Philadelphia Phillies

While the Phillies system is thin on projectable talent and ranks in the bottom tier among all organizations, things are starting to look up thanks to the emergence of slugger Maikel Franco and shortstop J.P. Crawford.

The Philadelphia Phillies just got paid.

Oh, the yuletide spirit is among us. As families and friends gather over the holiday season, unwrapping gifts and perusing old photo albums, let us not forget what the Philadelphia Phillies should be wishing for this Christmas season.

A headline declaring "Phillies Grab Whatever Roberto Hernandez is", per Jeff Sullivan of FanGraphs, reaffirms the sad state of affairs at 1 Citizens Bank Way. With a roster in flux and a determination to disappoint in 2014, the Philadelphia Phillies will have to rely on some prospects at some point in the upcoming season.

The Philadelphia Phillies rebuild, it would appear, is on.

Following a lengthy stretch of success during which they won five straight National League East division crowns and the 2008 World Series title, the Phillies have stumbled the past two seasons, falling to .500 in 2012 and 73-89 last year—their worst mark since 2000.

As ESPN reported on December 9, Roy Halladay retired as a Toronto Blue Jay, but for most Phillies fans and many baseball fans, the truly indelible masterpieces he created came in Phillies' colors.

Of course, so did some of his most disappointing moments in professional baseball.

If the Philadelphia Phillies, led by general manager Ruben Amaro, have a legitimate plan of attack this offseason, it's time to explain it to a puzzled group of baseball insiders.

Now that baseball is in the thick of the winter meetings, rumors and potential signings and trades will be heard out the wazoo. Plenty will be going around throughout the next two days or so, and Bleacher Report's Adam Wells has done a fantastic job of keeping track of them so far.

Much is being made of the Philadelphia Phillies' desire to trade left fielder Domonic Brown, as reported by Yahoo! Sports' Jeff Passan. A line in the sand has been drawn, and there are those who feel as if Brown is the keystone for the Phillies' future while others are screaming sell, sell, sell!

Jonathan Papelbon and Kyle Kendrick are on the trading block for a reason, and that reason's name is Nelson Cruz. The Philadelphia Phillies are looking to find wiggle room financially so they can land another high-priced free agent or two.