Rhys Hoskins (left) may push Tommy Joseph (right) out of Philadelphia. (Frank Klose and Brandon Apter/SportsTalkPhilly)
By Tim Kelly, Sports Talk Philly editor 
Philadelphia Phillies manager Pete Mackanin is normally fairly up-front with the media. Thursday, he didn't try to dance around the obvious: Tommy Joseph and Rhys Hoskins can't both be part of the club's long-term future.
After a meeting with the front-office, Mackanin spoke to the collective media. He told the group, which included MLB.com's Todd Zolecki, that the team will eventually have to make a decision on whether to move forward with Joseph at first or prospect Rhys Hoskins:
"They can't coexist," Mackanin said. "I don't think it would be fair to either guy. It wouldn't be fair to us. It wouldn't be fair to Tommy. Tommy's got a chance to hit 30 home runs and drive in 90 runs. To take the possibility away from him, I don't think it's fair to him, regardless of what we think about him. He's a pretty good hitter and to bring Rhys up here just to play part time doesn't make sense to me."
With Mackanin's quote in mind, you get the sense that Joseph will become a trade piece. In 186 career games, Joseph has proven to be a serviceable first baseman with pop, as he's slashed .252/.305/.478 with 35 home runs and 89 RBIs. As Mackanin said, Joseph could hit 30 home runs and drive in 90 RBIs this season, so he's certainly one of the 30 best players at his position in the league. With that said, FanGraphs says that among qualified first baseman, he's one of two first baseman (27 are ranked) with a negative WAR in 2017 and has the second lowest wOBA and wRC+ of qualified first baseman. So he's probably a starter, and at 25 could still grow as a player, but he doesn't project to be one of the league's better first baseman.
Hoskins, on the other hand, is slashing .292/.387/.581 with 20 home runs and 66 RBIs in 301 at-bats for Triple-A Lehigh Valley in 2017. Hoskins is currently tied for fifth in all of minor league baseball in home runs, a list he figures to climb up as the season goes on. This comes after he hit 38 home runs for Double A Reading a season ago. Translation: the 24-year-old is ready to make his major league debut and looks like he could be a long-term cog for the Phillies.
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For Hoskins to make that debut, the Phillies would have to trade Joseph. Though there's been plenty of speculation, it's July 7 and Joseph hasn't been connected to any teams in trade rumors. That's not to say that he won't be moved before the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline, but it's possible that the club will have to wait until this offseason to move him and clear a space for Hoskins.
What appears clear is at this time next year, Hoskins will be playing first base for the Phillies and Joseph will be wearing a different uniform.
