Phillies Urged to Make Andrew Painter Decision Amid Expected Lockout

(Bob Kupbens-Imagn Images)

It's very tough to get an exact feel for why some teams around Major League Baseball are more aggressive with their young players than others. Whether that be calling them up, signing them to pre-arbitration extensions, or anything else, the Philadelphia Phillies typically sit on the cautious side of things.

I almost feel wrong saying that because we've seen multiple players this year alone come up, as well as some other youngsters in the past, but I think we can all agree that somebody like Andrew Painter probably could have debuted last year, and nobody would have batted an eye at it.

Regardless, the Phillies have done what's needed with that, and should eventually look to take the next steps in this situation. With a possible lockout looming, some think it's a good time to sign guys like Painter and Justin Crawford to pre-arbitration deals. When examining why, it makes a lot of sense.

“The Phillies have a pair of talented youngsters in center fielder Justin Crawford and right-hander Andrew Painter. They’ve been among the few bright spots on the club outside of the established mainstays. It’s a star-studded class, but what's the point? The rookie wave around the sport has made one thing clear: plenty of teams already feel confident in their young players and the direction of their future.

"Baseball is in good hands with this much young talent spread throughout the game. But the future of the sport itself feels less certain beyond this season. The collective bargaining agreement expires after 2026, and the next round of negotiations — likely centered around a salary cap, salary floor, and new payroll rules — could very well lead to a work stoppage in 2027. That creates a reason for teams to act now. If clubs believe the financial rules of the sport will look different a year from now, there is logic in locking up their young players early, buying out arbitration years and securing cost certainty ahead of the system changes,” Cole Weintraub of NBC Sports Philly wrote.

If there are any salary caps or floors, the hope for teams like the Phillies is that their contracts would be grandfathered in.

There's no guarantee that's going to be the case, and there's no guarantee that there's going to be a salary cap, but it would seem likely that something of that nature would have to happen. In that case, having Painter and Crawford locked in would be a wise decision.