The Phillies have announced that they’ve claimed lefty Kevin Siegrist from the Cardinals. The Cards designated Siegrist for assignment on Thursday as they activated him from a stint he spent on the DL with forearm tendinitis. To clear space on their 40-man roster, the Phillies have transferred righty Jerad Eickhoff (hand) to the 60-day DL.
Siegrist was a key reliever for the Cardinals in 2015 and 2016, when he combined for a 2.44 ERA, 10.3 K/9 and 4.0 BB/9 over 136 1/3 innings. This season, though, he’s dealt with a neck injury in addition to the forearm problem, and he’s posted a 4.98 ERA, 9.4 K/9 and 5.2 BB/9 over 34 1/3 innings. He’s also dealt with somewhat diminished velocity, with his mid-90s heater dipping more into the 92-93 MPH range.
Siegrist is, however, eligible for arbitration for two more seasons after this one and he’s making a modest $1.64MM this year. Assuming he’s able to come back healthy, the Phillies can use the rest of the season to get a read on him, then decide if they want to keep him in their bullpen as a relatively cheap addition for 2018. The Phillies, despite not contending this season, have also already shown somewhat of a willingness to take on short-term veteran bullpen upgrades, having also recently added Juan Nicasio on a waiver claim.
The Phillies have a pretty nice looking bullpen now, especially next year since Siegrist is only available through arbitration, I think, of course Nicasio is a free agent but still.
Cardinals will regret this one.
They won’t. They rode the horse till it died. The only thing they will regret is running his earning potential by killing his arm so early in his career.
Matheny cannot manage a bullpen and he literally rode this horse til it died as you say.. Siegrist is a cautionary tale as to why any good reliever would even want to sign with the Cardinals. Time to turn the page on Matheny
Amen to that, plus all of the other boneheaded moves that John Mozeliak has made over the past 6 years!!
I really like it
Henderson Alvarez, Kevin Siegrist and Juan Nicasio (if re-signed) is a very nice, low-risk group of guys who could net prospects.
Alvares and Nicasio are FAs at the end of the year
They’re going to purchase his contract this month and control him through 2018
Nicasio, I mentioned, “if signed”
Nope they will probably just get dumped on waivers just like this season. Guys like this are a dime a dozen, especially when they are making arbitration dollars.
I appreciate these moves. The Phillies front office has done many moves of this ilk over the past two years. It’s a smart strategy, especially for a bullpen piece which are historically so volatile. However, at some point (and it better be soon, like this off season), they need to cash in some chips and go big on a top of the rotation guy/talent. Whether it’s trade (preferred) or a free agent signing, it’s time to infuse the rotation with a stud.
Spot on sir
I heartily approve this move! You figure he stays and Nicasio as well, with Milner staying put (I like Milner) and some combo of Neris/Edubray, could be a low key good bullpen. I’m more concerned about the starting pitching at the moment, but who knows, these little moves are the ones to look back on when games are being won late.
why do u figure nicasio stays?
huntington mentioned he moved nicasio so he could play on a contender, implying that he would rather play for a contender. i don’t think he’s staying, in fact he’s probably very unhappy about this move
I think the Cardinals are going to start shedding a lot of guys like Seigrist from the 40 man real soon. Mediocre or down-year guys they won’t get a nice return on
The Cardinals manager runs good relievers into the ground until their arm falls off. Then wonders what’s wrong with the player?? T
Dumb move by the Cardinals. By this logic, half the team needs to be cut for having a down year. Not shedding weight in the right places.
He had a couple great years but have you seen him pitch in the last two seasons? Shaky at best and gets crushed by LH hitters. Wish him the best but great move by the Cardinals front office. Another victim of Matheny mismanagement and overuse.
I wouldn’t exactly call a .240 OppBA and 1 HR allowed getting “crushed.”
The good thing about being bad is you get some pretty decent MLB caliber guys on waivers. Good pickup by Philly