Phillies Rumors

Phillies “Gaining Momentum” In Pursuit Of J.T. Realmuto

By Jeff Todd | February 7, 2019 at 9:59am CDT

THURSDAY: The Phillies are “gaining momentum” in their pursuit of Realmuto, according to MLB.com’s Jon Morosi. Precisely what that means isn’t clear, but it seems the sides have reason to believe they could line up on a swap.

Mish tweets that he expects a deal to occur today, though he does not specify that Realmuto will necessarily be sent to the Phils.

WEDNESDAY, 4:00pm: Scott Lauber of the Philadelphia Daily News also hears that the Marlins’ preference is to find a deal for Realmuto in the very near future (Twitter link). Like Frisaro, he notes that Sanchez is viewed by the Marlins as a key piece in the deal, adding that young catcher Jorge Alfaro would need to be included in the swap as well.

1:46pm: The Marlins will demand top pitching prospect Sixto Sanchez in any deal with the Phils, per MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro.

Frisaro notes that the Miami organization would like to wrap up a deal with one of the remaining suitors before the club holds its annual FanFest event this Saturday.

TUESDAY: The Phillies appear to be re-emerging as a candidate to land Marlins catcher J.T. Realmuto. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic tweeted earlier today that the clubs have been in contact of late, while Yahoo’s Tim Brown now notes on Twitter that “there could be some traction” between the clubs, suggesting it is a situation to monitor.

As ever, it’s worth taking this news with a grain of salt. The trade saga surrounding Realmuto has dragged on for the entirety of the offseason, with numerous reports suggesting that certain suitors were rising or falling in likelihood. With February upon us, Realmuto remains a Marlin.

That said, this match makes potential sense on paper and these particular journalists aren’t prone to dropping bread crumbs of information in a scattershot manner. On the Marlins’ side, it seems all but certain that the Miami club will end up shipping Realmuto elsewhere. Following an outstanding 2018 season, and with two seasons to go before he reaches free agency, his value will never be higher. There are plenty of interesting assets in the Phillies system that would hold appeal to the rebuilding Marlins.

The Phillies have been eyeing up major acquisitions all winter long, but haven’t yet pulled the trigger. While the focus has been elsewhere, it’s plenty arguable that the team could stand to improve behind the dish. Jorge Alfaro has promise, and has been rather productive thus far in the majors, but is far from a sure thing after striking out 138 times in 377 plate appearances last year. Meanwhile, Andrew Knapp struggled a fair bit in his first full effort at the game’s highest level.

This latest chatter may not lead to anything. We recently heard that the Reds were progressing in talks on Realmuto, only for that talk to fall off. Over the weekend, reports emerged and were then shot down that the Rays were back in the hunt. It has been suggested that negotiations were nearing a crescendo, but things remain unresolved.

Still, it’s certainly intriguing to imagine that the Phils are making a push here. The club could conceivably envision a strike for Realmuto as part of a broader late-market push to land multiple high-end players. Realmuto, after all, is earning only $5.9MM in 2019, so his salary won’t make much of a dent and surely won’t preclude much larger expenditures. Alfaro could in theory be a part of the return, as he’d be just the sort of controllable, reasonably high-upside MLB asset that would help the Marlins feel good about parting with their best player. And it may be coincidental, but it’s worth noting that the Phils just struck a deal with veteran Drew Butera, who might in theory make for a sensible reserve to pair with a heavily used regular such as Realmuto.

Phillies Sign Drew Butera

By Jeff Todd | February 5, 2019 at 9:24am CDT

The Phillies have announced a deal with veteran catcher Drew Butera, as Jon Heyman of MLB Network first reported (Twitter link). It’s a minor-league arrangement that provides for a $1.3MM salary in the event that Butera is able to crack the MLB roster. He receives a spring invite.

Butera, 35, also picks up a $200K incentives package and notably early opt-out date of March 21st, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today (via Twitter). That means he’ll have a shot to bolt to another organization late in camp if it seems there’s a better opportunity elsewhere.

A nine-year MLB veteran, Butera has never only once topped two hundred plate appearances in a single season — back in 2011, his sophomore campaign with the Twins. At the same time, he has reached triple-digit PAs in eight of those years.

Butera has carved out a robust career in spite of a lack of ability with the bat. He carries a meager .201/.258/.299 lifetime slash line, with just five home runs in 1,345 total trips to the plate. Butera doesn’t stand out in the pitch framing department either — actually, he has been a negative in recent years — but is otherwise sturdy behind the dish and has obviously carved out a reputation for handling a pitching staff.

For the Phillies, the signing gives the team another option to go with the youthful duo of Jorge Alfaro and Andrew Knapp. Odds are, presuming no further additions are made, Butera will do battle with Knapp in camp for the right to open the year in the majors alongside Alfaro.

Free Agent Notes: Phillies, Yanks, Giants, Gonzalez

By Jeff Todd | February 2, 2019 at 12:27am CDT

While we already know this through observation, Phillies GM Matt Klentak made clear again that his organization intends to remain patient in its blockbuster free agent pursuits, as Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia recently reported. Klentak says he won’t be rushed into a decision by the onset of camp, saying that there’s no “deadline” to get a deal done before Spring Training. Generally, he said, “The fans are well aware that we’re pursuing the top end of free agency. When that’s going to resolve itself, we don’t really know.”

As we wait for some movement at the top of the market — particularly, regarding reputed Phillies targets Bryce Harper and Manny Machado — let’s check in on a few other situations further down the priority list, all courtesy of MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (links to Twitter) …

The Yankees still want to boost their rotation depth, Heyman says, though it’s a bit unclear as of yet how they’ll go about doing so. He lists Gio Gonzalez and Ervin Santana as at-least-hypothetical targets, but it stands to reason that both will want to sign somewhere that they’ll be promised a rotation spot. Gonzalez is one of the best remaining starters and should have little trouble finding at least a clear rotation placement, if not a multi-year deal. Santana does seem to be an interesting bounceback candidate, but he’ll surely be seeking a chance to take the ball every fifth day, which the Yanks can’t promise.
Unsurprisingly, the Giants appear to be hunting for value on the market in their search for a new slate of outfielders. That seemed reasonable to suspect when last we checked in on the situation, as the San Francisco organization seemingly wants to remain competitive while also embarking upon an effort to get younger and enhance payroll efficiency. There could be some interesting free agent opportunities, though perhaps the most intriguing possibility would be for the Giants to pick up some pieces that become available after late-breaking signings.
The Rockies have some level of interest in yet again bringing back outfielder Carlos Gonzalez, Heyman adds. This particular item is frankly difficult to understand, as the Rox are working with a limited budget and still need to improve behind the dish, in the bullpen, and perhaps on the bench. Meanwhile, the team has a nice assortment of left-handed-hitting outfielders already on hand, making the veteran former star a tough fit on paper. In any event, other teams are also said to be interested in CarGo.

Jimmy Rollins Joins Phillies As Special Advisor

By Jeff Todd | January 29, 2019 at 1:07pm CDT

The Phillies announced today that former infielder Jimmy Rollins has joined the organization as a special advisor. He’ll return to the team that drafted him back in 1996 and with which he spent 15 of his 17 seasons in the majors.

Rollins, 40, has not formally announced an end to his playing career, though it had long seemed clear that he had hung up his spikes. He last played in 2016 and was already slated to participate in a retirement ceremony with the Philadelphia organization during the upcoming season.

Whether Rollins will ultimately launch a full-blown post-playing career in the game isn’t yet clear. For now, he’ll get started with a fairly typical slate of potential activities for a respected former star. Per the club, he will engaged in “spring training coaching, meeting with sponsors and suite holders, fan engagement and community outreach,” among other possible functions.

NL East Notes: Nola, Markakis, Marlins, Braves, Nats

By Steve Adams | January 25, 2019 at 12:18pm CDT

The Phillies and Aaron Nola have not had any “substantive” discussions regarding a long-term contract extension, writes Matt Gelb of The Athletic in a much broader exploration of Nola’s contractual status and pending arbitration case (subscription required). The two sides are facing a $2.25MM gap between the $4.5MM at which the Phillies filed and the $6.75MM at which Nola and Paragon Sports filed.

A hearing is set for Feb. 14, and with no real talks on a multi-year deal taking place to this point, it seems all the likelier that Nola’s case will be resolved in front of an arbitration panel. There’s no immediate urgency for the Phillies to lock Nola up to a long-term contract, and it’s certainly possible that the right-hander’s preference is simply to go year-to-year through arbitration until reaching free agency upon completion of the 2021 season. Both Nola and Yankees right-hander Luis Severino are important cases for future first-time-eligible starters in arbitration; with the exception of Dallas Keuchel (who is anomalous, having entered arbitration fresh off a Cy Young win), no first-time starter has topped the $4.35MM that Dontrelle Willis received way back in 2006. It’s a stunningly outdated number, and arb victories for Nola and/or Severino would help move the needle forward for future starting pitchers.

Cuban Shortstop Yolbert Sanchez Cleared To Sign With MLB Teams

By Steve Adams | January 23, 2019 at 12:01am CDT

Shortstop Yolbert Sanchez has left Cuba and has been cleared by Major League Baseball to sign with teams beginning on Feb. 5, Eric Longenhagen and Kiley McDaniel of Fangraphs report. The 21-year-old (22 in March) will be subject to MLB’s international bonus pool system.

Sanchez’s stats in his limited professional experience won’t wow anyone — he’s a .297/.338/.345 hitter in 435 plate appearances — but McDaniel and Longenhagen nonetheless paint him as a likely seven-figure bonus recipient due to his raw speed, glovework at shortstop and arm strength — each of which are considered by scouts to be anywhere from above average to plus. Their report notes that scouts view him as the type of prospect who’ll typically command a bonus between $2-4MM.

Certainly, that bodes well for the Orioles, who still have upwards of $6MM in their international bonus pool after whiffing on prospects Victor Victor Mesa, Victor Mesa Jr. and Sandy Gaston when the trio signed early in the 2018-19 offseason (the Mesa brothers with the Marlins; Gaston with the Rays).

Of course, the mere fact that the Orioles presently have the most money at their disposal doesn’t by any means make Baltimore a lock to sign Sanchez. The O’s, after all, had the ability to make larger offers to the Mesa brothers and Gaston but did not ultimately ink any of the trio. It’s also possible that they don’t view Sanchez as a prospect who should command such an investment — or at least that they don’t like him to the same extent as another organization with millions remaining in its bonus pool. Beyond that, Sanchez could technically opt to wait until July 2 to sign, at which point bonus pools would reset and present him with a vastly larger list of suitors.

While Baltimore is the runaway leader in remaining pool space, McDaniel and Longenhagen write that the Dodgers, Cubs and Phillies are among the teams with the most resources remaining. MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez adds the Cardinals to the mix, noting that St. Louis has an estimated $1.85MM remaining in its pool. Sanchez pegs the Dodgers at about $1.4MM, the Phillies at roughly $1MM and the Cubs, Rangers and Red Sox in the $750-800K range. Sanchez will hold workouts for teams later this week in the Dominican Republic, per Fangraphs’ report.

Latest On Josh Harrison’s Market

By Connor Byrne | January 20, 2019 at 12:38pm CDT

The Dodgers, Giants, Angels, Phillies and Rays are all in on free agent Josh Harrison at the moment, according to Jon Heyman of Fancred.

Reported interest from the Giants and Angels isn’t anything new for Harrison, but this is the first time the Dodgers, Phillies and Rays have been connected to him in any major way this offseason. The 31-year-old Harrison is available on the heels of a below-average season with the Pirates, who declined his $10.5MM club option in favor of a $1MM buyout afterward, but has typically been a decent offensive player and a solid, versatile defender during his career. Consequently, Harrison has drawn widespread interest on the open market.

A .277/.317/.408 hitter in 3,012 plate appearances, Harrison has posted a 98 wRC+ and a 97 OPS+, falling just shy of the league-average mark of 100. He has also accrued significant reps at second, third and in the corner outfield, though the vast majority of his 2018 playing time came at the keystone.

Harrison would provide the Dodgers yet another multi-position defender, and as a right-handed hitter, he’d give the lefty-heavy team some variety in its lineup. For Philly, Harrison may be a fallback option at third base in the event the club doesn’t sign free agent Manny Machado, though it’s debatable at best whether the former is superior to current starter Maikel Franco. The Phillies already have a quality starter at second in Cesar Hernandez, so it’s doubtful Harrison would see much action there. Unlike both the big-spending Dodgers and Phillies, the Rays operate with a bottom-of-the-barrel payroll. Still, they should be able to afford Harrison, who’d offer them further protection behind second baseman Joey Wendle, third baseman Matt Duffy and corner outfielders Tommy Pham and Austin Meadows.

East Notes: Mets, Phils, Harper, Yanks Pitching, Dozier

By Jeff Todd | January 16, 2019 at 9:57pm CDT

“Come get us.” That’s the message that Mets GM Brodie Van Wagenen had today for the rest of baseball, and particularly the club’s division rivals, as MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo reports. While other organizations in the NL East surely also feel optimistic about their own recent roster improvements, that created an opening for the hard-charging rookie exec to dish out some further smack talk: “There’s a lot of good teams. … I hope that those guys continue to get themselves better because we’ll go slug it out with them every day.” Otherwise, as he introduced Jed Lowrie today, Van Wagenen suggested that he may be more or less done tinkering with the position-player mix, though he didn’t rule out further action. On the pitching side, it’s less of a complete picture, though the newly minted baseball ops leader did laud the “depth” the organization has already assembled, citing players such as lefty Hector Santiago and Rule 5er Kyle Dowdy. Certainly, a few additional arms wouldn’t hurt, though there’s no denying the talent the Mets have assembled at the back of the bullpen and, especially, in the rotation.

Phillies “Expected” To Make Offer To Bryce Harper Soon

By Jeff Todd and Steve Adams | January 15, 2019 at 4:45pm CDT

4:45pm: Machado was the Phils’ primary target at one point, per Fancred’s Jon Heyman (Twitter links), but it’s now much more even between him and Harper — if not slightly tilted in Harper’s favor. The Phillies, according to Heyman, are expected to make a formal offer to Harper in the near future.

Even if the Phillies won’t sign both Machado and Harper, Heyman notes that the goal is to sign one and then explore the market for other top free agents like Pollock, Keuchel and Kimbrel. To that end, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale cites team executives with the Phils in tweeting that organization has “visions” of signing the trio of Harper, Keuchel and Kimbrel. Paired with the prior acquisitions of Jean Segura and Andrew McCutchen, among others, that’d obviously be a seismic roster overhaul — the magnitude of which has been virtually unparalleled by any team in recent memory.

Of course, striving to add that trio and actually signing all three are two entirely separate animals, and it remains to be seen how feasible it is that the Phillies could win the bidding on three of the market’s top remaining free agents.

1:00pm: With a surprisingly small number of teams engaged on superstar free agents Bryce Harper and Manny Machado, it has at times seemed as if the big-budget Phillies are the favorites to land both players. Of course, even if the Philadelphia org is the likeliest single team to secure the services of each, that does not mean that it should be expected to come away with a pair of monster deals. Still, the possibility of hooking two free agent trophies has remained tantalizing to consider.

In the course of an interesting breakdown of the current situation, though, Matt Gelb of The Athletic (subscription link) strikes a blow to the idea of the Phillies making successive strikes for both Harper and Machado. The Phils, he reports, have “made this much clear during negotiations: They will not sign both players.”

Certainly, there was never anything approaching an expectation that the Phillies would land both, or even that they’d seriously consider taking on two huge salaries. But it’s still a notable bit of seemingly hard information in a market situation that has remained exceedingly fluid, so far as is known publicly.

As Gelb explains, moreover, that stance is perhaps a notable aspect of the Phillies’ strategy in approaching both Harper and Machado. If the club’s money is only there for one of the two players, that conveys no small amount of leverage. Even if both players would rather end up elsewhere, they surely can’t ignore the presence of the Phils’ ample pocketbooks in navigating a surprisingly barren field of pursuers.

Perhaps the best case scenario for the Philadelphia club would be for one of these two players to jump on a big but palatable offer to join on. Of course, their respective representatives — Scott Boras, for Harper, and Dan Lozano, for Machado — have played this game before. We’ve seen teams emerge from the woodwork in the past to land players of this quality with surprisingly massive contracts. As Gelb rightly suggests, the presence (or absence) of “mystery teams” — whether as active bidders or as conjured by the agents — may go a long way toward influencing the course of negotiations.

Gelb says the Philly club intends to continue exercising confident patience in talks. The situation seems ripe for that approach, though surely the team would be better-situated if Harper or Machado had a stronger personal desire to end up in Philly. Really, there seem only to be a few risks here (beyond those that are inherent to such a major investment, which the team has already largely resolved in favor of action).

Those risks seem manageable. One is simply that the team loses out on the player it prefers to land, which would appear to be Machado. Given that the roster is susceptible of upgrades at both the corner outfield and third base, that’s not a major worry. Another is that it ends up having to pay a bit more by allowing the bidding to get going in earnest. Paying a premium now to forestall that possibility seems unwise, when the Phillies can surely afford to cover a higher price if that ends up being required. (This is the point of the post where I quote owner John Middleton on his willingness to spend “stupid money” this winter.)

Finally, the Phils could end up missing on both players. Gelb says the team is confident it will land one of the two, though surely there’s some possibility that they’ll both head elsewhere. That is perhaps the most concerning outcome, though even then there are alternatives. A.J. Pollock, Dallas Keuchel, and Craig Kimbrel are the leading three alternative remaining free agents; all would be hypothetical fits. And the trade market is all but sure to have some intriguing targets still available, even if it means coughing up more prospect capital than the team might wish. Losing the star power would hurt, but it seems reasonable to think the Phillies could still back-fill the missing talent.

All things considered, there are still many ways in which things could shake out — with both Harper and Machado landing in Philadelphia evidently not among them. Today’s news may not be earth-shattering, but it does cabin the universe of foreseeable outcomes. With hundreds of millions of dollars at stake, in a slow-moving and increasingly tense market setting, it’s a signpost that’s at least worthy of keeping in mind.

Phillies Sign Lane Adams To Minor League Deal

By Steve Adams | January 14, 2019 at 1:58pm CDT

The Phillies announced Monday that they’ve signed outfielder Lane Adams to a minor league contract and invited him to Major League Spring Training.

Obviously, it’s not the free-agent outfield addition that Phils fans were hoping they’d hear about today, but Adams will give the club a useful depth piece and a potential bench option for the 2019 campaign. The 29-year-old is a career .263/.333/.467 hitter with seven homers and 11 steals in 154 Major League plate appearances — most of which have come with the division-rival Braves across the past two seasons.

Adams struggled through an ugly season in Triple-A last year but, as noted above, have been fairly productive in the big leagues and did notch a quality .264/.320/.461 slash in 199 Triple-A plate appearances with the Braves in ’17. Adams is 11-for-11 in MLB stolen-base attempts and has four seasons with 30 or more steals in the minors under his belt — highlighted by a 44-steal campaign in 2016. He’s capable of playing all three outfield slots and has spent the bulk of his Triple-A time in center field in recent seasons.

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