The Phillies have claimed outfielder Jake Cave off waivers from the Orioles, per announcements from both teams. The addition of Cave brings Philadelphia’s 40-man roster to a total of 38 players.
Cave, who’ll turn 30 on Sunday, never suited up in a game for the Orioles. Baltimore had claimed him off waivers from the Twins earlier this season and apparently tried to sneak him through waivers themselves in hopes of keeping him without allocating a 40-man roster spot to the longtime Twins backup.
Cave has appeared in parts of five big league seasons, all coming with the Twins, who acquired him from the Yankees in a 2018 trade that sent Luis Gil to New York. Cave was an outstanding fourth outfielder for the Twins in 2018-19, appearing in 163 games, taking 537 plate appearances and batting .262/.329/.466 with 21 homers, 27 doubles and four triples.
In 2020, Cave’s production fell off, however, and he’s never regained his form. Over the past three seasons, he’s turned in a tepid .206/.252/.352 batting line while punching out in 32.4% of his plate appearances. As is so often the case, injuries are at least partly to blame for the downturn in production; Cave landed on the injured list with a fracture in his lower back in May of 2021 and missed multiple months as a result of the injury.
Cave was arbitration-eligible this offseason, but the Orioles proactively signed him to a split Major League contract for the 2023 season. That contract, which contains different rates of pay for time in the Majors versus time in Triple-A, was surely signed by the Orioles with an eye toward getting Cave through waivers and keeping him as a depth piece. The O’s opted for the same tactic with catcher Anthony Bemboom and had success with it, passing him through waivers mere weeks after agreeing to terms on a 2023 contract. It (clearly) did not work that way in the case of Cave.
The general idea behind such a move is seemingly to offer slightly larger rates of pay that both discourage other teams from claiming depth options the Orioles value and hope to stash in the upper minors and to also encourage those players to accept outright assignments. Both Bemboom and Cave have previously been outrighted and thus are thus able to refuse outright assignments, but the larger rates of pay on the split deal serve as incentive to instead accept the outright. (Since neither player has five years of Major League service, refusing the outright assignment in favor of free agency would mean forfeiting any money owed to them on that split deal, and a new contract with a new team would likely come at a lower rate.)
Instead, for Cave, things will work out even better, as he’ll land on a team that perhaps has greater designs on carrying him on its MLB roster. He’s capable of playing all three outfield spots, has some power and will give the team a potential late-game defensive option in lieu of sluggers Kyle Schwarber and Nick Castellanos when both are in the lineup and starting in the outfield corners. It’s possible the Phillies will try to pass Cave through waivers themselves or designate him for assignment if they acquire someone they deem to be a better option as a backup outfielder, but for now, Cave appears likely to occupy a spot on manager Rob Thomson’s bench in 2023.
That’s ok, kinda like a Kyle Garlick move…..
I hear he has a lot of bats
That’s gold!!
I thought of that first like my comment please thank you.
I have no clue what this team is doing with the 40 lately.
Getting ready to send 3 or 4 guys to Milwaukee for Burnes…
I think Painter is pretty much untouchable right now. So there can be no Burnes in the near term.
Lately?
The only move that made me pause on the 40 man recently was leaving off that lefty Erik Miller for the Rule 5. Then again, I have not seen him pitch in person for a couple of years and his control has always been suspect. Otherwise, I fully expect that there will be some significant churn on the bottom of the 40 over the next six months. Cave is AAA depth….
I ranted on The Good Phight yesterday about the fact that they just keep adding rabble while leaving guys exposed. Miller is the big name but there are others. I think they lose him for sure and would expect at least one more after (Moore or Schulze likely).
I used to be more on top of this – saw a ton of minor league games and paid attention. Now, I try but am more out of the loop.
One thing that I will say however, and the words are unusual for me in this regard. I have some faith in DD and Co. as they evaluate the system and have been developing and acquiring new talent in the past couple of years. After the disaster of Klentak and really, their years of drafting and development that was mostly below par (and peaked at about average) I think that we have better things ahead. They will certainly make a few mistakes as they churn the roster depth but I expect some overall progress.
They really caved in this move.
Why would they dedicate a 40-man spot to Jake Cave rather than running him back through waivers???
They the Phillies? I expect they might. But they don’t need 3 spots ahead of the Rule 5 draft next Wednesday. I would not be surprised to see the Phillies try to pass him through waivers themselves but only after next week’s draft.
He uh… kinda sucks.
Think he’s good enough to suck?
Clearly the Phillies don’t need an OF in Harper’s absence. Claiming someone they can cut, let’s just randomly say at All-Star break, is just a coincidence.
Sounds like Spring Training filler
Phillies have better luck with Cliffs than Caves.
Phillies need to sign Trea Turner for SS and Cody Bellinger for upside and defense. Let him loose in CBP under the tutelage of Kevin Long. Just go all in.
ack
Agreed, if he pans out he can stay in outfield and Harper goes to first making Hoskins expendable. I’d like to see them get Haniger too as a 4th OF and fill on while Harpers hurt. Castellanos can go with Hoskins.
I’m all in on Turner. He’s what the lineup is missing. I’ll pass on Bellinger however. Seems like a fun guy to hang with but Long isn’t a miracle worker. I’d rather use that money on pitching and extending Nola. It’s nice to dream about Painter, Abel, and McGarry but I wouldn’t bank in all 3 being successful at the MLB level.
They need pitching. Their offense will be fine with one of the big SSs. I don’t see the need for a risk like Bellinger who may be completely finished.
VonPurpleHayes,
I have learned from the Best to assess risk / reward. Bellinger a recent MVP from a Winning Organization who can play CF with the Best gives you a possible high reward Impact Player on a low cost one year Deal. Sell him on CBP a WS Team a Great City and a Coach in Kevin Long. Sign him not much to lose.
Kevin Long is a miracle worker & Dan Murphy smiles.
If the Phillies didn’t have Marsh, I’d agree. But the need, beyond one of the big SSs, is absolutely pitching. Bellinger isn’t going to be taking league minimum. I just don’t think the Phillies should focus on a gamble instead of a proven SP.
How about Brian Reynolds instead of Bellinger? Eat half of Castellanos contract and give up a couple of 2nd tier prospects. Throw in Stott if you need too, then resign Segura for 2b. Long term you have Schwarber. Castellanos, and Harper all vying to be your DH where you can only use one. With Hoskins this year it was 4 and you saw how well that worked out.
Abel and Stott are not Klentak disasters. People conveniently overlook them when whining about Klentak
A broken clock is right twice a day. Not everything Klentak and Co did was horrible. Some are real head scratchers though. Signing Santana and moving Hoskins to LF in the process for his first full season, hiring Kapler come to mind. Klentak did get Segura, Harper, Realmuto, Wheeler, Nola’s extension and a few guys that I thought were good pickups at the time but didn’t pan out. Like Robertson (round 1) and Morton tearing a hammy or something like that. I also liked the Herrera signing at the time.
After seeing Cave as a Twins fan, was happy he’s no longer an option here. But that is not an insult to him, just tired of seeing him getting chances over other options. He’s a decent 4th OF and can play a semi passable CF in a pinch. Will surprise you with big games that bring wins, supposedly beloved in the clubhouse.
Seems like a great pickup for the Phil’s can be released easily when Harper returns.