The Phillies have announced that they have declined their club options on outfielders Andrew McCutchen and Odubel Herrera for the 2022 season. McCutchen will receive a $3MM buyout rather than a $15MM salary next year, and Herrera has been bought out for $2.5MM rather than a $11.5MM salary.
Today’s decision closes the book on the three-year, $50MM free agent contract McCutchen signed with the Phils in December 2018, a deal that ended up as something of a mixed bag. Both sides might wonder what have been had McCutchen not suffered a torn ACL in June 2019, as the veteran had gotten off to a very strong start in his first 59 games in a Phillies uniform.
Since returning from injury rehab, McCutchen has provided above-average (106 wRC+, 107 OPS+) offense and hit .232/.331/.441 with 37 home runs over 815 PA in 2020-21. It isn’t bad production by any stretch, though McCutchen’s .222 batting average in 2021 was a career low, and defensive metrics didn’t like his glovework as the Phillies’ regular left fielder.
Between these diminished numbers and the fact that McCutchen turned 35 in October, he might have to settle for a one-year deal this offseason. That said, McCutchen will surely catch on somewhere, quite probably with a contender that will value having one of the game’s most respected players in the clubhouse to provide some veteran leadership. A return to Philadelphia might not be out of the question, even if the Phillies would certainly rather pay “Cutch” a great deal less than $15MM.
Herrera is still under team control via one final year of salary arbitration, but since he is projected to earn $11.6MM, the Phillies are likely to non-tender Herrera and end their seven-year association with the outfielder. Selected away from the Rangers in the 2014 Rule 5 draft, Herrera earned an All-Star nod in 2016, which led the Phils to sign him to a five-year, $30.5MM extension in December 2016.
However, Herrera was arrested on assault charges related to domestic violence in May 2019, and while the charges were dropped, the league suspended Herrera under the purview of the MLB/MLBPA Joint Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Policy. Herrera missed the rest of the 2019 season due to the 85-game suspension, and also didn’t play in 2020 when the Phillies outrighted him off their 40-man roster. It seemed as if the Phillies were ready to part ways with Herrera, though he re-emerged in 2021 to play 124 games for the team, hitting .260/.310/.416 over 492 plate appearances.
If neither McCutchen or Herrera are brought back, the Phillies are in drastic need of outfielders to line up alongside Bryce Harper. Existing in-house options (Mickey Moniak, Adam Haseley, Travis Jankowski, Roman Quinn, Matt Vierling) don’t hold a lot of appeal as regular big league options, so outfield figures to be a key target for president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski this offseason.
Not surprising. The McCutchen contract was a stretch from the get go. They sound him for who he was in the past. Good flashes here and there but nothing special even when he was healthy. I don’t know the Phillies luxury tax number but if there’s room to spend my guess is Dombrowski will at least spend it more wisely than on more washed up players. The only caveat is that with DD the contracts usually come with long term commitments. That means at some point they are probably going to pay them to be washed up players anyway. At least they will get some good years too though.
Lol
Dombrowski already gave a 2 year contract to a washed up Gregorious, and a 5 year contract to a declining injury prone Realmuto lol.
Cutch would be perfect for the White Sox.
Why?
Depends on price. If it’s more than 4 million, hard pass.
He’s better than what they have been putting out in RF, but that’s not saying much, and his defensive metrics have cratered.
Just as good a chance he would end up an Adam Eaton 2.0
I would hope the Sox aim a lot higher than him
Yeah I hope they aim higher too, but I’m a realist. But look at these 2021 stats:
Sheets against RHP: .268/.344/.556
Cutch against LHP: .293/.405/.622
An intriguing option for a platoon
I think he’d be a great add for the clubhouse atmosphere
Phillies are my pick to land either Carlos Correa or Corey Seager.
Didi will come back healthy.
The Phillies payroll is already out of control, leaving little flexibility. They need young cheap players that can get better for years…..especially Pitchers. DD said as much last season.
i think “out of control” is a little unreasonable. besides Didi no one’s an albatross.
They just shed $30 million today and they were under the cap last year, so no.
Wow….
They shed $30m today?
So do you think that DD will spend all that on one player – a SS, when he has another player coming back healthy to play SS for $15m, and needs to find at least 2 starting pitchers, at least 4 bullpen pitchers – including a closer, 2 OF’s, and possibly a 3B?
Samuel;
I think your right the Phillies can’t go crazy on one player as they have so many holes to fill doesn’t feel like they are on player away from being a World Series team.
Where as a team like Atlanta could be 1-2 pieces away from another post season run.
Have to spend money smart in this game
There’s more coming off the books and I don’t think they’ll stay under the cap. DD will be making trades as well.
After arbitration, the Phillies will have about $40M to work with under the luxury tax threshold.
The Phillies payroll gets much overstated every year as out of control…Its actually not bad and gets a lot better entering 2023 .
They actually have some pretty good contracts under tow like the Harper and Wheeler deals….I also don’t mind the JTR ink with the current C state leaguewide. For big game hunting. which can be tricky, these are some really good pulls
NOW…the problem has always been (at least for about the last 15 years) Philly just can’t grow anything on the farm ….Bad soil, lack of rain, your guess is as good as mine but until that turns around this is going to be a 86 win team year in year out
DD should be bidding on some of the A;s players like Matt Olson, Matt Chapman, Maneau, CF Laureano etc..
Phillies payroll is most definitely not out of control, especially with Cutch coming off the books.
@ VonPurpleHayes;
The Phillies payroll is a mess – but most importantly, so is the roster.
They have 4 position players they can count on…if we include Segura.
They have 3 maybe 4 starting pitchers….good luck on them all staying healthy through 2022. I thought Archie Bradley was their most consistent reliever in 2021…..he’s a free agent.
Going into the trade deadline, DD made the comment that the Phillies needed to add a lot of good players. After the season Harper said they need to get a number of good young players onto the roster.
DD has a lot of work to do over the next few years. His track record says he’ll do it – it’s just a matter of how well. The payroll has to be flexible, and the idea of going with free agents and/or taking on long-term contracts from veteran players going into the 2022 season is simply unworkable. You don’t shoot your wad for 2022 and wind up with more overpaid veterans whose contracts you’re locked into while they’re deteriorating.
The problem with “the next few years” is they’ll waste the expensive peak years of Harper, Realmuto and Wheeler. It’s almost pointless to have any of these three on the roster if you’re waiting for the farm to start producing. You need a good farm to either build from within or make trades that have impact.
Their defense is a mess. Hoskins and Bohm at the corners aren’t going to cut it, and backup piece Galvis is better with the glove than Gregorius or Segura. That takes a toll on a pitching staff. And the outfield was unsettled, to begin with.
With these moves, the price of Starling Marte and perhaps Chris Taylor goes up. Several teams need a center fielder in the worst away, with the Phillies being Exhibit A. Taylor, of course, can play other positions as well. It will be interesting to see how that market plays out.
Yea. Your points about tge roster are fair, but the payroll situation is not bad, especially with 30 million coming off the books. I’m not suggesting they throw this at one player, but they have some flexibility.
VonPurpleHayes, what are your two biggest areas of concern if you’re in charge of filling holes on the Phillies?
CF and SS.
Who would your targets be? Free agents or trade?
Didi had gout. It takes 7-9 months to go away. He couldn’t run, plant, or cut on D in 2021 – constantly throwing off-balance. He couldn’t dig in at the plate.
The Phillies have Harper for 10 more years. They have Realmuto and Wheeler for less than that. The Mets have deGrom, Alonso and Lindor. Both teams have too many shortcomings to attempt to go all in and try to take advantage of those cornerstone players.
The team that takes a step back and picks up some good young players might be a realistic WS contender in the next 2-5 years. Can’t see the Mets doing that. Maybe DD will.
@Cey Hey It depends on the budget. The Phillies are further away from the dreaded lux tax penalty (a penalty they can easily afford) than they were last year. So if they want to spend on 1 big free agent, I’d go after one of the shortstops. Didi was horrible both offensively and defensively out there. And while some of that can be blamed on the injury. he was never a great fielder. If they have budget concerns, then I don’t think splurging on a big name FA is worth it. I think defense up the middle is key. So alternatively, they could look for a purely defensive shortstop option and splurge a bit more on outfield help with multiple role players.
I can’t really put together a trade right now. A lot needs to be settled first. DH or no DH…etc.
So basically I have no idea what the Phillies should do at the moment. I will say that the big pieces are there. They have a solid rotation when Eflin comes back, although they could use some backend depth. The bullpen will improve as a result of a bolstered rotation. The lineup has tons of holes. Harper, Hoskins, Realmuto, Segura are real solid, but there’s a huge dropoff after that. These are the holes they need to plug. Depth is the key here.
Why waste money on a SS? Are you giving up on Stott already??
Stott is not ready, and the Phillies have rushed to many young talents. You get a SS that could move to 2nd or 3rd once Stott comes up. Didi is not going to cut it at short.
I agree that Gregorious isn’t the answer. My question is would one of the FA shortstops be willing or able to change positions when Stott is ready? Probably, but it is not a given. My opinion (and opinion only, you are welcome to disagree of course) is get Bryant for 3rd and make Bohm a DH. Could also put Bryant in LF if by some chance Bohm starts using a leather glove instead of a steel one. Hopefully Stott can be the long term shortstop, and isn’t rushed in too soon.
There are many options and scenarios including yours, guess we just have to wait and see what plays out.
That would work as well. Infield depth is the key. Doesn’t necessarily need to be SS, but I think that’s the biggest hole.
Archie Bradley a consistent reliever?
Stott is definitely ready.
Just like Bohm was right? Look he looks great right now, but you can’t rush development. The Phillies have done this too often.
Expect a few blockbuster trades, some smart free agent signings and better drafts..
I could see that….if they trade JTR. But, they were barely able to re-sign him, unless the FO releases the reigns for a top-tier guy and goes full-throttle.
Your logic and reason is that of a NYC baseball fan.
Barely able to re-sign him? What does that even mean? They gave him a huge deal.
JTR is untradable. No team is going to trade for a declining injury prone 30 something year old catcher with a bad contract. Just a matter of time that he becomes an overpaid .260 hitting 1st baseman / DH, with around 20 home runs at best for 25 million a year. The Phillies would be lucky to get a mid level prospect back for some team to take that contract on
Stretch,
Did you not see the past season, for that money to get Correa or Corey Seager Phillies could sign Soler, Rosario, and Pederson.
I don’t think you know a lot about the Phillies. Stott, with natural position being SS, tore up minor league baseball all the way up to AAA this year. He’s played incredibly well in the AFL. The Phillies have Didi signed through next year. They will give him every opportunity to bounce back this year while they give Stott a little more time to get ready. Unlike Atlanta who have a lot of young homegrown talent the Phillies don’t – thus, having to be on the fringe of the luxury tax just to get to .500. All this to say Stott will be the SS of the future and they will look to sign at least one OF as a FA and possibly another. DD has mentioned they need two players for the lineup. Not to mention the mess their bullpen has been. For the Phillies to challenge for the division or a playoff spot next year an awful lot of things will have to break right for them.
Cutch is still a good player. Maybe he can get a two year deal for the $15M.
That would be over paying him. He may get a one year deal at 5 to 6 million.
That would be underpaying him. I’m thinking a 1 and a half year deal at $10.25 million
It depends on how the market plays out. He’s a corner outfielder in a center fielders market. Wanna-be contenders probably wouldn’t spend $10 million on someone like him and non-contenders surely won’t. As corner outfielders go, he figures to be behind the three Braves. I can see him back in Pittsburgh as a useful veteran, say for $6 million. Detroit is another possibility.
Cutch’s market will be helped big time if the DH is in fact implemented in the NL next year.
So will Rosario, Pederson, and Soler’s market, and they might be more desirable as hitters given the age difference. None of the four will be viewed as full-time DH. Not many teams do that anymore.
Detroit has plenty of young, cheap OFs and top prospect Green almost ready.
One year, four million guaranteed, with one million in incentives for 240, 340, 440 and 540 at-bats, for a total possible of eight million.
Whew….let the Matt Vierling era begin!
I know it’s dreaming but I’d love for Cutch to be back with the Pirates.
Agreed. He’d be a great mentor for the young guys coming up. Don’t know that he’d want the job or more pointedly, that Pirates brass would want him
I’d love to see Cutch come back for 1 year @ maybe 6-8 mil. The Bucs could use an outfielder who can hit LHP. Cutch destroyed LHP in 2021. His numbers were even better than his career numbers vs LHP. (.293/.405/.622/1.027). Doubt that Cutch would come back, or that BC would bring him back, but we can always hope. Reynolds will play every day, but Gamel should probably only start vs RHP. Alford bats righty but has reverse splits and can’t hit LHP at all. Consequently, the Bucs are in dire need of someone who can hit LHP. Why not Cutch?
Cutch can’t handle the outfield at PNC, certainly not LF as your comment suggests. And your “budget ball” offer seems less than enticing. Pirates need pitching, pitching, and more pitching. And their .660 OPS LHP vs .678 OPS RHP suggests they are a mess from both sides of the plate, not a specialty hitter away from contending.
Your points are well taken. The reality of the situation precludes the idea of spending money on FA’s to contend because in reality, they’re going to lose 90-100 games next season and perhaps the season after. And it’s not to put fans in the stands because let’s face it, the Pirates will only draw if the team is a winner….or if it’s fireworks night. Maybe having a veteran acting as a mentor is overblown but it would seem that if there is such a guy who’d be a natural, it’s this guy. From what I’m reading, I think he still envisions himself as an everyday player or one who plays the majority of games. That would fly in the face of what we think the goal here is
“Budget ball” won’t bring Cutch back here and won’t help the team contend. He’s a sentimental idea but it would be in a perfect world scenario. Other than that, save your money and continue to invest in youth
All true, but they need 6-8 new pitchers and will likely only bring in 1 or 2. Meanwhile, they need another OF, and if they don’t get Tsutsugo to come back, Cutch is available. He was pretty bad vs RHP and, as you said, his defense is falling off. So he is now a platoon type of player and he knows he isn’t worth $10 mil anymore. Just sayin’, I’d love to have him back for one more year until all the youngsters start coming up. If not, I’d like to see O Cruz in RF this year by the end of May.
He will want to go to a team I think that will win as a 4th outfielder. At his age he is chasing the rings not the money. He may do a farewell tour year in Pittsburgh in a few years but not right now. He would be a good fit for any team need leadership and that could give him 250-300 at bats a season
Same here. while he could latch on to a contender if you offer him a longer term contract like at about 5m/year with options and bonuses almost every year that could guarantee him say 15m with the possibility of around 30m IMO seems reasonable.
Take him to his age 40 year.
Personally i’d shoot for a contender since he could probably sign a one year contract with the pirates at a later date.
I’m reasonably sure Bob would be willing to drop more money on him given Bob didn’t want to trade him in the first place.
Biased opinion…Goldy should’ve won MVP in 2013 over McCutchen
I can see how that conclusion could be reached
McCutchen won’t be signing with the Bucs, that’s for sure
Why not?
He wants to win a World Series. Ain’t going to happen in Pittsburgh.
Yeah that is most likely. But there is an off chance he might want to sign with his home town team to finish his career.
Personally i’d throw out a two year offer with options for more if he is still good enough to continue and would fit into the lineup. With Ben picking up so much talent there is a better than fair chance that prospects would push him out of the lineup.
He wont take it unless no serious contender wants him.. which also could be the case but I think someone will.
Like I said in a previous comment. I believe Bob would be more than okay with bringing Cutch back on a contract that guarantees more money he would make else where mostly because Bob supposedly didn’t want to trade him to begin with (but the trade did work out pretty well for the Pirates)
McCutchen scored 1.3 bWAR in 2021, Herrera 1.8. I can understand why the Phillies didn’t want to pay a combined $26.5 million for that level of production, especially because both players have declined from their glory days. Take the $5.5M hit and look for better options.
Big problem is the Phillies have no players they can count on from within to replace these two. With McCutchen, there are a number of free agent upgrade options. All almost guaranteed to be more expensive though. Herrera is flawed but there’s no center fielder in free agency other than Marte who’s going to be better. And Marte’s CF defense is not as good … and he’s 33 years old and will get 3-4 years at a high price. Harper is also now the only starting left-handed hitter in the lineup unless you’re counting on Gregorius.
Not having in-house replacements will force the Phillies to overspend on someone like Marte or Taylor. Good players, but I’d be leery of them being my everyday CF for very long. As you said, Marte’s seen better days defensively. Meanwhile, Taylor’s strikeouts probably won’t age well and he isn’t the guy you want as your best defensive outfielder. By doing this, the Phillies have hemmed themselves into that market. It’s a position they must fill, and these players’ agents know it.
Phillies can give Vierling one of the spots
This isn’t quite true. Phillies have plenty of in-house options, including moving Bohm to LF and Vierling in CF. Now are these great options? Not really. But they do have options if a FA signing doesn’t work out.
I really hope they don’t re-sign either of them. Time to move on.
Breaking: Cashman is on the phone with Herrera’s agent right now
Time to retire McCutchen!
Why? If he only faces lefties he’d be one of the best platoon options in the league. Church still has plenty left in the tank.
Church, you mean the guy from the Expendables…? Pretty sure he’s a lefty….?
Cutch* feel better now?
He DID crush LHP last year. (195 PA/15HR/.293/.405./.622/1.027). OUCH!
He still hit 27 home runs, knocked in 80 runs, walked 81 times. OPS was ..778 overall. , still better than Adam Duvall, Charlie Blackmon, Francisco Lindor…. .Realmuto and Chris Taylor were only at ..782 OPS. Cutch had a bad April with the black hole of Quinn/Haseley and the pitcher spot in front of him. Once they moved him down in the line-up he was a lot better at the plate. His OPS was actually 1.027 in June and .906 in July. He’s still a decent ballplayer. Saying he should retire is crazy. Defense certainly hurts his WAR numbers, but he was 2nd in most offensive categories on the Phillies, and actually played in the most games despite some people saying he is “always hurt”? Would not be surprised to see him sign 1-year for $6 Million to take another shot at the World Series in Philly.
Well duh, and duh.
Odubel wouldn’t be a bad Dickerson replacement for Toronto.
Funny that comments are closed on the Bauer story, but they remain open on Odubel, who also had a DV suspension.
at some point people gotta be able to talk about the dude…
On a personal level, I’ve forgiven him and moved on. It’s a shame that most are incapable of doing so tbh.
That’s great that you’ve forgiven him, but you have absolutely nothing to do with what happened. Unless, he sexually abused you too…
Nobody cares if you’ve forgiven him, you have nothing to do with what he did to that poor woman or the money he’s robbed from the Dodgers organization.
He’s talking about Herrera, not Bauer.
I’m not judging him either way. Just pointing it out.
Probably because Odubel doesn’t have an active investigation and also because this article isn’t entirely dedicated to Odubel’s DV situation. If it means I don’t get to see your opinion, then I’m content with the comments remaining closed
Or if you had half a brain you could just use the mute button which would be far simpler.
These move put the Phils at the forefront of the Rob Refsnyder market.
Good start. I hope they don’t use the money saved to pay Rhys Hoskins
This is the right move, but Cutch is impossible not to love. I’ll miss him on this roster. Herrera is a complicated case, but I do appreciate what he was able to do on the field this year. It’s amazing how terrible the Phillies role players were and still are. I’m hoping they can get some more production out of their OF next season. Harper aside obviously. He’s been phenomenal.
McCutchen to Motown!
The Phils problem is not with the free agents they’ve signed, it’s with the lack of young high draft choice players ever becoming mlb starters – when your farm clubs finally become capable of feeding the big club then your JTR type chases and astronomical salaries will end.
Scouting, drafting, and most importantly developing are massive problems with this club. They had quite a long rebuild with little results.
Both the Phillies and Mets have to be kicking themselves because the Braves were dead in August and if they had simply played decent the last 2 months of the season they probably would have made the playoffs and who knows who would have been champs. So I expect both the Mets and Phillies to spend huge this off-season because of the pressure that not only the Braves but the Nats winning the World series 2 out of the last 3 years.
Braves were the front runner who replaced Acuna with Soler, Rosario, Duvall and Pederson. Those four players are a better outfield than the Phillies (Harper and nobody) or Mets (Nimmo, McNeil, outgoing Conforto and nobody)
The Mets and Phillies will spend money this winter trying to catch the Braves. Meanwhile, the Braves will be adding Acuna and, hopefully, a healthy Soroka to a team that won the World Series.
Prediction: Mike Rizzo is a sharp exec who will have his Nationals house in order before the Mets or Phillies.
The Braves have been the cream of the crop of the division for years. They hold more division titles than any other team in the sport. I don’t thini this puts any added pressure on the Mets and Phillies that wasn’t already there.
If Acuna doesn’t get hurt, and the Braves only trade for 2 of those guys, do they still win the division? Probably not.
@DonB34 definitely. The Mets 1st run had everything to do with a weak schedule upfront. The Phillies beat themselves. The Braves would have won this division no matter what.
When a player receives a buyout, where does that number go for salary cap purposes? Does the $5.5 million Philly will pay out here count against next year’s cap number?
Thanks in advance!
The buyout amount is factored into the AAV for the main contract years. If the team picks up the option instead, then that becomes the one year AAV for luxury tax purposes.
In other words: Both buyouts have already been factored into luxury tax levels and will not factor into 2022 or beyond.
Cutch is a class act.. maybe a DH or platoon player now. But wherever he lands it brings class to the organization
Indeed!
$15/mil for a OF who hit 780+ ops 25hr/80 rbi is affordable. Phillies are cheap.
Easy decisions
Is Herrera not worth $11.5MM?
No
Good riddance Odubel. And Clutch is too old to pay that much.
I know everyone knows they need a CF and SS upgrade. Pitching notwithstanding.
They need to go for Marte despite his age they have no viable options in-house.
I don’t see them affording Marte and Seager or Correa. Maybe Semien? Possibly retain Galvis. They need to decide which is the most important position to spend on.
It isn’t SS. Why spend megabucks on a shortstop with Stott coming up? Common sense, people
You can move the infield around if and when Stott comes up. Stott has impressed, but he’s not going to start the year in the bigs, and there’s going to be a massive learning curve. You can’t write Stott in right now.
Phillies should be in on Starling Marte for CF. The trade market doesn’t bear much fruit unless the Phillies look at players like JBJ, Lorenzo Cain, Kevin Kiermaier, maybe Harrison Bader. Bad contracts or change of scenery guys.
With Alec Bohm likely moving to LF the Phillies probably need to prioritize 3B over SS. Regardless of what Dombrowski says they are not going to pay that much money to ride the bench and releasing him would probably come back to haunt them. I can see the Phillies signing a Seager, just probably not the one everyone wants.
They need at least another starter and as usual DD will do his worst at trying to build a bullpen
I keep seeing Seager’s name coming up but he is injured more than he plays.We can not afford to risk that much on a part time player his injury history is horrible.Correa is the man
you want to spend on if your are going to spend which I don’t think they will.Trade for Matt Olsen 1b from Oakland and get 2 starting pitchers and once again roll the dice with the bullpen.I guarantee Odubel will be back for a cheaper rate.
Hi group…I’ve been a Phan of Goofy and would have been ok had they brought him back..However, I understand the move..
Dave said he was going to get a middle of the order bat..I can suggest a real good one. Nick Castellanos…His D isn’t great, but he can flat out hit..He can also DH should that come thru.. Phillies have the cash, and still room to get a SS..
He would be a great addition to the lineup, but the Phillies already struggle defensively and Castellanos’ defense is pretty bad. Tough to say no to that bat if you can afford it, but I definitely think they need to work on that defense.
I don’t disagree with that Von, I think they can manage him in left. How much worse can he be than Cutch? And who knows with the DH hopefully arriving he’d be perfect. I’ve no clue what it would take to sign him.
That would be a sweet lineup. In no particular order you’d have Segura, Harper, Hoskins and Castellanos. As in one of those short stops it could be a fun year.
Now who will Wathan play Rock, Paper, Scissors with?
Joc Pederson of Cutch?!