With the holidays over and pitchers and catchers reporting to Clearwater in about six weeks, now is a good time to look ahead to some Phillies camp battles.
Like the front end of the roster, the back end is just as inflexible. It’s a big reason why you probably won’t see many interesting names pop up as non-roster invitees.
There are a few notable Phillies players on the 40-man roster who will enter the year without minor league options for the first time in their careers. What that means is that they either have to make the team out of camp, start the year on the major league injured list or be designated for assignment and clear waivers in order to be taken off the 40-man roster and sent outright to the minor leagues.