PHILADELPHIA -- The Phillies know Bryce Harper and Manny Machado are not cure-alls. They must find other ways to improve.
Third base is one option.
"Part of the fun of this offseason is we don't know which way we're going to go," Phillies general manager Matt Klentak said last week at the GM Meetings in Carlsbad, Calif. "It could be a starter. It could be a reliever. It could be a hitter. It could be a defender. It could be some combination of that. It could be trades. It could be free agency. We'll do whatever we need to do to make our team better and also preserve the long-term health of our franchise."
Phillies third basemen last season ranked 18th in batting (.248), 21st in on-base percentage (.311) and 13th in slugging percentage (.438), according to Statspass. They ranked 16th in expected wOBA (.312), according to Statcast™. Those numbers are better than recent seasons, so will the Phils invest there? If they sign Harper, they might be more inclined to pursue help at third. If they sign Machado and he plays shortstop, they might be more inclined to move forward with internal options like J.P. Crawford, Maikel Franco and even Scott Kingery, who could play second base if Philadelphia trades Cesar Hernandez.

Carlos Santana remains an option, but the Phillies are looking to trade him because they would like Rhys Hoskins to return to first base. The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal just reported that a rival executive said the Phils are shopping Santana.
If the Phillies cannot move Santana, Klentak laid out a scenario in which Santana could play third while Hoskins plays first when a fly-ball pitcher is on the mound and Santana could play first while Hoskins plays left when a ground-ball pitcher is on the mound.
But external options exist, too.
Free agent Josh Donaldson is easily the most intriguing. He has the second-best WAR in baseball since 2012, but the past couple of seasons have hurt his stock. Donaldson has been on the disabled list four times because of calf and shoulder injuries, and he played only 52 games last season. He turns 33 on Dec. 8.
There are risks there.

MLB.com's Mike Petriello broke down Donaldson's free-agent status last week. Donaldson hit .234 with a .333 on-base percentage and a .423 slugging percentage in 159 plate appearances last season with the Blue Jays. He had a 105 wRC+, a 28-percent strikeout rate and an average exit velocity of 89.7 mph. But when Toronto traded Donaldson to the Indians late in the season everything changed. In an admittedly small sample size in September (60 plate appearances), he slashed .280/.400/.520 with a 149 wRC+, a 17 percent strikeout rate and an average exit velocity of 91.2 mph.
Donaldson's Steamer projection for 2019 is .256/.366/.484 with a 4.5 WAR. That would have made Donaldson the eight-most valuable third baseman, in terms of WAR, in '18.
Donaldson might be a good bet to make, but only if the Phillies get him on a relatively short-term deal. The Phils could overpay to make that happen. They showed last offseason they are willing to make moves like that with Jacob Arrieta (three years, $75 million) and Santana (three years, $60 million).

But if Donaldson is looking for too much, the Phillies could look at a free agent like Mike Moustakas. He hit a combined .251 with 28 home runs, 95 RBIs and a .778 OPS with Kansas City and Milwaukee. He is regarded as a tremendous clubhouse presence, although that does not seem to move the needle with Philadelphia as much as other teams.
Free agent Marwin Gonzalez has played some third base in the past, but he also plays everywhere else and the Phillies love positional flexibility. Adrian Beltre seems likely to re-sign with the Rangers or retire.
But the Phillies might consider the options beyond Donaldson as marginal and stick with some combination of Franco, Crawford and Kingery. Franco hit .345 with a 1.013 OPS in 125 plate appearances from June 23 through July 31, but he hit .248 with a .700 OPS in 115 plate appearances the rest of the way. Franco has hit .250 with a .730 OPS and a 92 OPS+ the past three seasons. Do they think something with Franco will finally click in 2019, or are 2,111 career plate appearances enough to make a relatively accurate projection of his future?

Crawford missed considerable time last season because of injuries, so it is difficult to know how effective he might be over an extended period of time. But after a dismal start, Crawford slashed .255/.369/.479 in his final 113 plate appearances.
But, again, those 113 plate appearances spread from April 10 through the end of the season.
Klentak said the Phillies will not wait for the first domino to fall (i.e., Harper/Machado) before they start making other moves. Third base has not been a source of consistent production for the Phils in some time. An early offseason move could put any hot-corner concerns to rest.