The Phillies have inked reliever Drew Storen to a minors deal, Bob Nightengale of USA Today tweets. He’ll earn at the $750K level if he’s able to crack the MLB roster.
This is another comeback bid for the 32-year-old Storen, who wasn’t able to progress last year in a similar effort with the Royals. He hasn’t pitched in the majors since 2017, when he threw 54 2/3 innings of 4.45 ERA ball with the Reds.
You have to go back quite a bit farther to find a time when Storen was a high-quality reliever: 2015, his final year with the Nationals. When that season drew to a close, he had compiled 334 frames of 3.02 ERA ball with 8.6 K/9 and 2.6 BB/9.
While Storen’s tenure in D.C. was generally successful, it included quite a few ups and downs. And it came to an end on the heels of a disastrous late-2015 run for both him and the Nats. After a strong first half, Storen stumbled down the stretch after being replaced in the closer’s role by mid-season acquisition Jonathan Papelbon. (The ensuing spectacle of Papelbon assaulting young star Bryce Harper was as memorable as it was unwelcome.)
Storen ended up being shipped to the Blue Jays in the ensuing offseason. He struggled in Toronto but picked things up after a mid-season swap to the Mariners. The Reds gave him a $3MM contract but weren’t really rewarded for the investment, as Storen’s velocity decline increased. His 2017 campaign ended with Tommy John surgery and he hasn’t been back to full strength since.
At least it’s something for the Phillies.
Low risk pitching depth. I’ll take it.
Better than Pivetta. Take a gamble.
Worth a shot but think there’s better options out there like Jeremy Jeffres, Addison Reed and Greg Holland to name a few.
I definitely agree.
Sign them all. Quantity over quality in this case lol
I agree 100%. see what sticks.
They are roughly equivalent to Storen. He has less of a disastrous recent history than some of them (due to not pitching) so he is arguably a better pickup.
Remarked earlier today on another site that this kind of move only highlights Klentak’s gross mismanagement of the Phillies’ payroll.
I’m not gonna sit here and call Klentak a cap genius or anything,but saying he’s grossly mismanaged the payroll is an overstatement.Harper,Kingery,Nola, and now Wheeler are the only long-term commitments.You can throw Herrera into that mix,but nobody could’ve predicted everything would’ve played out how they did with him.This deal here is a lottery ticket,but don’t forget they were in on Betances.They just didn’t see the rest of the crop worth any significant commitment,and I don’t blame them there.They’ve had flexibility,and they have significant money coming off the books the next 3 years,so they’re actually gonna remain flexible.
How come he brought in Santana when it was time to bring Hoskins up?
Santana was a head-scratcher.Obviously they believed Hoskins could handle lf.Santana was a high ob% bat.Only consistent on-base bat they had at that point was Cesar Hernandez.And I think they brought him in to be a mentor to Franco.While that was a head-scratcher,that move hasn’t handicapped them.Money hasn’t been the Phillies issue,developing their young talent is where they need to improve.
Don’t hear much about that creep Papelbon these days. Thankfully.
2007 World Series champ and creep.
and one of the best closers id the late 2000s/early 2010s. he wasnt quite as annoying as Arrieta but he actually could back up his anger.
I mean at least it’s something. Wake up Klentak
Addison Reed is done. There’s a reason the Twins released him last year even though is salary was $8.5 mil.
Good move, i’m so used to seeing him on the Nats, cause that’s just where I remember him from. He was a good reliever back in the day, and I hope he can reestablish himself.
Yes he was, except for in the postseason.
love this. we sure need more BP help, but this is about as low risk, potentially high reward as it gets.
So you’re a Phils fan, I was trying to figure out who your team was.
334 innings with the Nationals?
I wonder if the Phillies will ever be able to actually get ‘more’ than expected out of any pitcher not named Nola? All this analysis and data and binders and stats, yet it seems no one knows how to “coach” anymore.
There’s some validity there, Jim….Eflin pitched better when he went back to his way, as opposed to how he was being coached up last season…new pitching coach, hoping for better results this season for them all…