Feb. 3: The Phillies have announced the deal.
Jan. 29, 9:50am: Moore’s deal comes with a $3MM base salary and additional incentives, tweets The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal.
9:39am: The Phillies have agreed to a Major League contract with free-agent left-hander Matt Moore, reports Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia (via Twitter). The Apex Baseball client spent the 2020 season pitching in Japan, where he fared quite well. His deal with the Phillies is pending a physical.
Moore’s career hasn’t played out the way that anyone expected it to back when he was ranked alongside Bryce Harper and Mike Trout among the game’s top three prospects. Both MLB.com and Baseball Prospectus, in fact, once ranked Moore as the game’s No. 1 overall farmhand.
Certainly, Moore looked to be well on his way to making good on that billing. The lefty made his big league debut as a 22-year-old with the Rays in 2011 and punched out 15 hitters in 9 1/3 innings of work down the stretch as part of Tampa Bay’s push to the postseason. He went on to make two appearances (one start) in the ALDS that year, tossing 10 innings and yielding just one run against the Rangers.
From 2011-13, Moore pitched 337 innings and turned in a 3.53 ERA/4.11 SIERA while punching out a solid 23.1 percent of opponents with a slightly more problematic 11.1 percent walk rate. Still, for a pitcher in his early 20s and heralded as a future ace, Moore looked very much to be on the rise. He made the All-Star team in 2013, finished ninth in AL Cy Young voting and was poised to front the Tampa Bay rotation for the foreseeable future — health permitting.
Unfortunately, that injury caveat reared its ugly head; Moore lasted just 10 innings in 2014 before going down with an ulnar collateral ligament tear. The resulting Tommy John surgery wiped out the rest of Moore’s 2014 season and most of his 2015 campaign. And while it’s common today for people to assume that every pitcher bounces back from Tommy John surgery, Moore is proof that’s certainly not the case.
After returning from the surgery, Moore struggled through an ugly 2015 season that culminated in a 5.43 ERA over 63 frames. He bounced back in 2016 enough for the Rays to be able to trade him to the Giants, but Moore’s struggles picked right back up in 2017. He bounced from San Francisco to Texas over the next couple of seasons, pitching poorly on both stops, before settling for a one-year, make-good deal with the Tigers in 2019. That match was out to a beautiful start — 10 scoreless innings — when Moore suffered a torn meniscus while fielding a grounder. The subsequent surgery to repair his knee brought his 2019 season to a close.
After an unsightly three-year run from 2017-19, Moore might’ve been relegated to minor league deal territory had he stayed in North American ball, but he secured a $3.5MM guarantee to pitch for Nippon Professional Baseball’s SoftBank Hawks in Japan. The deal worked out quite well, as Moore not only landed a bigger payday but fared brilliantly in his audition while getting in a larger workload than most MLB pitchers in last year’s pandemic-shortened season.
With the Hawks, Moore pitched to a 2.65 ERA in 13 starts and 78 innings of work. He missed two months due to a calf strain, as NPB scribe Jim Allen noted at the time of his return, but that was early in the year and Moore finished out quite well. The lefty fanned 28 percent of his opponents and walked just 7.4 percent of them, both of which would be quality marks in the Majors.
Add in the pair of rehab outings he made with the Hawks’ minor league club, and Moore’s total of 85 frames last year would’ve led the Majors. Only three pitchers even eclipsed 80 innings in 2020, and just 17 topped the 70-inning mark. It’s not a major discrepancy, but the Phillies surely view that slightly increased workload as a benefit. Staff leaders Aaron Nola and Zack Wheeler both tossed 71 innings last year, but prior to agreeing to sign Moore, Zach Eflin (59 innings) was the only other pitcher on the Phils’ current roster that even exceeded 35 frames.
Moore likely slots into the rotation behind Nola, Wheeler and Eflin. He’ll give Vince Velasquez and top prospect Spencer Howard some experienced competition for the final two rotation spots, although it’s likely that all three will start a significant number of games for the Phillies in 2021 as the club looks to be judicious with its pitchers’ workloads. Philadelphia also picked up veterans Ivan Nova and Bryan Mitchell on minor league deals recently, and further depth additions seem quite possible based on recent comments from new president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski.
I like it. I don’t care what anyone else says. Keep bringing in these starters on low risk deals. It’s better than Klentak’s “internal depth” that he talked about.
I think he goes to the bullpen and takes Morgan spot. Maybe I’m wrong
Adam Morgan? He’s on the Cubs now. I do think he will be more of a swing man as he doesn’t go past 5 innings when he starts. He’s more of a fly ball pitcher which is scary in the Bank.
Cheesesteak – I think that’s what 13Morgs13 meant.
Moore “goes to the bullpen and takes Morgan’s spot”… because Morgan is gone.
100% agree
Matt Moore (3 million)
Ivan Nova (milb deal)
Michael Ynoa (milb deal)
Neftali Feliz (milb deal)
also, don’t sleep on CJ Chatham
These are all examples of how a team with lot’s of top salary guys get depth. Moore’s recent stint in Japan shows he’s ready for the MLB grind and has recovered from both TJ and Knee injuries.
Nova/Ynoa/Feliz may not be “sexy”….but name me a sexy 4/5 starter?? Again, depth
If even 2 of these guys works out than DD looks like a genius. Let the idiot trolls troll, but I’m starting to see a team shaping up. Gimmee DiDi and another RP (Colome/Jeffress/Clippard) and, while not top of the NL East, a team that should be in playoff contention.
LMAO
Thanks Bar, for sharing.
I don’t mind adding guys like this but why is Matt Moore worth $3M? He has thrown 10 innings in the past two years and hasn’t had a half decent season since 2016. I thought guys like this were brought in on minor league deals with incentives.
He pitched quite a bit in Japan last year FWIW
I understand that but a total of 85 innings in Japan warrants a $3M guarantee?
Parents, get your athletic lefty kids to learn how to pitch!!
It’s nice work, if you can get it….and you can get it if you try….
just ask Rangers29 🙂
Trevor Bauer is trying to break the bank based off of 73 innings.
Maybe they’re paying $3 million because he had other comparable offers and Phili likes what they saw from his time in Japan.
I like Clippard, he’s pitched successfully at every stop in his career and in every situation, opener to set up to closer.
If they don’t make the postseason, then it’s not genius.
I predict Ivan Nova will have a better season in 2021 than Jake Arrieta had in 2019 or 2020, and that’s at 5% of the cost. Throw Tony Watson, Mark Melancon, Joakim Soria, Trevor Rosenthal into that RP mix. Lots of good cheap guys still available. Need a couple I think.
Corbin in Washington is a very sexy 4th starter
Matt Moore pitched very well for the Tigers in Spring and in the first game then injured himself. I bet he does well in PHI.
I’m neutral to adding this guy. I hope he is better then Morgan.
You signed Harper and you brought back JT. Show the fans your all in and sign Bauer and Didi
I think Didi will be back, but they can’t get Bauer without going over the luxury tax threshold. And I don’t really see the need to do that right now.
High AAV could potentially land Bauer here. The more I’m seeing this low risk high reward on pitching, the more it seems obvious that the Phillies Have something bigger up their sleeve. I think the “crying broke” comment was more of a mirage. Especially for catching hell for the “stupid money” headliner a few years ago. We shall see
I think crying broke was mainly because Middleton feared another year without fans in the stands. Once he signed DD, the Phillies showed they were up to something.
think he was just hedging his bets. When the market showed to be fairly lukewarm he figured he could get some deals. (get the same guys back and improve but stay under the cap still)
Took me a minute to realize which DD lol. I was like wait, they resigned DIDI? Yea I totally agree. We have a lot of money off the books this season, and more coming in 2022. JM has his hands tied with this payroll situation. I think right now we’re somewhere around 163-168 mil (don’t quote me just taking a guess). JM is going to have to come close to that 206 mark again to compete. If they can give arrieta 30 mil a season, I think they’d be foolish to not to give Bauer a good look. Bauer is not going to get the 37 mil he’s looking for, almost same situation as JT. If Bauer is willing to take a 1 yr deal, the Phillies should pounce
Let’s keep bringing ALL the players back from last year’s BAD team. Realmuto is back for big money. Bryce already got paid. Let’s pay Didi and run back the same squad from last year and hope for better results now that these guys are all a year older and we have added some depth to the rotation via the garbage dumpster.
we?
The Phillies were not a bad team last year. They were an average team with a historically bad bullpen. If they had instead say the 24th or 25th ranked bullpen, they likely would have been a playoff team.
The problem wasn’t hitting last year. The Phillies were short in SP and historically bad with RP’s. They would have definitely made the playoffs last year with even a mediocre BP and they have made lots of changes already with more to come.
The bullpen is improved but not a finished product. They are still going to add two more arms be it trade or free agency. DD has another trick up his sleeve and I’m hearing Mickey Moniak is going to be in whatever deal they do.
Yeah, we?
Worth a shot. Pitching depth is going to be key this season. I expect a lot of injuries and fatigue. Phillies still need a quality 4th starter and some relief help, but I’m all for low risk deals like this.
Phillies still need a quality 2 through 5. Better hope Wheeler maintains that 2 spot.
Nola and Wheeler are one of the better 1, 2s in the NL. Eflin is a solid 3. 4 and 5 are disgusting though.
Man I liked Matt Moore in his brief time with the Tigers. It really stunk that his knee blew out. So I hope he does well with the Phillies.
Noticed that there are still a lot of FA’s still out there, about 150 unsigned guys. I wonder how many will go wanting for a job this year. This is a lot larger list than normal for this time of the year.
Moore had a terrific start into 2019 and then came this freak injury. I don’t understand why the Tigers did not bring him back at that price.
Gruß,
BSHH
Wow. I’m surprised he got more than a minor league deal.
Not a bad risk. He made some adjustments that seem to indicate he’s much better than the last time he pitched in MLB.
bruh what
Be careful what you wish for, my guy… I looovvveeeddd Moore… I bet you will tooooooo
never been a fan, but surely DD has some idea here?
Btw, I was being sarcastic lol. I don’t like Moore because I feel like he’s been given waaay too many shots. It’s like Matt Harvey in the sense that people sign him and try to tap into his “prime potential”, but that potential has already come and gone. I wish him luck in Philly though; it’d be nice to finally see one of those stories. I doubt it though.
I like it. With his injury history he’s got a really low floor, but with his talent, the ceiling’s high enough that 3 Million’s not a bad gamble.
I forgot about him because of the elbow, Tommy John, knee thing…
I hope he can contribute!!!
Phillies are just one big dumpster fire at this point. Another team out here just flailing in the wind hoping something works. Championship contenders are not built on the free agent market and Philly is just a collection of dudes from bad free agent signings and trades. Nola is the only product of the farm system. This will end just as badly as last year did.
heard of that Alec Bohm fellow? but in all seriousness, cut the smack talk. we all know you are a troll.
What exactly has Bohm done? Right. Nothing! Phillies are a dumpster fire. They spent $115 million on Realmuto in an attempt to avoid being in last place behind the Marlins. Worst defense and bullpen in baseball and a starting rotation that nobody can name the three starters behind Nola and Wheeler. This is what happens when you abandon a rebuild way too early and start spending on free agents like Bryce Harper. They made a so-called “boss move” and signed Harper away from Division rival Washington. What happened? Washington won the World Series! Philly is a dumpster fire!! Facts!!
he finished 2nd in the RoY voting and carried the offense. That’s about as much as you can expect from a rookie. and give up on the Harper thing. correlation does not equal causation.
Umm in Bohm’s first season he tied for second in the ROY votes. Great bat with a lot of promise. Keep trolling.
Bryce Harper = $300 million wasted dollars!! Facts! Phillies still got like 10 years to eat on that deal. Andrew McCutcheon? Another $50 million in the toilet. You got two former MVP’s in the outfield, but they are Harper and McCutcheon. Lol. Remember the Jean Segura trade. How about the David Robertson signing? Realmuto. $115 million. Phillies were bidding against themselves and upped the offer by $5 million. The Marlins made the playoffs last year with Sixto Sanchez, the guy you traded for Realmuto. Sanchez has seen the playoffs and Realmuto has not.
Gary Sanchez looked like a great bat after 60 games as well.
The fact that Bohm “carried” the offense on his rookie contract while Bryce Harper and his $300 million did nothing and Realmuto, who just got minted $115 million did nothing en route to leading the team to last place shows how much of a dumpster fire this is. $415 million for a couple of dudes who can’t carry the offense. Another $200 million on Nola and Wheeler. $600+ million on 4 dudes who got you a last place finish. Philly is a dumpster fire! Rebuild!!!
Harper has been worth 25 a year so far. He’s been excellent. I don’t expect his final years to look great, but so far so good. Keep trolling.
Sanchez never looked as promising as Bohm.
and you add on that contract pays for itself anyway, so good baseball move or not, cant knock the business move. (and one may argue it can improve their ability to go over the cap at some point)
How does the contract pay for itself? No fans in the stands. By the time fans can hit the stands this year, Philly will be so far down and buried in last place that nobody is going to waste their time to go and see them play. Just like the fans left when they did nothing but lose during Harper’s first season. I will never understand ….. Our team is terrible …. but hey, we got Bryce Harper. Lol. So what!
The Phillies were in 1st place for a significant stretch in 2019. They were in the playoffs for the majority of 2020. The lack of depth led to two late-season collapses. And quite frankly, they’re not as good as the Braves. That being said, Harper has been real good since he got here. Without Harper the Phillies are significantly worse. They’re still not a complete team. No one is saying they are.
I guess you don’t read much. “Dumpster fire” was an expression that became tiresome and shop worn years ago.. Maybe you saw it somewhere and figured you could impress commenters by how clever you were.. The number of times you repeated it. is indicative of something.
Dumpster fire is an accurate description as to exactly where the Phillies are right now. The truth hurts sometimes, 1st place most of 2020? A 60-game season? You still finished last! You are bringing back the exact same team. No wait. Matt Moore, Ivan Nova ……
The Phillies finished 3rd last year. They were in 1st for chunks of 2019, not 2020. They’ve added a solid reliever in Archie Bradley. They still have their work cut out for them. No one is saying otherwise, but you’re spouting inaccurate nonsense.
Very Barry, I am sorry but you have zero baseball knowledge my friend. Everything you say is either garbage or trolling
You guys are calling the Phillies a good team? You guys think the Phillies are better than the Braves? Mets? Nationals? Right now, not even the Marlins. Name one area that Philly improved on from last year? Defense was the worst in baseball. What have they done to get better? Bullpen was the worst in baseball. Archie Bradley? Now you are only the 3rd worst bullpen? This is a bad baseball team. Farm system is also bad. This is what happens when you abandon a rebuild to early and start signing free agents. A roster full of a bunch of highly paid, big name players who are terrible. 10 more years of Bryce Harper? He is a solid offensive player who already is a defensive liability. He will be the DH for the last five years of his deal once the rule is changed. Yikes!
The Phillies are a BAD baseball team. Period!
Mr. Full of facts. Besides the Rays, Which other team has built within there systems. How are the Tigers, Marlins, Mariners, Giants, Rangers, Rockies, Nationals, yes they won the World Series but, mostly on FA adds. making out with your concept. The Phillies are a team in a major market and have the money to spend on adding FRee agents. They added JT through a trade, and resigned him. FA adds, McCuth, Harper, Wheeler. These are there top FA adds. Get your facts straight before calling the Phillies a dumpster fire.
That,”Gary Sanchez was great after 60 games”,could also be applied to Sixto Sanchez.He only threw over 100innings once in the minors,and has never gotten close to 150.
I was replying to very Barry
Offer the same trade to Miami right now ……. They will NOT trade Sixto for Realmuto. They are happy with what they have and what the future holds for their future #1 starter. Ask Philly if they would make that trade again now. I bet they would not. They would rather have Sixto Sanchez in the rotation behind Nola and Wheeler while on his rookie contract while they go out and give the $115 million to players that actually improve the roster all the while trading with the rebuilding Cubs to add Wilson Contreras and his $7 million deal.
Very Barry
Just like the fans left when they did nothing but lose during Harper’s first season.
=====================================================================
What a Nimrod. The Phillies went from 2,158k in 2018, to 2,727. That’s an increase of 569,000, or 27%.
Is that what you meant by ‘fans left’?
What other teams have built within their system? How about the recent World Champion Astros. How about the recent World Champion Chicago Cubs. You add the free agent veterans to your core of young players that you bring up through your system via draft and trade. The Dodgers would also be an example. They don’t go crazy with free agents even though they have the money to do so.
Andrew McCutcheon doesn’t count as a major free agent signing. He was one of the guys they Overpaid for. He was washed up when they signed him. Jake Arrieta also counts as a bad free agent signing. Locking up Scott Kingery early counts as a bad contract.
How many of those fans were there during the first half of the season vs. the second half when it became obvious how BAD they were WITH Bryce Harper
So Andrew McCutchen counts when you call it “50m down the toilet”,but not when you realize Phillie fans aren’t as disappointed as you might’ve thought before.
I don’t care if Philly fans are disappointed in McCutcheon or not. He has been a $17 million per year bust! Wasted money!
The day that Bryce Harper signed that ridiculous contract with Philly was the day he pretty much guaranteed himself that he would never win a World Series ring. 10 years left on the deal and near as I can tell they will either be a bad team, and/or eventually a rebuilding team for the duration. Pretty much gonna run back the past 10 years of bad Philly baseball. 4 years away from this guy being a $25 million per year DH.
I referenced below. The Houston Astros and Chicago Cubs are recent World Champion examples of how you rebuild the right way and build a core of young players and then you add in the veteran free agents. Taking shortcuts will get you exactly where the Phillies are now. A bad team without any real hope of improving into any type of a contender. The bad free agent contracts start to work against you. Holes everywhere in the lineup and the rotation. I hope you don’t become the Orioles. How is it gonna work when Realmuto needs to be a DH in a couple of years all the while Harper becomes even more of a liability in right field. Yikes. $415 million worth of Designated Hitters. Yikes.
I’d take the Phillies roster over 20-25 other teams in baseball right now. Not to mention the best fans in baseball, an owner not afraid to spend to win, the best mascot in sports and we were blessed with the greatest broadcaster of all time in Harry Kalas. Getting fed up with the Philly hate. Come live in the city for a year or down the south jersey shore and tell me this isnt a proud and passionate sports region.
Bryce Harper rejuvenated a fanbase and city, and gives the game his all every single night. Worth every dollar.
Thanks Bar, for sharing.
You’re negative af. I bet your personal life is a dumpster fire.
Just stating FACTS on the Phillies! Sometimes the truth hurts!
Or your a f’ing troll loser with nothing better to do with their life. Truth hurts though right?
Very berry is trying so hard. Its both sad and pathetic.
I have knocked down EVERY argument you guys have made. If we were in a court of law the verdict would be in and it would be Guilty as Charged. The Phillies are a BAD baseball team.
You haven’t knocked down anything and said 4-5 things that are 100% wrong. The Phillies have never finished in last place since signing Harper yet you claim they have. Harper put up all-star caliber seasons yet you claim he sucked. None of what you say makes sense. The Phillies aren’t a great team. We agree there. Everything else you say is nonsense.
The Phillies have not been in the playoffs in over a decade. The fan base is so backwards they now consider a non last place finish an accomplishment. Again, this is what happens when you abandon a rebuild too early! The Braves stayed the course on their rebuild and where are they now? Farm system is still brimming with talent as well. The White Sox stayed the course and look at where they are now? Farm system still has more kids on the way. The White Sox added Liam Hendrix, the best closer in baseball, Lance Lynn a pitching workhorse and Adam Eaton defensively for a total contract value of $70 million. They are World Series contenders. Philly just re-signed Realmuto for $115 million and they are battling Miami for last place in their division. Not only are the Braves and White Sox winning now, but they are set up to win long into the future. This is what happens when you abandon a rebuild too early!!!
The Phillies didn’t abandon the rebuild too early, the rebuild sucks. This team cannot develop internal talent. It’s been the case forever. They been rebuilding since 2011. I think 9 years is plenty of time. There wasn’t enough internal talent so they had to splurge on FAs. Now, they need to surround that core with the right pieces and they’ll be fine. It stinks that they couldn’t develop internal talent outside of Nola, Bohm and Hoskins, but had they not signed FAs, they would’ve been nowhere.
Verry Barry, sh!tposter extraordinaire.
You’ve knocked down nothing but your credibility.
If currently sitting on 122 shares of GameStop stock, 500 shares of AMC and a whole bitcoin makes my personal life a dumpster fire …….. Please DON’T put out the flames!!!
Wrong. I just looked at the Phils 40-man roster, and they have 12 players on that list from the amateur draft.
How many of those 12 are actually good players? Like 2 of them? Scott Kingery is NOT a good player. That’s a lot of misses. Bad roster with bad young players. Yikes!
Philly is great at overspending for mediocre talent. Dude should have been a ST invite only.
He was pretty solid in Japan last year, The cost was similar to a mop up reliever. I’m sure that Philly wasn’t the only team interested in him at around that price. Not like they gave him 15 million. If that is the major move for the rotation the Phillies could be in trouble though
yeah. with those numbers in Japan and his pedigree he should have had a solid amount of interest.
loved matt moore when he played for the Rays – he single handedly won us game 1 of the playoff against the Rangers in 2011 as a rookie. He’s still relatively young so hopefully he can turn things around.
I know this may sound like homerism or falling under DD’s spell but I like this move. In the past they’d invite some castoffs from the Cubs or Pirates. This actually looks like somebody cares enough to bring in somebody from outside of the usual suspects.
Pretty effective in Japan last year. Was healthy and a starter.
and supposedly he threw seven no-hit innings in a Japan Series outing. that’s a good sign.
Interesting that Moore got essentially the same deal as Aaron Loup, a bit of a career vagabond. Given the choice, I likely would have opted for Moore myself; as a young man, his stuff was absolutely filthy. Maybe the Japanese folks got him to remain focused, which was always an issue with Moore.
Decent upside for 3M. And, almost most importantly, he can be a multi-inning guy.
To all Phillies fans Should they have spent money on Bauer instead of JT? Nola, Wheeler, Bauer looks great on paper.
heck no. It could be $15 million more per at a position where they have less of a need. Moore might make over 10x less and be only slightly worse if it’s a down year. This team has struggled going big game fishing in recent years – its time to make better value moves.
Don’t forget Eflin. Everyone does, but he’s a solid #3. Obviously he’d be a number 4 with Bauer, but I don’t understand the Bauer talk. He never expressed interest in Philly and vice versa. Bauer’s not coming to Philly. But technically the Phillies can still do it even post JT.
I know I said it last year but this will be his break out year as long as Cotham can be anything better then a hindrance (see: Chris Young) as a pitching coach.
Bauer isn’t signing for 23.1 million a year.
I think he would be more valuable out of the pen.
Always reminds me of former Mariner/Athletic/Tiger Mike Moore, who had a similarly nondescript name and was perpetually swinging between seasons of 17-8 and 8-17.
1985 #1 overall pick if I’m not mistaken
I didn’t know he still playing. It’s always good to see a player go over to Korea or Japan to try to get back to their former self and come back to the Majors. I hope he does well.
I remember in 2016 games nlds he dominated the cubs then Bochy took him out and the cubs scored 4 runs and won the game. Everyone knows what followed.
Korea and Japan were basically the minor leagues for the MLB last year.
guy was amazing for the giants for like a half a season and then ehhhhhhhh at least everyone we have up never panned
He’s a lefty , something that they needed. I would take him over Arrieta thought. I would take a flyer on Paxton though as well.
I sorta have to keep reminding pholks that the Phils averaged more than 5 runs per game..This team can score runs..all the more reason to bring Dee Dee back..
Their downfall was pitching.The back end of the rotation was not very effective. #’s 4 and 5 didn’t get the job done..Then, they found early in games, they had to use the worn out pen that couldn’t get anyone out..Tired and bad its a bad combo.. I see improvement…they still need more, but to me, they are already better than last year….
Absolutely. I think the non-Phillies fans don’t realize how many leads the bullpen blew night after night to the point that 7-run leads in the 9th were not safe. They’ve addressed the bullpen with some nice additions, but still have a ways to go. They need solid backend starters and innings eaters. Hamels? Paxton? Signing Didi would ensure the same lineup from 2020. Will they rake as much without the DH? Probably not, but I still like the lineup.
I keep telling people that if the bullpen is better they’ll be in it to win the East. I remember hearing the stat at the beginning of September that if the bullpen hadn’t blown a game they would’ve been 31-9.
If this was a few years ago, I wouldn’t like it. But he’s really struggled in recent years.
Phillies to Braves: “I’ll see you’re Drew Smyly and raise you Matt Moore”
I feel like having Matt Moore slotted into the 4/5 spot would allow Vince Velasquez to become a dedicated RP
Any Philly fan will tell you that VV has great stuff, but can’t seem to get thru a lineup twice without giving up runs.
Make him a dedicated reliever and let him go out and be a max effort guy for an inning
We needed a lefty for the rotation. I think Moore will be serviceable and maybe Moore
Moore is awful.
I like this move. Obviously, he was healthy last year and was able to get batters out. The Phillies didn’t sink a guaranteed $3 mil into somebody who didn’t have strong scouting reports.
This gives the team Moore ability to switch VV to the bullpen so he can come out in the 7th inning and throw gas.
I’m not sure why they signed Moore instead of Adam Warren. They seem to be collecting pitchers Girardi was rumored to have a soft spot for. Bryan Mitchell and Ivan Nova both fall into that category and Warren was Girardi’s pet the last few years he managed the Yankees. Next they will be signing Gardner to be the 4th OF. Fortunately for Phillies fans Girardi never gave Refsnyder any rave reviews. Otherwise they would have signed him instead of Didi.
That being said I think Moore was a great pick up. I am betting he had a similar reaction to his TJ surgery as I had. For the first few years after the surgery I had quite a bit less feeling in my fingers. I bet he was having trouble with his grips as well as trying to clean up his mechanics. I got back to full strength my 3rd year. Which if I am remembering correctly would be last year for Moore. He is still young and doesn’t have much mileage on his arm because of all of the injuries. I bet he is gonna be a steal for the Phillies this year and will get a 3-4 year deal next year because of it. Of course he will then break down and will just be an anchor on somebody’s payroll.
Phillies aren’t going anywhere with the pitching they have. Braves, Mets and Marlins are significantly better, and I would be pissed if I were a Phillies fan. You guys should have let JT walk and tried to sign Bauer instead.