The Phillies announced they’ve traded minor league reliever Andrew Baker to the Rockies for international bonus pool space. Baker is not on the 40-man roster.
It’s the second time in as many months that the Phils traded for bonus pool room, as they acquired $500K in allotments from the Dodgers for Griff McGarry. Matt Gelb of The Athletic notes that the Phillies are adding to their bonus pool to facilitate the signing of amateur pitcher Chan-min Park, a 17-year-old righty from South Korea.
The 26-year-old Baker was Philadelphia’s 11th-round pick out of junior college in 2021. He has spent parts of five seasons in Double-A. That includes some strong work this season, as the righty has worked to a 2.65 ERA across 17 innings. Baker has fanned 25 opponents against five walks. He has never had any trouble missing bats, but that kind of control would be the best of his career if he’s able to maintain it.
Baker has gone unselected in the Rule 5 draft a few times. Although he’s not a premium prospect, he’s a potential up-and-down bullpen arm for the Rox. Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs gave him an honorable mention in his January writeup of the Philly system, writing that Baker has a 96-98 mph fastball and a plus slider with below-average control. He’ll be Rule 5 eligible again next offseason if the Rox don’t give him a 40-man roster spot.
Good under-the-radar move by the Rox, ala the Rumfield trade.
Getting bonus pool money for this guy is a win for Phillies…getting anything for him is a win
What is the Rockies obsession with 26-28 year old minor league “prospects” anyway? I guess they figure since guys are likely to leave after arbitration anyway, might as well get the older ones that don’t get to leave until their mid 30s.
They’re done with their international signings for this year, so this acquisition is 100% free. Not a bad get for that cost. Phils probably could have done this with a number of teams, but picked one where he’s unlikely to come back to bite them if he continues blossoming.
I know nothing about Andrew Baker other than what I just saw on Baseball Reference. At first I saw the zero home runs, 25 Ks, and 5 BBs and thought it was pretty good. Then I noticed it’s his fifth year repeating AA. That makes me think this is a gift to the Phillies.
I think his mom played for the Rockford Peaches…