SATURDAY: Phillies assistant GM Scott Proefrock says he isn’t aware of any contact between the Phillies and Sizemore, Marc Narducci of the Inquirer writes. Proefrock notes that the Phillies were interested in Sizemore in the offseason, but says, “There is not any [contact] that I am aware of, but Ruben [Amaro] may be doing something, but I am not aware of anything.”
FRIDAY: Grady Sizemore officially cleared release waivers earlier this afternoon and became a free agent, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweeted. Now that he’s on the open market, multiple clubs are interested, making it unlikely that he would sign a minor league deal and head to Boston’s Triple-A affiliate, tweets Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe. Jon Heyman of CBS Sports adds (also via Twitter) that the Phillies, among other teams, have reached out. Meanwhile Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN tells one of his followers that the Twins haven’t reached out to their former AL Central rival.
Sizemore’s return to the Majors was quite the story early this season. Not only did he improbably make the Red Sox’ Opening Day roster after signing a one-year, $750K contract — he clubbed a solo homer in the opener and batted .343/.395/.571 with a pair of big flies in his first 10 games. However, from that point forth, Sizemore batted just .187/.263/.267 in 167 trips to the plate. That performance led to his release, despite a glaring need for outfield help in Boston.
For the Phillies, Sizemore would be a reasonable outfield gamble despite his struggles. Philadelphia outfielders have batted a combined .245/.298/.374 this season. Combined with their poor defensive play, they’ve come in below replacement level as a group, per Fangraphs.
