The Phillies deepened their lineup and added a veteran bat to the outfield mix on Thursday, announcing the signing of free agent Michael Saunders to a one-year deal with a club option for the 2018 season. Saunders will reportedly be guaranteed $9MM in the form of an $8MM salary and a $1MM buyout on an $11MM option for 2018. His contract is also said to contain escalators that can push the option’s value to $14MM.
The 30-year-old Saunders, a client of Meister Sports Management, has been linked to the Phillies on multiple occasions over the past several weeks. Philadelphia has had its eye on a number of outfield bats and reportedly has a preference to add a left-handed bat to its lineup. Saunders checks both of those boxes and will deepen a Philadelphia lineup that scored the fewest runs in all of Major League Baseball last year.
[Related: Updated Philadelphia Phillies Depth Chart]
Saunders turned in his first full, healthy season since 2013 last season, playing in a career-high 140 games and tallying a career-high 558 plate appearances. The overall results — a .253/.338/.478 batting line with 24 homers, 32 doubles and a pair of triples — look very strong on paper, although Saunders’ season was fairly dichotomous in nature. The first half of the 2016 season saw Saunders break out and perform at a superstar level. In 344 first-half plate appearances, Saunders hit a ridiculous .298/.372/.551 with 16 home runs — all of which was impressive enough to merit his first All-Star selection.
However, Saunders’ production fell off a cliff early in the second half. Over the final two and a half months of the season, he batted a woeful .178/.252/.357 with eight homers in 214 plate appearances. Certainly, there was some poor luck at play, as Saunders watched his BABIP plummet. While his first-half mark of .377 was never sustainable, his second-half mark of .221 seems equally fluky. The poor second half can’t be solely attributed to luck, though; Saunders’ strikeout rate spiked from 26 percent to more than 30 percent, and his infield-fly rate more than doubled as well (3.8 percent first half to 7.2 percent second half). He also saw his hard-contact rate drop by about six percent while his weak-contact rate rose accordingly.
Saunders once rated as a plus defender in the outfield corners, but his work in both left field and right field checked in below-average last season (per Defensive Runs Saved and Ultimate Zone Rating). Saunders will enter the 2017 campaign one more year removed from surgery on his left knee, however, and he won’t have to play half of his games on artificial turf next season. As such, it’s possible that his glovework could experience a rebound. It should also be noted that Saunders has had shoulder troubles in the past as well, so durability has to be at least somewhat of a concern.
While there are a number of red flags with Saunders, the bottom line is that he’s been a decidedly above-average bat when healthy enough to take the field. Dating back to the 2012 season, Saunders owns a .249/.325/.435 batting line, which is more impressive than it first appears when considering the fact that the majority of those games have come in Seattle’s cavernous Safeco Field. Park-adjust metrics like wRC+ and OPS+ grade Saunders’ overall offensive output at 10 percent and 11 percent better than the league-average bat, respectively, in that span.
Saunders averaged 21 homers per 162 games in that time, and as he demonstrated last year when hitting 24 home runs, there’s the potential for a greater total in a more hitter-friendly setting than Seattle. He’s also hit quite a bit better against left-handed pitching in recent years than he did early in his career (.277/.364/.486), although that improved production has come across just 200 plate appearances, so it’s perhaps worth taking with a grain of salt. If he struggles against southpaws like he did earlier in his career, Saunders could potentially platoon with the right-handed-hitting Aaron Altherr.
Assuming Saunders’ deal is pushed across the finish line, he’ll slot into right field alongside trade acquisition Howie Kendrick in left field and recently extended Odubel Herrera in center field. The Phils do have a number of young options to whom they could’ve entrusted the right field job, but none comes with any degree of certainty. Fleet-footed Roman Quinn, for instance, looked respectable in a brief September cameo last year but hasn’t even played at the Triple-A level. Altherr showed very poorly in his return from a wrist injury, hitting .197/.300/.288 in 227 plate appearances. Top prospect Nick Williams, meanwhile, had a dismal year in Triple-A, while slugger Dylan Cozens, like Quinn, has yet to play in Triple-A.
MLB Network’s Jon Paul Morosi first reported that an agreement was close (Twitter link). Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com tweeted that medical reviews were underway. FanRag’s Jon Heyman tweeted that there’s an agreement in place. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reported the terms (Twitter links). ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick gave a timeline for Saunders’ physical and added some details on the incentives (Twitter links).
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Good they need it!
Yeah they have a good rotation just need offensive help and some pen help too
I would say potentially a good rotation if the stars align right
They’re definitely on the right path as far as rebuilding goes
They need it? They already have 5 OF at or near major league ready. This makes no sense
It makes perfect sense cause Roman Quinn is not 100% ready to start he’s a off the bench guy for now, Altherr can start, Oduble can start, Saunders can start. He rest of there maybe proven outfielders are in triple a and the point of this deal is to have him help some young guys and try and trade him away at the deadline either this year or next fro prospects
Double A or below*
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They already have Kendrick as a veteran outfielder they don’t need two. Now they’re gonna have Altherr riding the bench when he should be out there getting everyday playing time.
How can they be “proven outfielders” if they’re in Triple A?
Altherr is a bench guy, not a starter. He is better than what he did last year, but not a good everyday option.
Quinn is a speedster with bad legs, Altherr has proved he can hit steady yet. And everyone else is in AA.
You should read more
K’s alot, terrible defensively and is probably gonna cost a multi year deal… why Klentak.. why?
Good. Took long enough.
You posted you were going to vomit over Saunders. Change your mind?
I think he said he’d vomit if he kept having to hear the rumors.
Hopefully a good signing! As long as it’s not a huge AAV and no more than 2 or 3 years he’s a good place holder for the young guys
Why…. They already have Altherr, Herrera, Kendrick, Quinn and Nick Williams. Phillies are at best a 4th place team so why are you blocking young guys from playing?
They have 2 outfielders in Herrera and Kendrick. You don’t know how Williams and Quinn are. They are not near MLB ready and awful Altherr will be a disaster over a full season.
Glad you can see the future on Atherr. The Phillies aren’t gonna win more than 75 game so why not see what the kid can do? And Quinn and Williams are nearly ready, they need to be getting playing time upon arrival. A mediocre veteran on a last place team with youngsters around makes zero sense.
Mediocre is Howie Kendrick. Nick Williams can’t pay off triple A pitching so he won’t be up anytime soon. Quinn may be a quick mover, but he takes Kendricks spot and Saunders plays the whole year and hits 25 bombs and drives home 80. Saunders will be better because Matt Stairs likes him as well.
Saunders is bad too.
Well we just aren’t living in the same world if you think Saunders is better than Kendrick, and you use RBI in your analysis. It’s not 1975.
I think the phillies could reach 79 wins, they have a young rotation, the offense needs to score runs, they are ahead of schedule on the rebuild, give them one more year and I think they will be back at the top of the nl east.
No chance man they won’t be reaching the top of the east for at least 2-3 more years.
The name of the game is scoring runs and you don’t score runs if you can’t hit them in. Your not worth a damn if you can’t hit when a pitcher bears down with runners on second and third with 2 outs. That is why Granderson isn’t worth much to me.
I think the Phils big jump will be after the 2018 season. Nats lose Harper and the Phils make big signings and win the division in 2019 with 95 wins.
I don’t even know what you’re talking about anymore. Granderson is way better than Saunders. And who cares about scoring runs when you’re trying to rebuild?
This again? RBI aren’t a skill. They are a function of how many guys are on base ahead of you when you bat. Remember that terrible season of Ryan Howard’s a few years back where he still drove in almost 100 runs? He didn’t have good numbers in “clutch” situations. He just happened to bat with more runners on base than any other hitter in baseball.
The name of the game is actually baseball and the goal of that game is to score more runs than your opponent, not just to score runs.
Saunders may help you score some runs, but his abysmal defense will also cost you some.
Listing one example does not provide a convincing argument. Managers have regularly placed a player who “drives in” runs” in the 3 and 4 spots of the order. Miguel Cabrera is an example to counter Ryan Howard. His batting average with runners in scoring position is better than with the bases empty. Some players just rise to the occasion, and are put in those spots because the lineup is set to provide those runners on base when they come up. Yes, Howard did have some luck, but he was there because the team had no one better. If the Tigers batted Jose Iglesias third, you would see what the value in RBIs are.
Saunders has had exactly one bad season with bad defensive ratings in the corner outfield, and it came a year after knee surgery while playing half his games on artificial turf.
It’s not as if he’s had some Jermaine Dye-esque 4-5 year run of putrid defense. “Abysmal” is an overstatement.
Sure, he could be considerably below average again in 2017, but it’s not as if he’s so far gone that he can’t turn in a solid season with the glove, either.
Agreed. I’d take Micheal Saunders in a heartbeat again as a Blue Jay. I would take him over Morales for defence, perhaps not Pearce though. I call him and Bautista even when it comes to defence.
Quinn and Williams could absolutely use more AAA time, Altherr was pretty bad last year but will still get his at-bats and Kendrick will be a super utility guy. There’s no down-side to a 1 year deal for Saunders.
good player, just makes a lot of boneheaded defensive and baserunning mistakes. wish him the best
Phillies need a major league bat and Jay Bruce was the best option. Saunders is a good consolation prize. Probably a 1 year around 10 mil with incentives. He will slot in 4th behind Franco and will give Franco much needed protection.
The Phillies suck who cares about run production this year. They need to be figuring out which of their young OF are legit.
Just because they figure it out faster than you, doesn’t mean they haven’t done so.
they are just trying to fix what was the worst offense in baseball last year, they need major league ready bats, altherr was awful, williams and quinn don’t appear ready and may not pan out you never know. i like this deal for them
Sign Saunders move Kendrick to 2nd and trade Hernandez to the Dodgers for prospects
Selling high on Hernandez would be smart.
This is a good suggestion. I wonder if they have had any talks with the dodgers about this
I wonder if this means Kendrick is now the utility guy barring a poor showing from both Quinn and Altherr. Have to assume it’s about 7 million AAV, which wouldn’t make a lot of sense if he wasn’t starting.
I think the phillies will be a sleeper team this year if the offense can score runs, the pitching is there, and so is the bullpen, they just need to score runs.
The Phillies are terrible and at best a 4th place team. Max 75 wins.
they got off to a nice start last year, then they just fell flat. they have a nice young rotation led by Nola, then adding bucholz and bringing back hellickson, they will be improved this year I think.
They got off to a nice start by flukily outperforming their Pythagorean record (aka their run differential was terrible and they fluked into a lot of wins). The second half was the real Phillies.
Some would say grinded alot of wins…
Well sure, if you wanna use random cliches. I guess the teams they were playing weren’t “grinding”. They got lucky, there’s no if and or buts about it.
You mean the second half when most of their regular rotation and bullpen got injured? They were basically doing bullpen games half the time at the end of the year with pitchers who should have been in AA.
Pythagorean is misleading because good pitching/bad hitting teams tend to win close games and lose more in blowouts, where the opposite is true with good hitting/bad pitching teams. It’s about as telling a stat as BA or RBI’s.
Some of us watch the games, you know.
The best part? No Jay Bruce!
Saunders is a poor man’s Jay Bruce.
If he comes close to matching his 1st half 2016 production he’s going to be pretty tradeable at the break.
It really was a choice between Saunders and Daniel Nava, as the team didn’t have enough players to fill out a 25 man roster.
Should’ve gone with Nava who at least wouldn’t be taking everyday at bats away from Altherr. They needed a veteran bench bat, not a veteran starter.
good move for Phils – his D was atrocious last year (eye test from row 1 outfield BJ season ticket holder) but he can hit at times. if his falloff was due to stamina (plausible) should be good move for Phils. Has trade value mid-season..
Do the Phillies sacrifice a draft pick if they sign him? If so, is it a second round pick?
a .298 batting average, ridiculous? no, run of the mill.
This opens up trading Hernandez. Kendrick to 2nd. Can play Quinn if healthy
This would be the only scenario where this signing makes some sense.
not excited, but as long as its 1 year deal, who cares?
didnt really make a difference between saunders, moss and Bruce (if not giving up anything); actually, probably preferred Moss due to more power and ability to play first; just a platoon guy to take pressure off Franco/Joseph/Rupp against righties in the middle of the lineup.
Altherr was hurt last year and it takes a year to recover from that injury. He was a spark plug the 2nd half of 2015. If I was another team I would trade for him. He could become a very good player. He has the tools. You can’t base your opinion on last year.
I like Altherr but there isnt alot in his professional career other than 2015 to make you think 2015 was the norm. last year he get an excuse i understand. just dont see a starting OF.
I will say that getting a team option makes this deal more palatable for the Phillies. Given that Saunders as a player has little upside, at least the contract itself has upside.
Not a bad deal for the Phils. If he has another strong first half, and in a park that will make him look better, sell high on him. Id also agree to sell high on Hernandez who i believe peaked last year. Im hoping and praying Cozens comes in and is a monster. More of a Howatd, not a Ruf. I think thats everyones hope. An OF of a productive Cozens, Herrera and perhaps a FA in 2018 like Harper, teamed with Joseph, Kingery, Crawford, Franco or Franco to first and sign Machado with all that bank they have…makes this team a legit threat again for 10 years. You have a strong catcher in Alfaro who could be a masher coming up as well as Moniak. Your staff could be set by 2018 as well as they gain experience. Not to mention whatever top prospects you may still get for Buchholz, Kendrick, Benoit and now Saunders when playoff teams come calling this summer. Exciting times.
Not to mention i am NOT a fan of Altherr. REALLY believe he is another Asche, and barely a Dom Brown, with one less good half in him. Cut bait now.
Does the signing cost the Phillies a draft pick? Even a second round pick?
No he wasn’t extended a QO.
Outstanding, then why not? The Phillies are light on payroll right now and the guy has everything to gain by proving himself and creating his next contracts value moving forward. Worst case he flops and is gone in a year, or they flip him for a prospect at the deadline. Best case is he plays well and it fills a hole for some period of time. I don’t anticipate all of the OF prospects panning out in the near term. Excited about Moniak though when his time comes.
If Saunders is healthy, Phils fans are going to love him, he can rake. He is a plodder in the outfield, play him in left. In To last year he was a machine but ran out of gas after the break. Plus he couldn’t lay off the high inside after the break fastball. He is good for 25 hr/90 RBI and taking some walks. He’ll catch most balls hit his way. Decent throwing arm too. On a 1 year term, it is a great signing, low risk with trade bait at the deadline. Teams will trade for a lefty power bat.
It seems like a lot of guys had great first halves then dropped off considerably. Not accusing Saunders of anything but I am curious if the good first half numbers by a lot of players relates to a PED that would get them caught if taken later in season.
For Saunders it might be a huge first half led to him swinging for the fences more as evidenced by the increase in strikeouts and infield pop ups. A good hitting coach might make this a great low risk high reward signing.
Without argument a good deal for the phils. If he stays healthy and has a performance as last year’s first half.
Hope all the best for the phil’s, My second team.
HMy preference was to sign Moss to have a backup option at 1b for Joseph,but I’m certainly happy with Saunders.he gives us a lh bat to put in the middle of the lineup and split up the rh bats of Franco,Joseph and Rupp.figure if Hoskins opens the year in aaa,maybe Stassi could give us a lh option for some at bats at 1b.ofcourse they could go to Nava as well.still a question of will we carry 12 or 13 position players to.
and his infield-fly rate more than doubled as well (3.8 percent first half to 7.2 percent second half) ~ me thinks someone needs to work on their math.
Who play 1b for the phils?
tommy joseph.
Loved Choi, really wished he would have stayed in Anaheim but i guess it’s just how the cookie crumbles
Man, I wish I had the option to add bonus escalators in my work contract based on my performance…For me, moving staircases are the best way to vertically transport!
with his bum knee I suggest he take the option of an escalator
Makes no sense why Toronto didn’t sign him back. In need of another corner outfield and crying for left handed bats he even said he hoped to sign back on but they refuse to open the purse for him.
They have Upton/Carrera/Pearce/Pompey for that 3rd outfield spot, why create more of a logjam by spending more money on another player that is not really much better than what you already have (Saunders, Carrera and Upton were basically all worth the same value per AB last year)?
There is always Jay Bruce….lol.
They have a logjam and just signed Bautista, so….?
Because he sucks in right field. I’d rather have Reyes
Glad the Orioles didn’t bother with Saunders they have enough guys like him already.