Phillies Rumors

Mickey Moniak Discusses Difficult 2017

By Connor Byrne | March 3, 2018 at 11:04pm CDT

Newly signed Red Sox slugger J.D. Martinez figures to spend most of his time at designated hitter, though the team is planning how to set up its outfield when he does factor in as a defender. “At home he’ll play left field and if somehow he plays somewhere on the road here, he’ll play right field,” manager Alex Cora told Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald and other reporters Saturday. Cora went on to reveal that right fielder Mookie Betts could move to center during road games in which Martinez plays the field. Of course, it’s unclear how often this will come up for Boston, which already has an excellent outfield trio of Betts, Jackie Bradley Jr. (center) and Andrew Benintendi (left). Unlike those three, Martinez has struggled of late in the field, where he has posted minus-27 Defensive Runs Saved and a minus-24.9 Ultimate Zone Rating since 2016.

Latest On The Top Remaining Free Agent Starters

By Steve Adams | March 2, 2018 at 12:44pm CDT

The Nationals reportedly remain open to adding to their roster before the season begins, and while they’ve been oft-linked to top remaining free agent Jake Arrieta, Jorge Castillo of the Washington Post reports that the Nats “haven’t engaged with Arrieta’s camp recently.” The Nationals, it seems (much like the rest of baseball), would be likelier to jump into the fray if Arrieta’s price drops.

Castillo does note that at least three other clubs have made recent inquiries with Arrieta’s agent, Scott Boras. One of those is likely the Phillies, who are reported to have an ongoing dialogue with Boras regarding Arrieta. However, most reports out of Philadelphia suggest that the Phils are loath to go beyond three years for the former NL Cy Yong winner, who will pitch this season at age 32 and has displayed some signs of decline in recent years — most notably a loss of velocity and worsened K/BB rates.

Alternatives for the Nats, Phillies and other clubs searching for rotation upgrades are still on the market in the form of Alex Cobb and Lance Lynn, who both remain unsigned. Todd Zolecki of MLB.com writes, however, that the Phils are even less likely to sign Cobb or Lynn to a long-term deal than they are Arrieta (and again reports that the Phils don’t want to go past three years for Arrieta). Even a contract in the vicinity of Tyler Chatwood’s three-year, $38MM pact with the Cubs could be too rich for the Phillies’ tastes when it comes to Lynn and Cobb, Zolecki writes.

It seems that virtually every club in need of rotation help is awaiting the asking price on the top three starters to drop. The Athletic’s Jim Bowden tweets that both Cobb and Lynn are still seeking guarantees worth more than $50MM. (It’s worth pointing out that the manner in which that report frames draft compensation is inaccurate; the draft/international penalty for signing any of Arrieta, Cobb or Lynn is not tied to that $50MM figure, but a deal of $50MM or more would improve the compensation for the teams losing those players.)

The Orioles, Brewers, Phillies and Twins all hold varying levels of interest in Cobb and/or Lynn, Bowden notes, but not at the current asking price. The Twins’ level of interest in Lynn doesn’t appear to be especially high at this point, though. While Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN walks back a recent report a bit by tweeting that Minnesota’s offer to Lynn was for more than the $12MM he initially reported, he adds that it was nonetheless well shy of anything his camp considered and that there are no current talks between the two sides.

Phillies Have Had Recent Contact With Lance Lynn

By Steve Adams | March 1, 2018 at 9:58am CDT

March 1: The Phillies have at least “entertained” the possibility of signing two of the remaining starters, Morosi tweets, though he notes that such a scenario is unlikely.

Feb. 28, 11:48pm: The Phillies have had recent contact with Lance Lynn and his agents at Excel Sports, tweets MLB.com’s Jon Morosi, though Morosi notes that the two sides aren’t close to an agreement at this time. Philadelphia, of course, has been said to be monitoring the free-agent market for starters for the bulk of the offseason, most prominently being linked to Jake Arrieta.

While the Phils haven’t been oft-connected to Lynn, there’s little surprise to the fact that they’re keeping tabs on his asking price and at least generally monitoring his market. Beyond top starter Aaron Nola, the Phillies have little in the way of rotation certainty, after all. Jerad Eickhoff and Vince Velasquez seem likely to break camp in the rotation, but Eickhoff struggled through a lackluster 2017 season while Velasquez was limited by injuries and ineffective when healthy. Both showed considerably more promise in 2016, though, and the general lack of experience throughout the remainder of the roster should give them spots.

Other options for the Phillies include Nick Pivetta, Zach Eflin, Jake Thompson, Ben Lively and Mark Leiter, though none from that bunch turned in an especially encouraging 2017 season — at least at the big league level. Drew Hutchison is easily the team’s most experienced non-roster invitee in camp, and he could conceivably force his way into the mix as well.

Suffice it to say, there’s plenty of room to add an established veteran to the Phils’ starting corps. GM Matt Klentak and president Andy MacPhail have hardly shied away from free-agent spending this offseason, bringing in Carlos Santana (three years, $60MM), Tommy Hunter (two years, $18MM) and Pat Neshek (two years, $16.25MM) in addition to Hutchison’s non-guaranteed deal. Lynn would represent a fourth notable multi-year signing, though at this stage in the offseason and with a seemingly tepid market for his services, it’s possible that he could be had at a lower rate than many pundits expected when he rejected a $17.4MM qualifying offer from the Cardinals.

That he rejected said QO, of course, means that the Phillies will lose more than just money by signing him. Bringing Lynn into the organization would require the team to forfeit its second-highest remaining draft pick as well as $500K worth of international bonus allotments. The Phillies already sacrificed their second-round pick by signing Santana, who also rejected a QO, so signing Lynn (or Arrieta or Alex Cobb) would require them to surrender their third-round selection while seeing their league-allotted international bonus pool reduced by another $500K.

The 30-year-old Lynn (31 in May) returned from Tommy John surgery in 2017 to throw 186 1/3 innings of 3.43 ERA ball in 33 starts for the Cardinals. The surface-level numbers are impressive, but Lynn’s 7.4 K/9, 3.8 BB/9, 1.3 HR/9 and 27.2 percent chase rate were all career-worsts. His .244 BABIP was the lowest mark among all qualified big league starters as well, while his 79 percent strand rate was tied for the ninth-highest. His four-seam fastball also sat at just 91.8 mph — down roughly a mile an hour from his peak years. For a pitcher who threw his heater a stunning 81.1 percent of the time in 2017 — 12.4 percent higher than the next pitcher on the list — that’s a troubling trend.

Joseph Received Interest From KBO, NPB Teams

By Steve Adams | February 27, 2018 at 8:35pm CDT

The Phillies signed Carlos Santana to a three-year, $60MM contract this offseason, pushing Rhys Hoskins to the outfield and rendering Joseph without an opportunity outside of a bench role. Phils skipper Gabe Kapler has been playing Joseph in the corner outfield this spring to enhance his versatility, but Joseph still faces an uphill battle when it comes to securing even semi-regular at-bats in a crowded first base/outfield mix with the Phils.

Despite the fact that he’s left without a clear role on the Phillies, Tommy Joseph turned away “serious interest” from teams in Japan and Korea this offseason, reports Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia. Joseph consulted with his former teammate, Darin Ruf, who spent the 2017 season playing with the Samsung Lions of the Korea Baseball Organization and raked at a .315/.396/.569 clip. Ruf recommended to Joseph that he should make the jump, but Joseph wasn’t ready to make that move just yet. “You never want to give up the opportunity to play in the major leagues,” said Joseph. “…I want a chance to be here and play in the big leagues.”

Morosi: Rangers Monitoring Top Available Starters

By Connor Byrne | February 25, 2018 at 4:59pm CDT

Yankees manager Aaron Boone suggested Sunday that they won’t sign either Lance Lynn or Alex Cobb, yet the team has “maintained contact with Lynn throughout the offseason,” Jon Morosi of MLB.com writes. The Yankees are monitoring the top available starters in general, according to Morosi, who hears that the Brewers, Phillies, Rangers, Orioles and Nationals are doing the same. The Angels, meanwhile, are open to signing the best free agent reliever, Greg Holland, if the price is right, per Morosi. The Halos’ bullpen has seemingly taken a step back since last year ended, having lost Yusmeiro Petit and Bud Norris to free agency and added only Jim Johnson. While Holland would help make up for those exits, he’s presumably not going to sign for cheap, and inking the qualifying offer recipient would cost the Angels their second-highest draft pick this year and $500K in international spending room.

Will Middlebrooks Fractures Left Fibula

By Connor Byrne | February 25, 2018 at 2:50pm CDT

Phillies third baseman Will Middlebrooks suffered a fractured left fibula and a potential ankle injury during the team’s game Saturday, per Todd Zolecki of MLB.com. It’s obviously an awful development for Middlebrooks, who joined the Phillies on a minors deal in January in hopes of earning a major league roster spot. Although Middlebrooks is likely to need surgery, he’s optimistic he’ll be able to play this season. Still, the 29-year-old admitted Sunday that he’s somewhat concerned about his future in baseball. “The game is getting younger every day,” Middlebrooks noted. “I’ll be 30 this year. Unfortunately, that’s not prime anymore. You look in this clubhouse and everybody is 23, 24 years old. I’d be lying if I said it didn’t cross my mind. But the small window of time I’ve spent here with this staff and training staff, I think I’ll be just fine. If it takes two months, if it takes four or five months, I don’t know how long it’s going to take yet. I’m not counting myself out. I plan on playing this year.”

Phillies Engaged In “Dialogue” With Jake Arrieta

By Jeff Todd | February 20, 2018 at 8:29am CDT

The Phillies are “having dialogue” with Jake Arrieta and his representatives, according to Jon Heyman of Fan Rag (via Twitter). While there’s currently a “gap” between the sides’ bargaining positions, it seems there’s at least some real interest being explored.

Philadelphia has long been cited as a possible landing spot for Arrieta, but this is the firmest indication yet that they organization is really looking into the move. Of course, multiple recent reports have emphasized that the Phils don’t want to lock into a long-term deal to improve their rotation, and that motivation no doubt remains a major factor.

From Arrieta’s perspective, he’s now the top player left on the board (that is, MLBTR’s top 50 free agent list). Other Scott Boras clients are taking deals that feature front-loaded structures and opt-out opportunities, though that general approach may not quite meet with the Phillies’ interest. Perhaps there’s still some room for creativity in structuring a deal for Arrieta.

The obvious comp on this year’s market remains Yu Darvish, who landed $125MM from the Cubs — who reportedly at least checked in with Arrieta’s camp before finalizing things with Darvish. Other organizations no doubt share the Phillies’ interest in opportunism on the quality veteran starter — including, perhaps, the division-rival Nationals — so it’s still amply possible that interest from multiple quarters will push Arrieta into the nine-figure range.

Phillies Could Use Nine-Man Bullpen At Times

By Connor Byrne | February 18, 2018 at 10:47am CDT

If the Phillies don’t acquire starting pitching help, there’s a chance they’ll turn to a nine-man bullpen at times this year, per Matt Gelb of The Athletic (subscription required). It doesn’t appear the Phillies have a rotation capable of working deep in games, observes Gelb, who points out that they’ll be able to shuttle most of their relievers between the majors and minors throughout the season. Further, rookie manager Gabe Kapler is known for outside-the-box thinking and comes from a Dodgers organization that’s unafraid to use its bullpen rather often. Kapler admitted Saturday that a nine-man relief corps may be an option for Philly. “I can envision a couple of different scenarios that would allow us to carry nine in the ’pen,” Kapler said. “Now a lot of that is a little too early to X and O about, but how cool would it be to have that level of depth and those many mix and match options to go after the opposition? That would be a pretty cool thing for us.”

Phillies Sign Fernando Abad

By Connor Byrne | February 17, 2018 at 1:35pm CDT

1:35pm: Abad’s deal comes with a $2.5MM salary if he makes the Phillies, per Chris Cotillo of SB Nation (Twitter link). Cotillo confirms that Abad could earn up to $3.1MM, as Heyman reported earlier.

8:10am: Abad has until March 22 to earn a spot on the Phillies’ roster, Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com reports. The deal includes a mutual option for 2019, Sanchez adds (Twitter link), which Heyman tweets is also for a potential $2.5MM.

7:48am: The Phillies have reached an agreement with left-handed reliever Fernando Abad, according to Jon Heyman of FanRag. Abad will receive a non-roster invitation to spring training, as Craig Mish of MLB Network Radio first reported, and will have a chance to earn $3.1MM if he makes the Phillies, per Heyman (Twitter links).

The 32-year-old Abad will join a Phillies relief mix which is light on lefty options, evidenced by the fact that Adam Morgan is the sole southpaw in the club’s projected season-opening bullpen. Abad may stand a solid chance to make the team, then, and if he does, he’ll bring a respectable track record to Philadelphia. The former Astro, National, Athletic, Red Sox and Twin has pitched to a 3.65 ERA with 7.68 K/9, 3.2 BB/9 and a 40.7 percent groundball rate across 317 2/3 major league innings. Abad has limited same-handed hitters to a subpar .234/.287/.383 line along the way.

Abad was effective in 2017, his only full season in Boston, where he logged a 3.30 ERA with 7.63 K/9, 2.89 BB/9 and a personal-high 45 percent grounder rate over 43 2/3 frames. He was also tough on both righties (.250/.312/.384) and lefties (.224/.288/.348), though the majority of his work (34 innings) came in low-leverage situations.

Phillies Notes: Rotation, Neshek

By Connor Byrne | February 17, 2018 at 10:15am CDT

The Phillies remain interested in adding to their rotation before the season starts, though they’re not going to make any lengthy commitments, Todd Zolecki of MLB.com writes. Both general manager Matt Klentak and president Andy MacPhail (via Matt Breen of Philly.com) have indicated this week that the Phillies aren’t going to splurge on a long-term starter, in large part because they aren’t quite ready to push for a playoff spot, Zolecki notes. The team would be willing to pay more on a shorter contract, Zolecki relays, and Klentak revealed that doing so “is something we talk about frequently.” But if the Phillies aren’t able to land another starter in the coming weeks, Klentak insists they’ll be content to turn to in-house options.

Reliever Pat Neshek returned to the Phillies in free agency over the winter, agreeing to a two-year, $16.25MM pact. It turns out that the 37-year-old could have made more money elsewhere. “We didn’t really wait for other teams,” Neshek said this week (via Zolecki). “I probably left a little bit more on the table from other teams. Well, I know I did because a team called me after I agreed [with the Phillies]. Their first offer was better, but it was a comfort thing. I was really happy with the offer. I didn’t want to wait and see anything else.” Neshek was only in Philadelphia for a few months last year before the team traded him to the Rockies in July, but it’s clear both he and the Phillies enjoyed their first go-round.

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