Phillies Rumors

Roster Notes: Twins, Marlins, Pirates, Yankees, Cubs, Phillies

By Steve Adams | April 4, 2022 at 8:54pm CDT

With the season just a few days away, roster decisions around the game continue to trickle in. We’ll round up some notable non 40-man roster decisions here.

- Twins pitching prospect Jhoan Duran has made the Opening Day roster, per a club announcement. He’ll initially work out of the bullpen. Ranked the #9 prospect in the Minnesota organization by Baseball America, Duran draws praise for an upper-90s fastball and a power splitter that have helped him run plus strikeout rates throughout his minor league career.
- The Marlins have informed outfielder Roman Quinn he will not make the Opening Day roster, reports Craig Mish of SportsGrid (Twitter link). It comes as a bit of a surprise, as Quinn had seemed the favorite for a fourth outfield role after the Fish released Delino DeShields Jr. over the weekend. Presumably, that job will fall to utilityman Jon Berti early on.
- Infield prospect Diego Castillo has made the Pirates’ Opening Day roster, tweets Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Castillo, acquired in the trade that sent righty Clay Holmes to the Yankees, will make his big league debut the first time he gets into a game.
- The Yankees announced they’ve reassigned outfielder Ender Inciarte and left-hander Manny Bañuelos to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Inciarte has an opt-out clause in his minor league deal and tells ESPN’s Marly Rivera he hasn’t yet decided whether he’ll accept the assignment to Triple-A.
- The Cubs informed pitching prospect Ethan Roberts he’ll be on the Opening Day roster, he informed reporters (including Maddie Lee of the Chicago Sun-Times). A fourth-round pick in 2018 out of Tennessee Tech, the right-hander is the #33 prospect in the organization according to Baseball America. The reliever posted an even 3.00 ERA over 54 innings between Double-A Tennessee and Triple-A Iowa last season. The Cubs reassigned non-roster invitees Jonathan Holder, Robert Gsellman, Steven Brault, Stephen Gonsalves and Ildemaro Vargas to Iowa, tweets Jordan Bastian of MLB.com.
- The Phillies reassigned non-roster invitees Ronald Torreyes, Yairo Muñoz and Dillon Maples to Triple-A Lehigh Valley, tweets Todd Zolecki of MLB.com. Torreyes and Muñoz were competing for utility spots, while the hard-throwing Maples had been seeking a spot in the Philly bullpen.

Phillies Hire Jimmy Rollins As Special Advisor To Front Office

By Anthony Franco | March 31, 2022 at 4:58pm CDT

The Phillies announced this evening they’ve hired former NL MVP Jimmy Rollins as a special advisor to president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski. According to the team, Rollins will “periodically assist the major league club in an on-field capacity and advise the front office with baseball operations decisions.” He will also continue to broadcast some of the team’s games as an analyst for NBC Sports Philadelphia.

“The addition of Jimmy Rollins to our baseball operations department is a significant gain for the Phillies,” Dombrowski said in the team’s press release announcing the move. “As one of the franchise’s all-time greats, Jimmy brings tremendous baseball instincts and an institutional knowledge of what it takes to win in Philadelphia. We look forward to his continued contributions to the Phillies.”

The 43-year-old Rollins released a statement of his own, saying he’s “honored to move into baseball operations and assist Dave and his staff. The Phillies mean a great deal to me, and I’ll do whatever I can to help get this team back to where it belongs, and that’s deep in October.”

Rollins, of course, is one of the best players in franchise history. He spent 15 seasons of a 17-year big league career in Philadelphia, donning a Phils uniform from 2000-14. During that run, the switch-hitting shortstop blossomed into one of the sport’s best players. He finished in third place in NL Rookie of the Year balloting in 2001, earning his first of three All-Star selections that season and leading the Senior Circuit with 46 stolen bases.

The Oakland native earned some down-ballot MVP support during his debut season, one of five years in which he’d garner votes. The pinnacle came in 2007, when Rollins was elected MVP after putting up a .296/.344/.531 line with 30 homers and a Gold Glove award for his defense. That season kicked off a string of five straight postseason appearances for the Phillies, highlighted by a 2008 campaign in which they vanquished the Rays in a five-game World Series.

As Rollins implied, it has been a while since the Phils have gotten back to those heights. That streak of consecutive playoff appearances was snapped in 2012, kicking off a ten-year postseason drought the team is hoping to snap in 2022.

Padres Trade James Norwood To Phillies

By Steve Adams | March 30, 2022 at 9:50am CDT

The Phillies have acquired right-hander James Norwood from the Padres in exchange for minor league infielder Kervin Pichardo and cash, according to announcements from both teams. San Diego designated Norwood for assignment earlier this week.

Norwood, 28, tossed five scoreless innings of relief for the Friars last season and has 27 total innings of Major League work under his belt dating back to his 2018 debut with the Cubs. He’s logged a 3.67 ERA, albeit with a below-average 18.5% strikeout rate and a bloated 13.1% walk rate.

Norwood has a decent overall track record in Triple-A, where he’s pitched to a 4.05 ERA in parts of three seasons. He whiffed 37.2% of his opponents in 44 2/3 Triple-A frames this past season, which surely held some appeal to the Phils. Norwood is out of minor league options, meaning he’ll need to either break camp with the Phils or be designated for assignment once again. Given that Philadelphia sent a minor leaguer to the Padres, as opposed to a simple cash transaction or waiver claim, it would seem Norwood has a decent shot of being included in Philadelphia’s Opening Day relief corps.

As for the 20-year-old Pichardo, he’s a Bronx native who joined the Phillies in June 2019 as an undrafted free agent. He spent most of his time at shortstop after signing in ’19 but played more third base in 2021. Pichardo logged just 35 total games across three levels last year and batted .247/.476/.466 with two homers, six doubles, two triples, two steals and a 32-to-28 K/BB ratio in 105 plate appearances.

Phillies Trade Adam Haseley To White Sox

By Steve Adams | March 29, 2022 at 10:59pm CDT

The White Sox and Phillies are in agreement on a deal sending outfielder Adam Haseley from Philadelphia to Chicago, reports Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (Twitter link). Minor league right-hander McKinley Moore is headed to the Phillies in return, reports Todd Zolecki of MLB.com. Both teams have since announced the trade.

Haseley, 25, was the eighth overall pick in the 2017 draft but has yet to establish himself as a fixture in the Philadelphia outfield. The left-handed hitter is a career .272/.331/.398 hitter against right-handed pitching and has drawn mostly solid defensive marks at all three outfield positions (10 Defensive Runs Saved, 3.3 Ultimate Zone Rating, -1 Outs Above Average). He’ll give the Sox a nice glove and a lefty bat to pair with right-handed-hitting outfielders Eloy Jimenez, Luis Robert, Adam Engel and Andrew Vaughn.

The bulk of Haseley’s experience in the big leagues came in 2019, when he logged a career-high 67 games and 242 plate appearances. He’s played in just 49 games and tallied 113 plate appearances across the past two seasons while battling wrist and groin strains. Haseley also stepped away from baseball entirely for a month last April, citing personal reasons. He went just 4-for-21 in limited big league time and batted .233/.313/.325 in the minors last season.

Haseley has a pair of minor league option years remaining, so he’s not necessarily a lock to make Chicago’s Opening Day roster. However, with Vaughn nursing a hip injury that’ll shut him down for one to two weeks, the outfield picture might be a bit more open at the moment than it appeared just a few days ago. Haseley has just a year and 132 days of Major League service time, so he’s under club control with the White Sox through at least the 2026 season — provided he plays well enough to stick on the roster that long, of course.

Although Haseley wasn’t slated to start in the outfield for the Phillies, he looked to have a clear path to at least a part-time role — particularly with Odubel Herrera currently battling an oblique injury that’s expected to prevent him from being ready for Opening Day. Haseley and right-handed-hitting Matt Vierling appeared ticketed for a center field platoon, with Bryce Harper locked into right field and Kyle Schwarber and Nick Castellanos slated to split time between left field and DH (probably with the former seeing more time in the field than the latter). With Haseley now out of the picture, former No. 1 overall pick Mickey Moniak looks like the frontrunner to split time with Vierling early on — barring further player movement in the Philadelphia outfield mix.

Moore, 23, was the Sox’ 14th-round pick in 2019 out of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. Listed at 6’6″ and 225 pounds, McKinley is a big, power-armed righty with an upper-90s heater and a slider that, per Baseball America, will look like a plus offering at times. Moore has fanned a huge 31.7% of his opponents in pro ball and also boasts a strong 51% grounder rate, but he’s walked far too many opponents (13.4%). He split the 2021 season between two Class-A affiliates, pitching to a 4.20 ERA through 40 2/3 innings.

Injury Notes: Vaughn, Ahmed, Urias, Coonrod

By Steve Adams | March 28, 2022 at 1:55pm CDT

The White Sox announced today that first baseman/outfielder Andrew Vaughn has been diagnosed with a hip pointer (a bruised pelvis bone on his right side) and is expected to return to game action in one to two weeks. Vaughn sustained the injury on a diving catch in right field yesterday, and while he was initially able to get to his feet after the play, he dropped back down and signaled for the training staff. He was eventually helped off the field on a cart.

Vaughn, the No. 3 overall pick in the 2019 draft, made his big league debut in 2021 while converting from first base to the outfield. He hit just .235/.309/.396 with 15 home runs on the season as a whole, in part due to a dismal September swoon that saw him collect just four hits (all singles) in his final 49 plate appearances. He’s had a nice Spring Training so far, but it’s possible that this hip injury will sideline him for the remainder of camp — if not the first few games of the season. Depending on his progress, an IL stint doesn’t seem out of the question, but time will tell whether that proves necessary.

A few more injury scenarios of particular note from around the league…

D-backs shortstop Nick Ahmed is headed for an MRI on his ailing right shoulder, writes Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic. Ahmed’s shoulder issue dates back to the 2020 season, when he initially jammed it on the landing after diving for a ball at shortstop. Piecoro notes that Ahmed has previously sidestepped questions about the potential for surgery, but the results of the MRI will be telling. The 32-year-old Ahmed has always been a glove-first player, but last year’s offensive output cratered as he played through ongoing shoulder discomfort. In 473 trips to the plate, Ahmed slashed just .221/.280/.339 — a far cry from the .254/.316/.437 line he posted in 2019. Defensive metrics remain bullish on Ahmed’s range, although last year’s five throwing errors were the second-most of his career (perhaps not a surprise, given that it’s his throwing shoulder in question). The D-backs owe Ahmed $7.5MM this season and $10MM in 2023.
Brewers infielder Luis Urias has been ruled out for Opening Day, manager Craig Counsell told reporters today (Twitter link via Will Sammon of The Athletic). It’s not a big surprise given that he’s been limited to just two spring at-bats while nursing a strained quadriceps. The 24-year-old Urias looked on the verge of losing his spot in the Brewers’ lineup at one point last year, as Milwaukee swung an early trade for Willy Adames after some rough play from Urias at shortstop. Upon moving off shortstop and settling in at third base, however, Urias saw not only his defensive ratings improve but also broke out at the plate. Over his final 426 plate appearances, he slashed .262/.352/.470 with 19 home runs, 18 doubles and a triple — good for a 120 wRC+. With Urias sidelined, it’ll likely fall to journeyman Jace Peterson, former Rays infielder Mike Brosseau and utilityman Pablo Reyes to cover the hot corner.
Phillies right-hander Sam Coonrod has been shut down for five to seven days with a shoulder strain, manager Joe Girardi announced to reporters (Twitter link via Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia). That puts his Opening Day availability in jeopardy, though that will depend on just how he fares when he’s reevaluated a few days down the line. The 29-year-old Coonrod may not be as familiar a name as some of his veteran bullpen-mates, but he’s in line to serve as an important member of the relief corps, if healthy. In 42 1/3 innings last season, the former Giants righty posted a 4.04 ERA with a strong 25.9% strikeout rate, an 8.1% walk rate and a brilliant 57.1% grounder rate. Coonrod averaged 98.8 mph on his heater, and between the velocity, strikeouts, walks and grounders, there’s potential for a breakout performance if this shoulder issue proves minor.

Giants Acquire Luke Williams From Phillies, Place Matthew Boyd On 60-Day Injured List

By Mark Polishuk | March 27, 2022 at 2:34pm CDT

The Giants have acquired utilityman Luke Williams from the Phillies in exchange for minor league third baseman Will Toffey and cash considerations. Both teams have announced the trade. To create a 40-man roster spot, the Giants placed southpaw Matthew Boyd on the 60-day injured list.

Williams was designated for assignment by Philadelphia earlier this week when the Nick Castellanos signing became official. After six seasons in the Phils’ farm system and a brief stint in the Australian Baseball League, Williams made his MLB debut in 2021, appearing in 58 games. While Williams hit only .245/.315/.316 in 108 plate appearances, he made a mark with his versatility, making multiple appearances at every position except catcher and pitcher.

Williams began his career as a third baseman, but has more recently moved all over the diamond, with the bulk of his brief big league career spent as an outfielder. Giants manager Gabe Kapler is surely familiar with Williams from Kapler’s past job as the Phillies’ skipper, and San Francisco has frequently sought out multi-positional players in recent years. Williams is also a right-handed hitter, which could give him an opportunity for playing time given how the Giants’ projected starting outfield (Mike Yastrzemski, LaMonte Wade Jr., and Joc Pederson) are all left-handed bats.

Toffey has something of a similar resume to Williams, as Toffey is also a third baseman who has started to branch out at other positions. The 2021 season saw Toffey play both corner outfield positions, first base, and second base while playing with the Mets’ Double-A affiliate and the Giants’ Triple-A affiliate. San Francisco acquired the 27-year-old Toffey from the Mets last July, with left-hander Anthony Banda going back to New York in return.

Boyd signed a one-year deal with the Giants last week, and the former Tigers lefty is set to earn $5.2MM in guaranteed money in 2022. First, however, Boyd will have to fully recover from flexor tendon surgery last September. The 60-day IL placement was expected, as Boyd wasn’t expected to be ready until early June.

Marlins Release Monte Harrison

By Steve Adams | March 26, 2022 at 10:32am CDT

TODAY: The Marlins have released Harrison, according to MLB.com’s Christina De Nicola (Twitter link).

MARCH 24: Harrison has cleared waivers and been sent outright to Triple-A Jacksonville, the team informed reporters (including Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald). He’ll remain in the organization without requiring a 40-man roster spot.

MARCH 18: The Marlins announced a trio of roster moves Friday, designating outfielder Monte Harrison for assignment, claiming righty Yoan Lopez off waivers from the Phillies, and signing veteran outfielder Delino DeShields Jr. to a minor league contract.

Harrison, a second-round pick in 2014 and former top-100 prospect, was one of the key pieces sent from Milwaukee to Miami in the Christian Yelich blockbuster. The 26-year-old appeared in just 40 games with the Marlins over the course of his time in the organization, batting .175/.230/.263 in a tiny sample of 62 plate appearances. Of course, Harrison also never really forced his way onto the big league roster with standout performances in the minors, either. He logged a .715 OPS in an admittedly pitcher-friendly Double-A setting in 2018 — his first in the Marlins organization — and wasn’t able to push that OPS even as high as .800 in any of the three years he spent in the system.

Harrison did post a .242/.331/.446 batting line that checked in slightly above league-average production in Triple-A last year (108 wRC+), but he did so with a staggering 39.3% strikeout rate that surely didn’t give the team any confidence he was beginning to turn a corner. Now out of minor league options and squarely behind Avisail Garcia, Jesus Sanchez, Bryan De La Cruz and others on the outfield depth chart, Harrison finds himself jettisoned from the 40-man roster. The Marlins will have a week to trade Harrison, place him on outright waivers, or release him. The latter of those three scenarios seems highly unlikely; Harrison will either be traded/claimed by another club, or he’ll pass through outright waivers unclaimed and remain in the Marlins organization.

Taking Harrison’s spot on the 40-man roster, at least for now, is the 29-year-old Lopez — a former high-profile Diamondbacks signing out of Cuba. He’s spent parts of four seasons in the big leagues but, after a decent start with Arizona, has seen his numbers tank in recent years. Lopez throws hard (96.2 mph average fastball in his career) and has better-than-average marks in terms of walk rate (7.7%) and ground-ball rate (46.8%).

That said, Lopez’s 19.1% strikeout rate is well shy of the MLB average, particularly among relievers, and he’s been overwhelmingly homer-prone. In 101 2/3 innings at the MLB level, he has a 4.25 ERA but a sky-high 1.77 HR/9. Lopez’s four-seamer has above-average velocity but bottom-of-the-scale spin rate, which has allowed hitters to square it up with regularity. On 251 occasions, Lopez has finished a big league plate appearance by throwing a fastball, and opponents have posted a .280/.333/.511 batting line in those instances. Lopez’s career 5.3% swinging-strike rate on his four-seamer is one of the lower marks you’ll come across.

As for the veteran DeShields, he’ll replenish some of the center-field depth lost by designating Harrison for assignment but do so without requiring a 40-man roster spot. The 29-year-old is a generally known commodity know, having logged big league time in each of the past seven seasons (including three years as the primary center fielder in Texas). DeShields has never shown much in the way of power but has well above-average speed and is capable of playing all three outfield spots. He’s a lifetime .247/.326/.342 hitter in 2114 trips to the plate at the MLB level.

Odubel Herrera Unlikely To Be Ready For Opening Day

By Anthony Franco | March 23, 2022 at 7:58pm CDT

Phillies center fielder Odúbel Herrera has a mild strain in his right oblique, manager Joe Girardi told reporters (including Alex Coffey of the Philadelphia Inquirer) this afternoon. He’s not expected to be ready for Opening Day, and Girardi suggested he could be sidelined for four-to-six weeks.

The Phils declined Herrera’s $11.5MM club option at the outset of the offseason, seemingly ending his seven-year run in the organization. Philadelphia circled back after the lockout, however, re-signing him on a $1.75MM pact. He entered camp as the favorite to reprise his role as the regular center fielder, but it seems the Phillies will need to look to alternatives in the early going.

Matt Vierling looks likely to get the first crack at the job, as Todd Zolecki of MLB.com wrote yesterday the 25-year-old would be the probable primary center fielder so long as Herrera was on the shelf. Vierling had a nice 34-game run to begin his big league career late last year, but his .248/.331/.359 line in 236 plate appearances with Triple-A Lehigh Valley casts some doubt on his ability to shoulder an everyday workload. Former top ten draftees Adam Haseley and Mickey Moniak are alternatives on the 40-man roster, but Girardi said the Phils haven’t given any consideration to playing Moniak in center. Haseley can handle the position defensively, but he limped to a .224/.282/.295 performance with Lehigh Valley last season.

One option not under consideration is kicking Bryce Harper over from right field to center. The reigning NL MVP has some experience up the middle, but Girardi told reporters yesterday (via Zolecki) the organization didn’t want to jeopardize his health by handing him that kind of defensive burden. Harper will stick in right field, and Girardi said today he viewed Kyle Schwarber as his primary left fielder (via Jayson Stark of the Athletic). Fellow offseason signee Nick Castellanos will spend the bulk of his time at designated hitter, relieving Schwarber or Harper in the corner outfield as needed.

Phillies Designate Luke Williams For Assignment

By Anthony Franco | March 22, 2022 at 4:12pm CDT

The Phillies announced this afternoon they’ve designated utilityman Luke Williams for assignment. The move opens space on the 40-man roster for Nick Castellanos, whose five-year deal has been made official.

Philadelphia selected Williams in the third round of the 2015 draft. The right-handed hitter methodically climbed the minor league ladder, never posting overwhelming numbers but making plus rates of contact throughout his pro career. He opened the 2021 campaign with Triple-A Lehigh Valley and earned his first big league call in June.

Williams tallied 108 MLB plate appearances last year, hitting .245/.315/.316 with one home run and a pair of stolen bases. He made contact on 85% of his swings — around nine points above the league average — but he only managed five extra-base hits. It was a similar story in Lehigh Valley, where he hit .270/.329/.341 without a homer in 143 trips to the dish.

To his credit, Williams suited up all over the diamond for manager Joe Girardi. He started games at each of second base, third base, shortstop, left field and center field last year. Baseball America named him the #17 prospect in the Phillies system this offseason, writing that his combination of defensive aptitude and bat-to-ball skills could make him a decent option off the bench even if his lack of power probably prevents him from emerging as a regular.

The Phils will have a week to trade Williams or place him on waivers. The 25-year-old still has all three minor league option years remaining, so he’d be a flexible multi-positional depth piece for any acquiring team.

NL East Notes: Phillies, Bryant, Marlins, Reynolds, Marte, Jansen, Chafin, Mets

By Mark Polishuk | March 20, 2022 at 8:01pm CDT

The Phillies were often speculated as a suitor for Kris Bryant this winter, and USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reports that the team did indeed have interest in the former NL MVP. However, Bryant wanted as much long-term security as possible in the form of “at least a seven-year deal,” and he landed that desired contract with his seven-year, $182MM agreement with the Rockies. Philadelphia’s offer topped out at five years, Nightengale writes.

Given the terms, one wonders if the Phillies’ offer to Bryant was somewhat similar to the five-year, $100MM deal the club ended up giving to Nick Castellanos. Even that deal took some additional legwork, since as The Athletic’s Matt Gelb details, the front office first had to convince owner John Middleton that adding Castellanos was worth exceeding the luxury tax threshold for the first time in franchise history. Middleton has long stated that he was willing to pay the tax for a difference-making type of acquisition, and the end result is that the Phillies are now projected to sit above the $230MM threshold with an estimated $236.46MM tax number.

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