pack is that the Eagles have been as successful as they have so far without depending on turnovers. Some of that is based on the way they play — but inevitably, some of it is premised on one of our favorite phrases: Ball luck.

So Jags/Eagles projects to be one-sided, at least as of now. But is Colts at Vikings really that much more compelling?

Pederson should never have to buy a meal in this town. On this occasion, though, Dougie P did the Birds no favor.

On Pattison’s Tim Kelly took a look at 7 Contact-Oriented Hitters the Phillies Could Target This Offseason on Monday. The full article is well worth reading, but here’s a shortened version:

1) Steven Kwan, Cleveland Guardians

“Kwan still has three remaining arbitration years and the Guardians just reached the ALCS. But the Phillies should make Cleveland hang up the phone on them . . . Not only is Kwan a two-time Gold Glover in left field, but he's a leadoff hitter who has developed more pop . . . hit .292 this season and can set the table for an offense.

2) Jurickson Profar, Free Agent

“The version of Profar that hit .280 with 29 doubles, 24 home runs and only a 15.1% strikeout rate for the Padres would be a really good fit for the Phillies as their starting left fielder . . . However, Profar is a career .245 hitter with a .726 OPS.”

3) Sal Frelick, Milwaukee Brewers

“A first-round pick in 2021, Frelick is still only 24 years old . . . Frelick's nickname is ‘the Hit Collector’ and he's graded out extremely well defensively in right field, while having experience in center and left as well.”

4) Brendan Donovan, St. Louis Cardinals

“Donovan won the Gold Glove Award for utility men in his rookie season of 2022, when he saw time at every position except catcher. The bulk of his time defensively this past year came in left field, with Donovan hitting .278 with 73 RBIs, 47 walks and just a 12.4% strikeout rate.”

5) Nico Hoerner, Chicago Cubs

“Hoerner might not be a fit from a positional sense . . . the bulk of his experience at the MLB level is as a middle infielder . . . Hoerner has hit .279 over the last three seasons with the Cubs, and has a minuscule 12% strikeout rate in his career.”

6) Jake McCarthy, Arizona Diamondbacks

“McCarthy posted a .904 OPS in July and an .864 OPS in August, but really struggled in September with a .521 OPS. He's someone worth circling back on, though, because he hit .285 with just a 15.8% strikeout rate this past season.”

7) Lars Nootbaar, St. Louis Cardinals

“Nootbaar slashed .261/.367/.418 with 14 home runs, 46 RBIs and 72 walks in 2023. His 20.1% career strikeout percentage is still relatively low. And he's proven capable of playing all three outfield positions.”

Any Philadelphia professional sports season that ends in anything less than a title is called a disappointment. But there are definitely levels.

The Phillies crashed out of the NLDS against a Mets team that, it turns out, were who we thought they were. But they won the NL East for the first time in 13 years. The Phillies’ season ended sadly — it was not a failure.

We covered why the 2024 Union season can ONLY be fairly described as a failure, and an ominous one at that. The team’s social media operation had the dicey task of trying to put lipstick on this pig, and this is what they came up with:

Seriously…why do teams do this? Anyone paying even passing attention to the Union this season saw that ownership was selling off key contributors while not spending sufficient money on their replacements. The result was predictable.

Tossing a “Thank You Fans” tweet at Union supporters who are almost uniformly aggrieved was creating an opportunity for blowback where one wasn’t really needed. The fans didn’t disappoint:

If the Union’s hope with this “Thank You Fans” tweet was an attempt at a unifying sentiment, mission not accomplished.

Unless the mission was just to piss people off. As they had all season, the U nailed that.

📆 This Day in Philly Sports History

The 2008 World Series kicked off on October 22.

📊 Poll

Results from Monday:

🔗 Links

• 🤦‍♀️ Minnesota Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve was VERY SALTY about the officiating in the WNBA Finals.

• ♀️Elsewhere in WNBA news, the players opted out of their CBA, and a work stoppage might result.

• 🕛️ It’s a Big Noon kickoff for Penn State and Ohio State on November 2.

• 🎸 Raise your hand if you knew what a big Mets head John Mayer is.

• 💰️ Sports books will not offer NBA prop bets for players on 10-day or two-way contracts.

📺 Coming Up

Games before our next send.

October 22, 2022

• Flyers vs. Capitals, 6:00 p.m. (ESPN)

Thanks for reading. See you tomorrow.

Be sure to follow On Pattison on social media:

• Follow on X

• Follow on Instagram

• Follow on Facebook