Despite the fact that he’s left without a clear role on the Phillies, Tommy Joseph turned away “serious interest” from teams in Japan and Korea this offseason, reports Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia. Joseph consulted with his former teammate, Darin Ruf, who spent the 2017 season playing with the Samsung Lions of the Korea Baseball Organization and raked at a .315/.396/.569 clip. Ruf recommended to Joseph that he should make the jump, but Joseph wasn’t ready to make that move just yet. “You never want to give up the opportunity to play in the major leagues,” said Joseph. “…I want a chance to be here and play in the big leagues.”
The Phillies signed Carlos Santana to a three-year, $60MM contract this offseason, pushing Rhys Hoskins to the outfield and rendering Joseph without an opportunity outside of a bench role. Phils skipper Gabe Kapler has been playing Joseph in the corner outfield this spring to enhance his versatility, but Joseph still faces an uphill battle when it comes to securing even semi-regular at-bats in a crowded first base/outfield mix with the Phils.
Here’s more out of the NL East…
- Erick Fedde made his first appearance of the spring this week, taking the mound for the first time since suffering a flexor strain that ended his season last summer. MLB.com’s Jamal Collier spoke with the promising Nationals right-hander, stating that he felt no lingering effects in his previously problematic forearm. Collier notes, too, that Fedde’s velocity looks to be back to normal after dipping last summer before the right-hander was shelved for the remainder of the year. While the 25-year-old Fedde, a former first-round pick and longtime top prospect in the organization, comes with plenty of upside and hopes to break camp with the club, Collier notes that his remaining minor league options could make that difficult. Right-hander A.J. Cole is the current favorite for the fifth spot in the Nats’ rotation, perhaps in part due to the fact that he’s out of options.
- Jacob deGrom’s availability for Opening Day is in question, writes Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News. While the back stiffness that’s been hampering deGrom in the past few days isn’t believed to be serious, the Mets would prefer deGrom to make five starts to ramp up for the regular season. In order to make that schedule, he’d need to start a game by Sunday, and he’ll likely need to complete two bullpen sessions before he’s cleared to do so. The New York Post’s Mike Puma takes things a bit further, suggesting that deGrom may not be ready for the first week or so of the season (Twitter link). It’s understandable that the Mets would prefer to proceed with caution after the rampant injuries that ran through their pitching staff last season, though, and it doesn’t sound at present that deGrom is in danger of missing any significant time once the regular season rolls around.
- Marlins CEO Derek Jeter was largely dismissive of the grievance filed by the MLBPA against his team (as well as the Rays, A’s and Pirates), per Barry Jackson, Clark Spencer and Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald. “As we have done since the day we took over in October, we will continue to do everything we can to build a foundation for sustained success and improve this organization — which has not made the postseason since 2003 and has gone eight seasons without a winning record,” Jeter said in response to the grievance, which alleges that the four teams listed are not properly reallocating their revenue-sharing profits to improving their clubs.
- Sticking with the Marlins, Craig Davis of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel writes that non-roster invitee Scott Van Slyke has impressed manager Don Mattingly early in camp as he vies for a job. Mattingly, of course, knows Van Slyke well, having also managed him during his best years with the Dodgers. Van Slyke, Davis notes, changed his hitting mechanics this offseason at the behest of his father Andy — a two-time Silver Slugger winner and three-time big league All-Star. Of some note, Davis adds that Van Slyke’s minor league deal with the Fish does not contain an opt-out at the end of Spring Training, so even if he doesn’t make crack the 25-man roster, he could very well be ticketed for Triple-A New Orleans, where he’d serve as a depth option with a strong track record against left-handed pitching and experience in all three outfield slots.
Tommy Joseph in the outfield corners is gonna end like when Matt Adams playing some corner outfield.
There won’t even be a ton of at bats in the outfield for Tommy Joseph with Hoskins, Herrera, Williams, Alther and probably Roman Quinn. He’ll probably get some At bats but not many.
Or when the Red Sox tried Blake sweihart
Why exactly do people keep bringing up Blake Swihart as if he was special case? He was another prospect that a fan base and scouts thought would make it big and didn’t. This isn’t even a “Red Sox and yankee fans overvalue their prospects.” Donovan Tate was supposed to lead the Padres resurgence. Rays fans declared Delmon Young and Elijah Dukes future HOFers. Cubs fans felt josh Vitters should only be traded for an ace. Royals fans were convince Bubba Starling was the next hitting champ.
Need I list one hundred more?
The difference is that every prospect coming up through their system was supposed to be the next big thing.
Sweihart got hurt in a freakish accident. Some could blame it on a lack of outfield experience. That’s fair but there have been many others who’ve gotten hurt in weird ways. Sweihart is still young. Give him some more time. A better comp in my view with the Sox is HanRam.
I believe the Swihart mention was because the Sox also tried to unsuccessfully fit him in the lineup by playing him in the OF. Same as the Phils are doing w Joseph.
or when the Braves tried Gattis in LF
Random side note, but I still think Gattis’ 11 triples in 2015 is one of the most random/coolest stats in history.
Particularly when you look at his 1 career triple over the other 4 seasons of his career.
Yep; that was the last season of Tal’s Hill, right?
I know lol I saw him out there today in LF…I suppose in their home field they COULD kind of hide him in left but MAJOR liability in most parks.
Joseph is gonna regret that decision.
Derek Jeter is such a ignoramus
*an
Settle down loser
Douche nozzle !
Why? He is not responsible for the previous ownership business culture. Dors ANYONE realistically think that Jeter entered into partnership for the Marlins without the explicit objective to try and turn the into a winning franchise? I mean winning is all that he knows.
My sensibility tells me that Jeter is tearing things down to rebuild, invest and foster a winning culture in Miami. I can’t see him being satisfied to be a mildly profitable organization that’s routinely non- competitive. I think he’s keenly aware of his legacy and knows that his post playing career can enhance or damage his legacy in totality.
Generally speaking, when you die, so does your legacy. When you die, your money goes to whoever you want it to go to. So yes, he can choose to make tens of millions of dollars as a partial owner for every year until he chooses to sell the team (in which case he would presumably make hundreds of millions of dollars) and not care about his baseball legacy because his genealocical legacy will be set for four or five generations if they dont screw it up.
Geez you missed the point. Phil Jackson is a great example of someone who’s legacy took a hit because of how things went with the Knicks
My point is that Jeter is a winner and I doubt he went into the Marlins’ situation to NOT be a consistent contender and ultimately a winner. Sometimes things need to be torn down in-order to be rebuilt.,
Sometimes, you shouldnt over pay for a team with a middling payroll, so that you cant even afford status quo. If every team didnt know his situation, he could have taken his time to get quality assets back for the quality assets he was trading. The Marlins didnt work a rebuild. They tore it down as a payroll dump.
Name me one rebuild, other than one done by a team like the Yanks, Boston or Dodgers, where shedding payroll wasn’t the FIRST thing that they do?
You have to differentiate whether salary is being shed because the team alleges they can’t afford them (Oakland A;s) vs shedding payroll as the result of getting rid of veteran players in exchange for young prospects that will help rebuild the farm and hopefully produce productive, young, controllable mlb players.
I think the Marlins are working both angles. Stanton was the “we can’t afford to pay him” and the Yelich and Ozuna were the “let’s trade for high end prospects”.
Jeter won’t make hundreds of millions of dollars! He only has a 10% ownership stake! He gets $5million a year until his initial investment is paid back plus a salary.
The question will be how they’ll operate if the prospect pool develops down the road. Will they continually rebuild like the Rays or spend when the time is right to keep and add players like the Astros. Time will tell.
Take it back!!!!!!
If he goes to Japan, Phillies retain his rights if he returns? Usually you hear about guys that flamed out and were DFA doing this. Joseph and some of these outfielders will likely get traded for a piece that will help attract top FAs, at least that’s the process I’m envisioning.
I mean, Joseph has basically zero trade value. He could be a throw in I suppose, but he won’t bring back anything if actual value because of him
Yea I don’t see him bringing back a major piece, but part of a package of prospects.
No, teams do not retain rights if they go to another professional league. They say in press releases all the time “He has been released to follow employment in Korea” or something like that. It’s called officially “requesting release waivers” and players do it all the time around this time of year.
First off, I think Jeter is doing a wise thing in Miami. The team was best off with a tear down and rebuild. With luck and good management they could be contender in 3 or 4 years. That said, his comments do make me wonder. Low budget teams often need to do rebuilds because they’re much more reliant on cheap youthful talent. So what mechanisms are in place for teams getting their revenue share and say “hey thanks, without this we would have cut much more in salary.” In other words without revenue sharing would the Marlins attempted to cut more?
Tommy Joseph will be just fine for the Phillies. He’ll likely be the first bat off the bench when it comes to pinch-hitting, and if he actually is capable of playing corner outfield, he’ll serve as good depth in case Altherr and Nick Williams can’t follow up on their breakout 2017s.
I don’t see a spot for Joseph on the roster if the Phillies carry 13 pitchers (8 RP) to open the season, as they have been intimating.
You would have the starting 9, backup catcher, backup OF and backup IF.
If that’s what happens, you have Andrew Knapp as the backup catcher because he can play 1B (so can Hoskins), a backup middle IF, and one of Altherr/Williams, which leaves one other bench spot. My guess is that goes to a guy who is versatile enough to play in the IF and OF, and not just 1B in the IF, Roman Quinn is getting reps at SS, and so is Cesar Hernandez.
My bet is that Rupp and Joseph start the season at AAA because they have an option left, aren’t versatile enough, and aren’t very good defensively at the positions they CAN play.
The Phillies play in the NL so it would only be a starting 8, but carrying 13 pitchers would still only allow them 4 bench players.
Haha, good pickup. That will teach me not to post late at night with too much wine onboard.
but the point still stands… even if we forget about Quinn re-acquainting himself w the IF and ToJo taking reps in the OF in the name of versatility, Quinn still just brings a lot more potential to the table and will earn the spot over TJ. Too many guys, not enough spots, its the decision every MLB team has to make this time of year and TJ will likely just be one of the many odd men out
Exactly. I see Quinn as the same type of player that Michael Bourn was in 2006 – a later inning defensive replacement, occasional PH and a pinch runner extraordinaire.
Joseph’s “versatility” basically limits him to PH duties off of the bench.
And don’t get me wrong – I like ToJo – you have to admire his work effort and ethic to overcome all the concussions.
How is Tommy Joseph not on the Mariners yet?
100% agree. I love the fit
Doubt they’re convinced he’s better than Ford or Vogelbach probably. They really like Healy, obviously (more than I would, personally), and they’d probably like to let their younger guys get a chance while he’s out
I would’ve liked that more than trading an above-average, controllable reliever for Healy, but they must see something in him that I don’t
If The Mariners did want a player like Joseph, there’s still a handful other guys like him on the free agent market.
paxton for joseph sounds fair, no?
or, more realistically, how about Miranda for TJ, Eickhoff, and PTBNL
Joseph has 43 hr’s over the course of 249 games the past two seasons and everyone wants to send him off to pasture. Heck, if I were a GM I’d pick the Phillies pocket regardless of what the metrics say.
Right. His big problem is he took a dip in that second year. It depends on who he really is, If he got back on his original pace, or even close to it, then his value would be higher. The problem is there’s now little way he can even try to do that unless a player hits the DL. He has an option left so he can go to AAA as depth and maybe if he lights it up there like he did before he was first called up there would be interest from other teams or interest in finding him a role of some sort. But as long as they carry that extra pitcher it’s unlikely unless someone like Hoskins hits the DL (which we obviously don’t want).
If he could hold his own at one or two corner OF spots and maybe even third base that might help him find a role. I’m skeptical with his speed but he made a decent catch in the OF after never playing there at all in pro ball (and maybe even HS ball). When his swing is “on” it’s good and has raw power. He got away from his original good swing a bit last year in my opinion. In the very early ST going he’s been one of the better hitters so far.
I know Pence is bad and overpaid now, but I think it’s safe to say the Giants won the Pence for Joseph and Shierholtz trade.
Just as a response to the whole Tommy Joseph thing
As of now, the market is rather congested in terms of first basemen. While Joseph will become available for almost nothing, Jesus Aguilar (who posted an OPS over 800 last year), Jefrey Marte, Ji-Man Choi, Renato Nunez and Kennys Vargas all seem likely to become available at the end of spring training. Furthermore, Danny Valencia, Lucas Duda and Mark Reynolds remain available as free agents.
Seeing as how Joseph has minor league options remaining, the Phillies would be better served keeping him as a depth option for now, until the market sorts itself out to an extent and injuries begin occurring.
In response to the JoeyPankake’s take on the Pence trade- yes, I have agreed since day one. I remember when the trade happened I threw a swivel chair at a wall.
except not Duda
Pence since going to the Giants: 10.7 rWAR
Joseph/Schierholtz/Rosin: -0.5 rWAR.
fWAR isn’t much different.
Pence since going to the Giants: 14.7 fWAR
Joseph/Schierholtz/Rosin: 1.0 fWAR
Regardless of his numbers, watching Hunter Pence play baseball is like watching Elaine Benes dance at the office party. To borrow from Jerry Seinfeld, it’s like a whole-body dry heave…
No argument, I was just providing Joey with some backup about who won that trade.
appropriate Seinfeld analogy = wish i had 100 upvotes
I think the Phils expected Pence to step in and be a suitable replacement for Werth as a hellofagood player just behind the core of the championship team. That core, though, struggled to the point where Pence needed to be the KEY guy, and thats just not who he is. I think he buckled under that pressure and ended up playing better in SF with a team that was, at the time, simply playing more competitive baseball
Joseph is only 26 and about to enter his prime years. Pence is history.
But Josephs prime is roughly equivalent to Pence’s twilight years
Could Tommy Joseph be any worse in LF then Schwarber?
I shudder to think
Not going to Asia was a major mistake and cost his family at least 1M .. Asia is not a death sentence at all! Players come back to US and make a lot of $… he will JR a great 100AB Mlb guy if not in AAA… bad move
agreed…and having easy access to the happy ending massage tour of Asia? priceless.
…if only Thailand had a pro baseball league…no American player would ever return
As a Mets fan, I’m going to assume that everyone is injured unless they take the field. And even then I question their health.
Well Padam it’s refreshing to meet a realistic Mets fan here. The average Mets fan operates in a wishful delirium and acts with contempt when facing fans that call Wilpon World a farce.
Mutt and Jeff are warped in their perspective and duplicitous in their actions.
It’s all about milking the NY market by taking as much from the fans to invest in their lifestyle and indulgences.