👋 Good morning! Brandon Ingram makes his return to Philly tonight, keep the water bottles away from him.

You know what might brighten Brandon’s mood, though? Some Righteous Felon Craft Jerky!

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As always, you can reach me at [email protected]

Gather ‘round, all ye seamheads!

I have not written a ton about the Philadelphia Phillies in the last few weeks, and that is going to change. You know why? That stove is about to heat up, baby! We are less than three weeks away from Winter Meetings.

So, what did we miss?

Well, first and foremost, Bryce Harper has debuted a new look.

With the baggy sweatshirt kind of looking like an old-timey uniform, you could argue that Bryce is entering his Old Hoss Radbourn stage. It would be charming if, instead of rocking neon green cleats and Phanatic bandanas, Bryce tried to look like an old-timey ballplayer this season. No batting gloves, rolled-up pants, keeping the mustache, etc.

Or, you know, Bryce might just be trying out a new look and this might not be all that deep. Really, who is to say?

On the Bryce front, Dave Dombrowski told multiple local reporters that he had a private conversation with his star player after Dave D surprisingly THREW DOWN THE GAUNTLET at his end-of-season presser a month ago. Dombrowski said the conversation went well, without offering much in terms of specifics. That is an important development, even if we only know that it happened.

So, it sure sounds like Bryce is staying. But unexpected drama aside, we knew that was the case already. Bryce is a 10-and-5 guy that can veto any trade that he pleases. How about everyone else, though? I would point you to two offseason pieces of #content that I look forward to every year:

Kyle Schwarber: MLBTR has Schwarber pegged for five years, $135 million. That would take Schwarbs to his Age 38 season. All of their writers predicted Schwarber returning to Philly as well, but I will turn to Passan for the juicy reporting tidbits:

J.T. Realmuto: Realmuto "won't demand more than two years," according to Passan. That is good news for the Phillies, because a three-year deal would have been bordering on irresponsible. Do not get me wrong, J.T.’s decline at the plate this year still worries me. But I also do not know what other obvious catching options this team has. They should get cracking on some, by the way. Eduardo Tait is no longer waiting in the wings.

Kyle Tucker and Alex Bregman: Tucker should get the most money in free agency (MLBTR projects 11 years, $400 million). After taking a one-year contract with Boston last season, Bregman is projected to get a whole bunch of dough as well (6 years, $160 million). Both players would fill an important hole for the Phillies, Tucker in the outfield and Bregman as a legitimate middle-of-the-order righty.

Perhaps not the likeliest names. But it seems that, like Toronto, you cannot rule the Phillies out as they, in Passan’s words, “juggle multiple potential paths.”

Outfield notes: Passan said that Justin Crawford is “expected to be the favorite to win the Phillies’ center-field job.” If that is the case, au revoir, Harrison Bader.

And I gave a sensible chuckle at this one: “Philadelphia has tried to trade Nick Castellanos and his $20 million salary. So far, no bites.”

Ranger Danger is projected by MLBTR to get five years, $115 million. Since it seems pretty clear that Ranger is a goner, I am rooting for the highest possible salary for him. He deserves it.

Hitch! It appears that someone at the NovaCare Complex likes hitch routes.

What was the saying that Nick Sirianni likes? A wise man avoids all extremes. He really likes saying that, but I dunno y’all, he does not seem to mind extremes all that much.

We will have more on the Eagles offense tomorrow. But for now, coming to a football stadium near you…

On this subject, remember hitchBOT? That thing was trying to hitchhike around the country, until it made it to the Delaware Valley. Some locals decided, “Hey, this is weird” and immediately decapitated the robot, making the act a source of local pride in the process. I do not think the Eagles need to be quite as extreme with their playbook, but maybe a few less hitches would suffice.

Not too much Birds news yesterday. The coordinators spoke, and Uncle Vic confirmed that Nolan Smith (just 32.3 percent of the defensive snaps since returning) is on a pitch count of sorts. And if you would like to read below, Les has basically had it with Kevin Patullo.

Callin’ em up: The Phillies made a few roster moves.

If Gabriel Rincones Jr. was right-handed bat and had the exact same numbers, I wonder if the Phillies would give him a legitimate shot to be the starting right fielder. After a great spring training last year, he was basically on the Aidan Miller trajectory. Not a great first few months at Lehigh Valley, and then once July 1st hit, he started raking. All that said, I wonder if Rincones has a shot to make the team as a bench bat this season.

We will have more on McFarlane, Painter and Rincones on the site today.

A rough Sixers injury report: The Sixers are on a back-to-back, starting tonight at home against Toronto and then tomorrow against Shorthanded Doc in Milwaukee. Tough draw, Shorthanded Doc is terrifying.

Well, the Sixers are probably going to be shorthanded as well.

I wonder if Paul George is going to play the second half of the back-to-back in Milwaukee, because he and Joel Embiid were both full participants in practice yesterday. Might the Sixers punt the Toronto game entirely and have the two big guns ready for Shorthanded Doc? We will see. I could also see Embiid playing tonight and George playing tomorrow.

Anyway, we will all figure it out together. It’s the Post-Expectations Sixers, I am not sweating it!

Quite a report in The Guardian alleging tons of misbehavior from Union sporting director Ernst Tanner. We will see what comes of this.

The Sixers are back in action tonight, this time against a Toronto team that has not lost since the Sixers got ‘em last Saturday (7:00 p.m., NBC Sports Philly). And if you wanna watch some college hoops, Villanova takes on La Salle at The Glaze.

The Flyers cancelled practice yesterday, and why not? They are on a four-day break anyway! And speaking of four-day breaks with the Flyers, make sure to check out out California Takeover with Philly Sports Trips.

Your tentative Wednesday schedule at PHLY:

Let’s make it a good one.

Rich Hofmann
Daily Newsletter Editor
PHLY SPORTS