Phillies Reportedly Have Not “Seriously Discussed” Blake Snell
The Phillies hammered out their second recent nine-figure pitching investment this morning. Philadelphia’s three-year, $126MM extension with Zack Wheeler follows their $172MM guarantee over seven seasons to retain Aaron Nola in free agency. There’s been chatter about the possibility of adding the defending NL Cy Young winner to form an elite trio, but that has always seemed like a stretch — even for a franchise that spends as aggressively on star talent as the Phillies do.
USA Today’s Bob Nightengale wrote over the weekend that the Phils had interest in Snell if he takes a short-term contract. However, Matt Gelb of The Athletic reported differently this afternoon. According to Gelb, the Phillies have not “seriously discussed” a pursuit of Snell, regardless of the contract length required.
Snell declined a qualifying offer from the Padres at the beginning of the offseason. Gelb suggests the Phils weren’t interested in signing a player who rejected a QO, which would require them to forfeit their second and fifth picks in the 2024 draft and $1MM in bonus pool space for international amateurs. Philadelphia did relinquish their right to a compensatory pick by re-signing Nola, though that would have been only one draft choice that fell after the fourth round. (Snell is the only of the seven players who declined the QO who remains unsigned.)
Even independent of the draft compensation, the Phillies haven’t seemed a great fit for Snell since they retained Nola. Philadelphia has $246MM in player commitments for the upcoming season, as calculated by RosterResource. That’s a little north of last year’s $243MM franchise-record Opening Day mark. The Phils have nearly $262MM in competitive balance tax commitments. They’re going to exceed the CBT for a third consecutive season, leading to higher penalties as a three-time payor.
Philadelphia is already set to pay roughly $13MM in luxury taxes. Further additions either during the offseason or around the deadline will add to that mark. The Phils would pay a 62% tax on their approximate next $15MM in spending. That’d be followed by a 95% charge on the following $20MM and a 110% tax on any money thereafter.
A short-term contract for Snell would assuredly come with a lofty average salary, heightening the CBT commitments. A $35MM annual value, as a hypothetical, would add around $28MM to Philadelphia’s tax bill on top of the money going to Snell. It would also vault the Phils past the $277MM line that marks the third tier of CBT penalization, pushing their top pick in the 2025 draft back 10 spots in the process. A longer-term commitment could soften the CBT hit but would add another extended pitching investment to the Nola, Wheeler and Taijuan Walker contracts — which all run through 2026 or later.
Every team would benefit from installing Snell into their rotation in the short term. The Phillies have a strong starting five already, though. Wheeler, Nola, Ranger Suárez, Walker and Cristopher Sánchez is a good group. Philadelphia took a flier on Spencer Turnbull as a long man/sixth starter and added Kolby Allard and Max Castillo as further rotation depth. Prospects Mick Abel and Griff McGarry are higher ceiling options who could make their respective big league debuts in 2024. Andrew Painter is likely to miss all of this season recovering from Tommy John surgery, yet he should be a factor in the ’25 starting staff.
Phillies Interested In Blake Snell On Short-Term Contract
The Phillies re-signed Aaron Nola early in the offseason, made a big push to sign Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and a chance still remains that they could make one more splash in the free agent pitching market. According to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, Philadelphia would be open to bringing Blake Snell into the fold, but not on a long-term deal. A one-year pact or a shorter-term contract would be the Phils’ preference, or quite possibly the kind of three-year deal with multiple opt-outs recently signed by other Boras Corporation clients Cody Bellinger and Matt Chapman.
The news isn’t surprising in the sense that plenty of teams would similarly love to have Snell on these terms, though the Phillies’ interest in Snell was described by The Athletic’s Jayson Stark back in November as “lukewarm.” In Stark’s view, the Phils saw Snell as a fallback plan if they couldn’t add their higher-priority targets (i.e. Nola or Yamamoto). There is also the fact that the Phillies already have a set rotation on paper, with Nola, Zack Wheeler, Ranger Suarez, Taijuan Walker, and Cristopher Sanchez combining to form a very solid starting five.
President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski has spoken multiple times this offseason about how much he likes his rotation options, and about how the Phils’ other forays into the starting pitching market were focused on depth additions. That said, Dombrowski also noted last month that “I can’t tell you that somebody doesn’t fall into your lap at some point where you say, ’Gee, that’s an opportunity we can’t turn down.’ ” It seems possible that Snell’s seemingly limited market might now represent such a possibility for the Phillies to get involved.
Snell’s reported willingness to consider shorter-term offers could mean that a five- or six-year contract simply might not be on the table at this late date in the offseason. Even back in mid-February, MLBTR’s Darragh McDonald wondered if Snell would be better off aiming for a very high average annual value within a short-term deal, so the left-hander could then potentially opt out next winter when the market is more favorable and more teams might be willing to spend. The Yankees, Giants, and Angels have all been linked to Snell’s market, and that list probably widens considerably should the reigning NL Cy Young winner start focusing on just short-term contracts with opt-outs attached.
Philadelphia is undoubtedly in win-now mode, and both Dombrowski and team chairman John Middleton have a history of making aggressive moves in search of a World Series crown. Signing Snell and moving to either some kind of six-man rotation or in making Sanchez something of an over-qualified swingman would improve what is already a good rotation, and no postseason opponent would want to face the trio of Snell, Wheeler, and Nola within a short series.
Even as a short-term signing, however, Snell has its drawbacks for the Phillies. The club would have to give up $1MM in international bonus pool funds and its second- and fifth-highest picks in the 2024 draft, because Snell rejected a qualifying offer and because Philadelphia was a luxury-tax payor in 2023. In fact, the Phils have crossed the Competitive Balance Tax threshold in each of the last two years and are poised to make it a trifecta in 2024, with a projected CBT number of $261MM (as per RosterResource).
This figure is already over the second-highest penalty threshold of $257MM, and adding Snell would surely put Philadelphia over the third tier of $277MM. Teams who cross that third tier face the further penalty of a ten-slot drop for their first selection in the following season’s draft, as well as even steeper financial costs. As a three-time tax payor, the Phillies would be taxed at a 95% rate for every dollar spent above the $277MM mark.
For a one-year splurge on Snell, Middleton might deem the CBT costs as worth it if the left-hander is a final piece who can nab the Phillies that elusive championship. But the risk is obvious, as if Snell struggles in 2024 or gets injured, suddenly what might’ve looked like a one-year deal with Snell opting out now looks more like a fuller commitment or two or three years, and a further strain on the Phillies’ books. This might not be ideal for a team that has been prioritizing an extension with Wheeler, and most of the Phils’ most prominent players are signed through at least 2025.
MLBTR Podcast: How Cody Bellinger’s Deal Affects The Other Free Agents And Why The Offseason Played Out Like This
The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.
This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Tim Dierkes of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…
- The Cubs re-signing Cody Bellinger (1:40)
- How did he end up with a short-term deal? (3:35)
- Why would he not take a deal of around six years, $150MM? (5:00)
- Was this about Bellinger’s Statcast metrics? (8:00)
- Would Bellinger have gotten a megadeal in a different winter? (11:15)
- Is there a gulf widening between what superstars can make and what mid-market players can make? (15:55)
- How does the Bellinger deal affect expectations for the other Boras guys? (19:35)
Plus, we answer your questions, including…
- We have some brand-name starting pitchers who will be signing contracts after Spring Training games have begun. Historically, how have previous late signings fared after starting their seasons so late? (27:00)
- Does the Aaron Nola deal look terrible in hindsight? In my opinion, he’s not as good as Blake Snell or Jordan Montgomery and Nola got more than every pitcher except for the Dodgers’ guys. Do the Sonny Gray and Eduardo Rodríguez deals look smarter than Nola’s too? (30:30)
- What is the feeling around Juan Soto and where he might be in 2025? I feel like he’s gonna stick with the Yankees but everyone seems to think it’s a one-year location for him. (34:10)
Check out our past episodes!
- Finding Fits For The “Boras Four,” Which Teams Could Still Spend? And Rob Manfred In His Last Term – listen here
- Jorge Soler, Veteran Catcher Signings and the Padres’ Payroll Crunch – listen here
- The Sale of the Orioles, Corbin Burnes Traded and Bobby Witt Jr. Extended – listen here
The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff. Check out their Facebook page here!
Phillies Sign Cam Gallagher To Minor League Deal
The Phillies and catcher Cam Gallagher are in agreement on a minor league deal, according to Matt Gelb of The Athletic. The deal includes an invitation to big league Spring Training, and Gelb indicates that Gallagher is already in camp with the team.
The 31-year-old Gallagher has participated in parts of seven big league seasons, the first six of which were spent in the Royals organization. That included a stretch from 2019-21 where Gallagher served as the primary backup to franchise face Salvador Perez. During that time, Gallagher hit .251/.315/.364 across 118 games, good for an 82 wRC+ that, while below average, was fairly in line with expectations for a glove-first back-up catcher. On defense, Gallagher boasted strong framing numbers with an impressive +11 Defensive Runs Saved during his time with the Royals.
Kansas City dealt Gallagher to the Padres just before the 2022 trade deadline, though he did not appear in a big league game before being designated for assignment and claimed off waivers by the Orioles in September. Gallagher was then outrighted off the club’s 40-man roster after the season without having made an appearance in Baltimore, allowing him to test free agency for the first time in his career. That led him to sign a minor league deal with the Guardians last January, with whom he made the Opening Day roster as one of two back-up options to Mike Zunino on the club’s bench.
Gallagher’s time in Cleveland saw him continue to flash defensive excellence behind the plate, with +5 Framing Runs per Statcast and +7 DRS. That quality work with the glove was unfortunately overshadowed by dismal production at the plate, where Gallagher hit just .126/.154/.168 in 149 trips to the plate with the Guardians last year. That production translated to a -17 wRC+, the worst figure among all hitters with at least 100 plate appearances last year. Those brutal numbers at the plate led the Guardians to designate Gallagher for assignment back in November, returning him to free agency.
Now with the Phillies, Gallagher figures to offer the club a quality, glove-first depth option behind the club’s established duo of J.T. Realmuto and Garrett Stubbs. The only other catcher currently on Phildelphia’s 40-man roster, switch-hitting youngster Rafael Marchan, has been sidelined this spring with a back injury according to Gelb. By adding Gallagher, the Phillies protect themselves from further injuries during camp thinning out their depth behind the plate entering the 2024 campaign as they look to return to the playoffs for the third consecutive season.
Orioles Acquire Kaleb Ort, Designate Peyton Burdick
The Orioles announced they’ve acquired reliever Kaleb Ort from the Phillies for cash considerations. Outfielder Peyton Burdick was designated for assignment to open space on the 40-man roster. Philadelphia had DFA Ort this morning as the corresponding move for the Whit Merrifield signing.
It’s another back-of-the-roster move for Baltimore. The O’s have been the sport’s most active team on the DFA market over the past few weeks. Ort himself has spent a decent chunk of time in DFA limbo. Since the 2023 season ended, he has gone from the Red Sox to the Mariners, Marlins, Phillies and now Baltimore via waivers or minor trade.
The 32-year-old righty has only ever pitched at the big league level in Boston. He appeared in parts of three seasons with the Red Sox, although all but one appearance came over the last two years. He owns a 6.27 ERA in 51 2/3 career innings, including a 6.26 mark over 23 frames a year ago.
While Ort hasn’t found much big league success, his various sojourns around the league suggest teams like him as a depth arm. He throws reasonably hard, averaging 95.8 MPH with his fastball at the MLB level last year. Ort’s arsenal has played at the Triple-A level. Over parts of four seasons there, he carries an impressive 3.09 ERA while striking out nearly 32% of opposing hitters. He still has a minor league option remaining. The O’s could send him to Triple-A Norfolk without putting him on waivers if they keep him on the 40-man roster.
Burdick, 27 next week, was one of the aforementioned recent DFA pickups by Baltimore. The O’s acquired from the Marlins in a cash trade last Wednesday. Within the next week, they’ll flip him themselves or try to run him through outright waivers.
The righty-hitting outfielder has appeared briefly at the MLB level in each of the past two seasons. Burdick has slumped to a .200/.281/.368 batting line while striking out nearly 40% of the time over his first 46 contests. Strikeouts have been an issue in the minors as well. The Wright State product fanned in an untenable 36.6% of Triple-A plate appearances last season. He has big raw power and has twice topped 20 homers in the minors — including 24 longballs in Triple-A a year ago — but he’ll need to take a significant step forward with his pure contact skills.
Phillies Designate Kaleb Ort For Assignment
The Phillies designated right-hander Kaleb Ort for assignment this morning, according to Matt Gelb of The Athletic. The move clears space on the club’s 40-man roster for second baseman Whit Merrifield, whose signing was reported last week.
Ort, 32, has posted huge numbers in the minors but struggled to replicate those results at the major league level. But since he still has one option year remaining, that makes him appealing as a depth arm who is potentially on the verge of a breakout. That has made him just enticing enough for plenty of teams to want to take a shot on him, but his hold on a roster spot has been tenuous. He finished the 2023 season with the Red Sox but that club put him on waivers in October. He has since gone to the Mariners, Marlins and Phillies via waiver claims but has now lost his roster spot yet again.
Over the past three years, he has tossed 51 2/3 innings in the big leagues, allowing 6.27 earned runs per nine. He struck out 20.9% of batters faced while issuing walks at a 10.2% clip. Those numbers aren’t especially impressive but he averaged around 96 miles per hour on his fastball and had success on the farm. In the same three-year stretch, he has 97 2/3 innings of Triple-A work with a 2.76 ERA and 31.1% strikeout rate. The 10.9% walk rate was still high but the overall body of work has clearly been better at that level.
The Phils will have a week to trade Ort or try to pass him through waivers. Given the way his offseason has gone, it wouldn’t be a surprise if he were changing teams yet again in the next week. If he were to pass through unclaimed, he would stick with the Phils as non-roster depth.
Bryce Harper Discusses First Base Move, Extension
After his recovery from Tommy John surgery necessitated a move to first base last season, Bryce Harper took well enough to his new position that the Phillies announced in November that Harper would be their regular first baseman in 2024 and beyond. The two-time NL MVP spoke to reporters (including The Athletic’s Matt Gelb) about the situation today, saying “I wanted them to know that I was on board with anything they wanted to do,” and that Harper left the decision about his position up to the club. “I said if you want me in right field, I’ll play right. If you want me at first, I’ll play first base. I think collectively, they said, first base is where we want you. I said, ‘OK, I’ll do everything I can to be there,’ ” Harper said. He is now spending his Spring Training further working on what seems to be his permanent new position, noting that “I don’t think I’ll move back out to right. I don’t. But never say never.”
Harper also confirmed that he is interested in extending his contract, as agent Scott Boras stated in December. The idea caught many by surprise given that Harper still has eight seasons and $196MM remaining on his original 13-year, $330MM contract, and he’ll be turning 39 years old in October 2031. While Harper said “I haven’t really thought too much about” his contract situation, he said that “playing into my 40’s, I mean, that’s the biggest thing for me. So I want to get that done.” It remains to be seen if Harper, Boras, and the Phillies could possibly reach some kind of deal to add two (or more?) years onto Harper’s contract, yet president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski has downplayed the idea of a renegotiation.
- There’s enough happening within the division that this is our second batch of NL East Notes today. Earlier on, Nick Deeds compiled another set of items about the Marlins, Phillies, Nationals, and Braves.
Phillies Sign Austin Brice To Minor League Deal
The Phillies signed right-hander Austin Brice to a minor league deal this morning, per The Athletic’s Matt Gelb. The deal comes with an invite to big league Spring Training.
Brice, 32 in June, last made an appearance at the big league level for the Pirates back in 2022. The righty made his major league debut in 2016 as a member of the Marlins, though he would ultimately pitch just 14 innings with the club before being sent to Cincinnati as part of the deal that sent Luis Castillo to Cincinnati. Over two seasons with the Reds, Brice struggled to a 5.40 ERA with a matching FIP across 70 innings of work before the club designated him for assignment following the 2018 season. After a series of waiver claims, Brice found himself back in Miami ahead of the 2019 season and enjoyed the best season of his career as he pitched to a solid 3.43 ERA in 44 2/3 innings of work for the Marlins.
Unfortunately, that success at the big league level was short-lived, as Brice has posted a 5.85 ERA in 40 innings of work since the start of the 2020 season and spent the entire 2023 campaign in the minor leagues pitching for the Twins and Diamondbacks, for whom he posted a combined 6.92 ERA in 40 1/3 innings. Despite those brutal numbers last year, Brice’s overall body of work at the Triple-A level still features decent numbers. In 170 1/3 innings of work at the level across six seasons, Brice has posted a 4.54 ERA with a solid 25% strikeout rate against a 10.3% walk rate alongside a strong 47.4% groundball rate.
Those serviceable peripheral numbers are brought down, however, by Brice’s troubles with the longball. Brice has allowed a whopping 17.6% of his fly balls to leave the yard for home runs throughout his major league career, and allowed an even higher percentage at the Triple-A level last year. Given his solid peripherals and penchant for grounders, it’s easy to see how Brice could be a serviceable big league reliever if he can get his home run issues under control.
The right-hander will have a chance to prove himself capable in that regard with the Phillies this spring, where he’ll join fellow NRIs such as Ryan Burr and Nick Snyder in competing for a role in the club’s crowded bullpen. Should Brice fail to make the big league roster out of camp, he’ll likely serve as relief depth at the Triple-A level alongside depth options already on the 40-man roster such as right-handers Michael Rucker and Kaleb Ort.
Dave Dombrowski Discusses Zack Wheeler Extension Talks
- The Phillies have long been hoping to extend veteran ace Zack Wheeler, and comments from Wheeler himself last week indicated that the sides have opened extension talks with Spring Training now underway. While Wheeler indicated that he’s open to negotiating even once the season begins, president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski indicated to reporters (including Scott Lauber of the Philadelphia Inquirer) that while extending Wheeler is a “priority” for the club, his preference is for the sides to come together on a deal before the regular season begins. Wheeler has established himself as one of the league’s premiere starters since first suiting up for the Phillies during the shortened 2020 campaign. During his time in Philadelphia, the right-hander has pitched to an excellent 3.06 ERA with a 2.90 FIP in 101 starts during the regular season and has augmented that resume with an incredible 2.42 ERA in 63 1/3 postseason innings.
Phillies Sign Ricardo Pinto To Minor League Deal
The Phillies have signed right-hander Ricardo Pinto to a minor league deal, according to Oscar Budejan (X link). The deal includes an invite to big league Spring Training.
Pinto, 30, began his professional career in the Phillies organization back in 2012 and eventually made his big league debut for the club during the 2017 season. Pinto’s first stint in the majors did not go well as he struggled to a 7.89 ERA in 29 2/3 innings of work, striking out just 17% of batters while walking 11.6%. Pinto was then dealt to the White Sox just before the start of the 2018 season, though he did not make a major league appearance for the club.
Pinto eventually caught on with the Rays and returned to the big leagues late in the 2019 season after posting a decent 4.13 ERA in 104 2/3 innings of work for the club at the Triple-A level, though he was shelled for four runs on four hits and two walks in 2 1/3 innings for Tampa before the Rays designated him for assignment. After a brief stint in the Giants organization, Pinto headed overseas for the 2020 season to pitch in the Korea Baseball Organization. In the KBO, Pinto was used as a starter for the first time since 2016, when he was still at the Double-A level. While he struggled badly to a 6.17 ERA in his 30 starts overseas, he nonetheless found a spot in the Tigers organization.
The right-hander initially worked as a starter for the Tigers, pitching to a 4.29 ERA over 123 2/3 innings of work split between the Double- and Triple-A levels, but converted back to relief work in his second season with the Tigers. The 2022 campaign saw Pinto pitch fairly well out of the bullpen in Triple-A, with a 3.58 ERA and a 27.7% strikeout rate in 32 1/3 frames across 20 appearances. That’s his most recent stateside work, though Pinto has since pitched in Taiwan’s Chinese Professional Baseball League, the Mexican League, and the Venezuelan Winter League.
In returning to affiliated ball, Pinto joins a Phillies organization that appears mostly set in the bullpen entering Spring Training. Nonetheless, Pinto will have the opportunity to establish himself in camp alongside fellow non-roster invitees like Ryan Burr and Nick Snyder as well as depth options currently on the club’s 40-man roster such as Michael Rucker and Kaleb Ort. Any of those arms could find themselves on the Opening Day roster in the event of an injury, or perhaps if they manage to outperform an arm such as right-hander Connor Brogdon during camp.