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Phillies Sign Spencer Turnbull

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The Phillies announced that they have signed right-hander Spencer Turnbull to a contract. It’s a one-year, $2MM deal, according to Jon Heyman of the New York Post (X link). Turnbull, a client of the Boras Corporation, can also earn another $2MM in incentives.

MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected Turnbull to earn $2.4MM in his final season of arbitration eligibility, yet the Tigers chose to non-tender the righty in November.  It is fair to assume that the clashes between Turnbull and the Tigers over service time contributed to the club’s decision moreso than his modest price tag, though Turnbull also has a checkered health history coming off what is almost three straight lost seasons.

Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski has some familiarity with Turnbull, as Dombrowski was still running the Tigers front office when Detroit selected Turnbull in the second round of the 2014 draft.  The righty battled some shoulder problems during his trip up the minor league ladder, but made his MLB debut with 16 1/3 innings in 2018 and then tossed 148 1/3 frames during the 2019 season.  Despite a league-high 17 losses that year, Turnbull had decent enough peripherals that he looked like a potential building block for the rebuilding Tigers.

That potential was further realized when Turnbull posted a 3.46 ERA over 106 2/3 innings in 2020-21.  He pitched well for Detroit during the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign, and then his 2021 season was highlighted by a no-hitter on May 18 of that year.  Unfortunately, Turnbull made only three more appearances after his no-no before undergoing Tommy John surgery, which sidelined him for the rest of the 201 season and all of 2022.

Returning to action last year, Turnbull struggled to a 7.26 ERA over seven starts, and he didn’t pitch again the majors after May 6.  He was initially optioned to the minors the next day, though that option was overwritten a week after when Turnbull was placed on the 15-day IL due to neck discomfort.  The right-hander was eventually moved to the 60-day injured list and wasn’t activated until August, when Turnbull was then optioned to Triple-A.

Turnbull wasn’t pleased with the demotion because he was also dealing with foot injury at the time, and the situation was eventually resolved in November when Turnbull was awarded a full year of MLB service time.  He now has five years and 20 days of acknowledged big league service time, and would’ve fallen short of the five-year mark had his appeal for more time hadn’t been granted.  This would have delayed Turnbull’s eventual trip to free agency for another year, as he wouldn’t have had the necessary six full years of eligibility heading into the 2024-25 offseason, though that ended up being something of a moot point after the Tigers non-tendered him.

The 31-year-old will now look for a fresh start in Philadelphia under Dombrowski’s watch once again.  Dombrowski spoke last month about how the Phillies were looking to add depth to their pitching staff, though since the Phils already have a pretty set rotation and bullpen mix, the team was having some difficulty in luring pitchers who wanted more opportunities for innings.  This could explain why the Phillies opted for Turnbull, whose market was lessened given his recent injury woes.

Turnbull, Dylan Covey, Kolby Allard, Nick Nelson, and Max Castillo now project as Philadelphia’s top rotation depth options.  Any of this group could also pitch in the bullpen, and Turnbull has a leg up on the others due to the guaranteed nature of his contract.  Working as a reliever might also present a new career path for Turnbull to explore if starting pitching is no longer in the cards, though it still seems too early for that door to be closed.

Dombrowski Downplays Phillies’ Desire For Outfield Help

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The Phillies announced this morning that outfielder Brandon Marsh underwent arthroscopic surgery after feeling discomfort in his left knee. With a 3-4 week recovery timetable, he’s still expected to be ready for Opening Day. As a result, president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski downplayed the chances of going outside the organization for outfield help.

“We still think we’re the same way we were beforehand, when it comes to Opening Day,” he told reporters this afternoon (link via Todd Zolecki of MLB.com). “[Free agent outfielders] want guarantees, and we’re just not able to give them those guarantees. … We talk to people all the time. The reality is that we don’t have guaranteed playing time that some people want. We just don’t have that. It’s not really even a dollar issue as it is playing time.”

Assuming Marsh’s recovery proceeds as expected, he’ll slot into left field on Opening Day. Defensive stalwart Johan Rojas is set to open the year in center field while Nick Castellanos mans the corner opposite Marsh. Cristian Pache and Jake Cave project as the top depth options.

Rojas has a limited MLB track record, having appeared in only 59 career games. Paired with Philadelphia’s willingness to spend and Dombrowski’s history of pursuing star talent, that has led to loose speculation about the Phils as a possible suitor for Cody Bellinger. The front office leader has said a few times he anticipates Rojas being the starting center fielder — a sentiment he repeated earlier this week — making a Bellinger pursuit unlikely. Zolecki reports that the Phils also don’t anticipate landing either of the top two starting pitchers still available, Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery, barring a significant change in their respective markets.

Dombrowski also shot down the notion the Phillies are on the verge of trading for bullpen help. Unsubstantiated reports have linked them to Red Sox closer Kenley Jansen and Guardians star Emmanuel Clase in recent days. While Dombrowski didn’t address either player specifically, he said the Phils generally “do not have any ongoing conversations for bullpen guys” (via Zolecki).

While that doesn’t rule out the possibility of the Phils jumping into the mix at some point, the veteran executive pointed out that there’s not a ton of room in the season-opening bullpen. Each of José Alvarado, Matt Strahm, Gregory Soto, Jeff Hoffman and Seranthony Domínguez is locked into the relief corps. The Phils have effusively praised Orion Kerkering, a 22-year-old who debuted late last season after striking out nearly 38% of opponents in the minor leagues.

If all six of those pitchers are on the Opening Day roster, the Phils would likely have two bullpen spots remaining. Dombrowski indicated one of those would go to a long reliever — quite likely out-of-options righty Dylan Covey. That leaves one job up for grabs (assuming the Phillies aren’t committed to carrying Connor Brogdon, who is also out of options). That opens the possibility for another acquisition, yet it’s not surprising Dombrowski said they’d only acquire a pitcher they consider a meaningful upgrade over their in-house candidates.

“It only leaves one other spot, and if you go get a veteran guy, he needs to be an upgrade. Because the reality is the only one there that can be optioned in that group is Kerkering. And we may not want to be optioning him,” he said. Perhaps the opportunity for a clear upgrade comes available or a Spring Training injury changes the calculus, but it doesn’t seem the Phils anticipate an imminent bullpen pickup.

Latest On Jordan Montgomery

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Many Rangers fans have thought throughout the offseason that an eventual reunion with left-hander Jordan Montgomery made good sense and would represent the team’s big splash in free agency this winter. Reporting connecting the two sides has been sparse, however, outside of general speculation on the strength of the fit and the Rangers’ need for durable innings. Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News casts even more doubt on the Rangers’ chances of re-signing Montgomery in his latest mailbag column.

Grant has written previously that a deal between the two sides doesn’t seem likely, though some Rangers fans might’ve hoped that the recent resolution of the team’s television situation for the 2024 season might bring about a long-awaited agreement. A deal still feels like a reach, Grant suggests, rightly pointing out that given the team’s current luxury tax status, Montgomery would likely cost the Rangers more than $30MM this season. Texas will be a second-time luxury payor this season and already has $243MM of projected luxury obligations, per Roster Resource. They’ll pay a 30% tax on any dollars up to $257MM, plus a 42% tax on the next $20MM they spend.

That outlook doesn’t necessarily mean the Rangers can’t bring in Montgomery under any circumstances, but the team has operated with a good bit of financial restraint throughout the winter. Signing Montgomery would mean pushing their 2025 contractual commitments to around $160MM a full year in advance and would give the Rangers well over $100MM in guarantees on the books as far out as 2027. (Currently, they have $94.5MM committed to the 2027 roster.)

Furthermore, WEEI’s Rob Bradford reports that the Rangers haven’t been “actively involved” in Montgomery’s market for some time now due to the lefty’s price tag. Again, that doesn’t close the door entirely, but it’s another indicator that a Rangers/Montgomery reunion is hardly the fait accompli that some have suggested it to be.

If not Texas, there are a handful of other teams that have been connected to Montgomery — the Giants, Angels, Yankees, Red Sox and Phillies among them. Jon Heyman of the New York Post writes that the Angels remain in contact with Montgomery and agent Scott Boras (who also reps Blake Snell). The Angels currently project for a $173MM payroll — about $40MM shy of last year’s franchise-record mark — and are nearly $50MM from the first luxury tax threshold. Owner Arte Moreno has historically avoided long-term deals for pitchers, however, and Heyman suggests he’s yet to green-light his front office on the addition of a pitcher of this caliber.

On the Phillies, specifically, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale wrote recently that several executives around the league suspect the Phillies may be waiting to see if the price point on any of the remaining top-tier free agents drops to the point where they can make an opportunistic addition.

That’s largely speculative from what seems like a series of non-Phillies sources, but it’s worth noting that Philadelphia president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski at least alluded to something along those lines in a radio appearance on Wednesday. Dombrowski noted that he’s happy with his rotation and with his lineup but also wouldn’t definitively rule out making another addition if the circumstances become favorable enough: “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,'” the Phillies’ president stated on 94 WIP.

As with the Rangers, the Phillies are projected luxury tax payors. They’re $5MM from the second threshold and, as a third-time payor, would pay a 50% tax on their next roughly $5MM and then 62% on the next $20MM after that. Signing Montgomery at a $25MM AAV, for instance, would cost the Phils $14.9MM in taxes (nearly $40MM in total for this season alone, assuming an even distribution of the yearly salaries in that theoretical scenario). Perhaps if Montgomery’s price drops and the Phillies begin to lose confidence in their ability to extend Zack Wheeler, that might begin to sound more palatable, but signing him would be a rather costly endeavor at the moment, given the team’s tax outlook.

Montgomery, 31, has made at least 30 starts in each of the past three seasons. In that time, he’s pitched 524 1/3 innings of 3.48 ERA ball with a 22.5% strikeout rate, a 6.2% walk rate, a 44.5% ground-ball rate and just 1.00 HR/9. His 2023 campaign was arguably the finest of his career, featuring a personal-best 188 2/3 innings of 3.20 ERA ball, plus another 31 innings of 2.90 ERA ball in the postseason — a strong performance that helped push the Rangers to their first-ever World Series title.

Brandon Marsh Out Three To Four Weeks Following Arthroscopic Knee Surgery

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11:21am: Dombrowski tells reporters that Marsh’s injury occurred during a workout a few days ago (X link via Scott Lauber of the Philadelphia Inquirer). The debridement procedure that was performed was tied to “floating cartilage” in Marsh’s knee.

10:21am: The Phillies announced Friday that outfielder Brandon Marsh underwent an arthroscopic procedure on his left knee this morning. He’s expected to return to game activity in three to four weeks, per the team, and the Phillies anticipate that he’ll still be ready for Opening Day.

Marsh, 26, was acquired from the Angels at the 2022 deadline in a trade sending catcher Logan O’Hoppe to the Halos. It was a somewhat rare one-for-one swap of two well-regarded young players whose positional fit was stronger with another club than the one that drafted him. Marsh hit the ground running in Philly and has seized a regular spot in the outfield, batting .280/.360/.457 in 610 plate appearances since that swap.

While he’s played plenty of center field for the Phillies, Marsh will likely slide over to left field in 2024 in deference to defensive standout Johan Rojas, whom president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said earlier this week is “likely” to be his Opening Day center fielder. Marsh has been a capable enough defender in center, but he graded out as a plus in the corners last year. More than that, however, Rojas posted otherworldly defensive marks in just 392 innings of center field work: 15 Defensive Runs Saved and 6 Outs Above Average.

The Phillies were already known to be poking around the market for another bench bat, and it’s fair to wonder whether this injury news regarding Marsh might push them a bit harder to find a right-handed-hitting outfielder. Marsh is a career .223/.278/.312 hitter against southpaws anyhow, and while there’s no indication that this is expected to be a long-term issue, it’s also not uncommon to see a relatively minor surgery bring about some lingering issues.

Right now, Cristian Pache is the Phillies’ fourth outfielder — though utility infielder Edmundo Sosa has also seen some time in the outfield as well. Both are right-handed, but both are also defensive-minded players. If Marsh experiences any kind of setback, the Phillies could turn to a platoon arrangement with Pache and fellow reserve Jake Cave in left field, or the club could take a look at a non-roster depth option like Cal Stevenson. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see at least another non-roster invitee brought into camp to join that mix, and Dombrowski acknowledged earlier this week that the club “might” end up signing another bat for the Major League bench, so a more notable addition than another NRI shouldn’t be ruled out entirely.

Dombrowski On Phillies’ Offseason, Wheeler, Rojas, Painter

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Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski joined the 94 WIP Morning show with Joe DeCamara and Jon Ritchie on Wednesday, touching on a broad-reaching number of Phillies topics (Audacy link to the entire 20-minute interview). It’s a good listen for fans of any club — Phils fans in particular, of course — wherein Philadelphia’s top decision-maker discusses his team’s relatively quiet offseason, the state of the rotation and the outfield, Zack Wheeler’s future with the club, top prospect Andrew Painter’s health and quite a bit more.

Among the more notable takeaways was Dombrowski’s reply when asked a potential late move for one of the remaining big-name starters on the board. Dombrowski didn’t comment on either Blake Snell or Jordan Montgomery by name but expressed that he’s content with the club’s rotation. As far back as early November, Dombrowski touted fifth starter Cristopher Sanchez as someone the team believes can be a big regular in the rotation, and his comments today mesh with that line of thinking. Dombrowski didn’t expressly rule out the addition of another starter but implied that the team wasn’t about to pay market rate for one of the remaining names out there.

“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,'” Dombrowski said. That suggests a willingness to remain open-minded to some late, unexpected drops in price but doesn’t sound like a portent for an aggressive pursuit of a top-tier free agent.

That said, there was at least one name the Phillies considered worthy of an exception: Yoshinobu Yamamoto. It’s already been reported that the Phillies were a legitimate suitor for the 25-year-old NPB ace before he signed a record deal with the Dodgers, and Dombrowski now confirms that his team was “very involved” in Yamamoto’s market. The veteran baseball ops leader went so far as to say that others might be “shocked” to learn how much money the Phillies ultimately offered — naturally, he declined to specify — before indicating that Yamamoto simply had a preference to be a Dodger. The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Scott Lauber reported last week that the Phils also made a 12-year offer, although it’s unclear if they were willing to match the $325MM guarantee which Yamamoto received from Los Angeles.

Obviously, any multi-year addition to the rotation could provide the Phillies with some insurance in the event that Wheeler departs as a free agent at season’s end. But Dombrowski called Wheeler “one of the best pitchers in baseball” and stressed that it’s “important” and a “priority” for the Phillies find a way to re-sign the right-hander.

Wheeler, 34 in May, has outperformed the five-year, $118MM contract he signed with the Phillies in the 2019-20 offseason. He’s garnered Cy Young consideration in three of his four Phillies seasons, highlighted by a second-place finish in 2021 and a sixth-place finish in 2023.

Over the past four seasons, he’s tied with Corbin Burnes for the fourth-most innings in Major League Baseball and leads MLB in FanGraphs’ wins above replacement. He’s notched a tidy 3.06 ERA despite typically playing in front of one of the game’s weakest defenses, thanks in large part to a sharp 26.7% strikeout rate and excellent 5.3% walk rate. A new contract for Wheeler would begin with his age-35 season, which caps his earning potential to an extent, but recent history has shown teams are willing to pay elite arms even at the late stages of their careers.

A look at MLBTR’s Contract Tracker highlights some recent examples of age-35 (or older) pitchers cashing in. Jacob deGrom signed a five-year deal with a $37MM annual value, while Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander both inked multi-year deals at a $43.333MM AAV. The AAV on Yu Darvish’s extension, beginning in his age-37 season, is just $18MM — but that was a function of the Padres drawing out the term in order to drive down the annual salary for luxury-tax purposes. Darvish still secured a $90MM guarantee on that frontloaded deal and was two years older than Wheeler will be in year one of a theoretical free agent pact or extension. Suffice it to say, Wheeler will be the relatively rare big leaguer who has a chance at multiple nine-figure contracts in his career.

On the point of the team’s defense, Dombrowski cited that as a primary reason the team has not pursued additional outfield help with much aggression this spring. Young Johan Rojas dazzled with his defensive ratings (+15 Defensive Runs Saved, +6 Outs Above Average) in just 392 innings of center field work. Asked if Rojas will be the team’s primary center fielder this season, Dombrowski all but anointed the 23-year-old.

“Likely? Yes,” Dombrowski replied. “Definitively? No. We saw enough the last couple months in August and September that we liked what we saw. I’ve talked to our hitting people at length about his progress over the winter time. He’s worked extremely hard. He’s made adjustments that he needs to make. I’m not saying he’s going to come up and hit .300 with 20 home runs off the bat, but I think he can do enough offensively and contribute from an offensive perspective. And when you add his speed and his defense, all of a sudden he becomes a real plus for us. So yes, I do think he’ll be up, but he has to earn that, too. We’re not just going to give it to him.”

Even as he made those caveats, Dombrowski also spoke of the team’s desire to get Kyle Schwarber more time at designated hitter and to keep Bryce Harper at first base as a means of improving the defense (as opposed to the alternative scenario where Schwarber plays left field and Rhys Hoskins were re-signed to split time between DH and first base). Rojas’ bat looked impressive during his brief regular-season look, as he hit .302/.342/.430 in 164 plate appearances, but that was buoyed by an unsustainable .410 average on balls in play. His bat went ice cold in the playoffs, too, as Rojas fell into a woeful 4-for-43 swoon and struck out in a third of his plate appearances.

Despite the postseason struggles, it appears Rojas will have first crack at the regular center field job. The Phillies are generally thin in terms of outfield depth, and this afternoon’s DFA of Simon Muzziotti could add to that if he’s traded or claimed by another club. There’s perhaps the chance that the Phils could add a bench bat to the mix, and outfield would be a natural spot, given the lackluster offensive contributions of Jake Cave and limited track record of Cristian Pache.

Dombrowski acknowledged the possibility of adding a bench bat, simply noting “that might end up happening,” but he didn’t characterize it as a major item that’s yet to be checked off the to-do list. Speaking in general terms, the Phillies’ president again implied that between wanting to give Rojas a real chance and the veteran nature of much of his roster, free agents have seen greater opportunity for playing time with other clubs thus far. There’s still quite a few names yet unsigned, so it stands to reason that the Phils could eventually find a bargain addition to deepen the mix. Pache, Cave and utility infielder Edmundo Sosa are all out of options, however, so adding a player to the bench mix would likely mean jettisoning someone like Cave, who’s already agreed to a $1MM salary for the 2024 season. That isn’t likely to be a major roadblock to any further additions, but it’ll factor into the calculus all the same.

The Phillies will effectively return the same bullpen in 2024, though again, Dombrowski indicated it’s not necessarily for lack of trying. He noted that the team has been in on at least “a couple” of notable names but that one, in particular, took an opportunity to be a starting pitcher elsewhere. Another simply preferred to be closer to his home on the west coast. Again, Dombrowski didn’t mention names, though Jordan Hicks and Reynaldo Lopez stand out as two bullpen arms who surprisingly landed rotation opportunities in free agency (Hicks in San Francisco, Lopez in Atlanta). Hicks, in particular, was rumored to be on the Phillies’ radar as a free agent.

Starting pitching depth, too, has been a recent area the Phillies have been searching. They signed former Braves first-rounder Kolby Allard to a split big league deal last month due in no small part to the fact that he has a minor league option remaining. That same line of thinking surely influenced today’s claim of righty Max Castillo from the Red Sox.

The Phillies have top prospects Mick Abel and Griff McGarry working through the minor league system, and while both could make their debuts in 2024, neither has yet pitched even five innings above the Double-A level. Painter was a rotation candidate early last season but wound up going down with an elbow injury that ultimately required Tommy John surgery. Dombrowski said in this morning’s interview that Painter has begun “tossing” a ball recently and is on schedule but that the organization is “looking toward 2025” with regard to the prized righty and isn’t planning on him pitching in games this season. There’s always the possibility his recovery progresses more quickly than expected, but the 20-year-old right-hander doesn’t appear to be someone the Phillies are banking on for even a late-season cameo.

Phillies Claim Max Castillo, Designate Simon Muzziotti

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The Phillies are set to claim right-hander Max Castillo off waivers from the Red Sox, reports Matt Gelb of The Athletic. Outfielder Simon Muzziotti will be designated for assignment in order to clear space on the 40-man roster.

Castillo, 24, will provide the Phillies with some optionable rotation depth. He’s pitched in the majors in each of the past two seasons between the Blue Jays and Royals, combining for a 5.43 ERA, 18.1% strikeout rate, 9.3% walk rate and 44.7% ground-ball rate in 59 2/3 innings. Castillo was one of two players the Royals received in the 2022 trade sending Whit Merrifield to Toronto, and Baseball America ranked him 18th among Kansas City farmhands heading into the 2023 season. He pitched a total of 136 1/3 innings between Triple-A (4.58 ERA) and the majors (4.43 ERA).

While he’s not a big-time power arm (93.2 mph average on his four-seamer), Castillo has above-average command and an above-average changeup that have generally helped him post solid minor league results. Scouting reports prior to his MLB debut pegged him as a potential fifth starter or swingman. In seven minor league seasons, Castillo has a 4.04 ERA, 21.3% strikeout rate and 6.8% walk rate.

The Phillies’ rotation depth beyond their top five starters has been an area of focus since the team re-signed Aaron Nola. President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski spoke about the matter last month, noting that it’s been difficult to lure veterans on minor league deals, as the nature of the Philadelphia rotation doesn’t leave much opportunity for pitchers of that ilk to work their way into the mix. Zack Wheeler, Nola, Ranger Suarez and Taijuan Walker are all established veterans, and fifth starter Cristopher Sanchez posted a 3.44 ERA with a 24.2% strikeout rate and 4% walk rate in 99 1/3 innings last year.

Castillo joins left-hander Kolby Allard, who recently inked a split big league deal, as a newcomer to the 40-man roster who has can be optioned and thus provide some flexibility at the back of the rotation, should the need arise. As the season draws closer, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Phils land a veteran starter or two on a minor league deal with an eye toward further supplementing their depth. The Phils lost top prospect Andrew Painter to Tommy John surgery last summer, and prospects like Mick Abel and Griff McGarry have barely pitched above the Double-A level.

In order to beef up their starting pitching depth, the Phils will potentially whittle away at an already thin group of outfielders. Brandon Marsh, Johan Rojas and Nick Castellanos appear likely to roam the outfield on most days, with DH Kyle Schwarber also available for occasional left field work (probably on days when Castellanos gets a breather at DH). Reserve option Cristian Pache, Jake Cave and Edmundo Sosa are all ticketed for bench jobs to begin the season, but Muzziotti was the only minor league outfielder on the team’s 40-man roster. Just as the Phillies might look for rotation veterans willing to take non-roster deals and come to spring training, outfielders of that ilk could also be a priority in the next few weeks.

Some of that hinges on whether Muzziotti, 25, remains with the team. He went 1-for-7 in a very brief MLB debut in 2023 but had a solid .293/.358/.404 showing in the upper minors. Muzziotti smacked seven homers, swiped 26 bases, walked at an 8.6% rate and struck out in just 15.5% of his plate appearances at the Triple-A level. He has experience in all three outfield spots (though Baseball America suggests he’s best suited for corner work), and Muzziotti also has a minor league option remaining. Another team looking for outfield depth could well place a claim on waivers or look to swing a small trade to bring him aboard. The Phillies will have a week to attempt to trade Muzziotti or pass him through outright waivers.

Phillies Acquire Michael Rucker, Designate Andrew Bellatti For Assignment

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The Phillies announced Tuesday they’ve acquired reliever Michael Rucker from the Cubs in exchange for cash. He’d been designated for assignment by Chicago last week. In order to open a spot on the 40-man roster, the Phillies designated fellow right-hander Andrew Bellatti for assignment.

Rucker, who turns 30 in April, changes organizations for the first time. The BYU product had been a member of the Cubs since they selected him in the 11th round of the 2016 draft. After a couple seasons as a starter in the minors, he converted to relief by the 2019 campaign. Lofty strikeout tallies in the upper minors in 2019 and ’21 earned him a major league look midway through the 2021 season.

The right-hander has pitched at the MLB level in each of the past three years. He has allowed just under five earned runs per nine through 123 1/3 big league innings. Rucker allowed a near-7.00 ERA as a rookie before turning in a decent 3.95 mark across a personal-high 54 1/3 frames in 2022. Things skewed back in the wrong direction last year, as he was tagged for a 4.91 figure over 40 1/3 innings.

That led the Cubs to squeeze him off the roster when they signed veteran reliever (and former Phillie) Héctor Neris to a one-year deal. Rucker’s arm strength and reasonable peripheral numbers led Philadelphia to take a low-cost look. Rucker has punched out between 21% and 24% of opponents in each of his MLB seasons. He generated ground-balls at a personal-high 51.8% clip a year ago, although he also walked nearly 11% of batters faced. Rucker’s fastball averages just under 95 MPH and he showed some swing-and-miss upside with each of his slider and cutter last season.

Rucker also has a minor league option remaining, so the Phils can keep him at Triple-A Lehigh Valley for another season. That’s not true of Bellatti, whom he replaces on the 40-man roster. Bellatti looked like an excellent find for Philadelphia on a minor league contract heading into 2022, when he turned in a 3.31 ERA over 54 1/3 innings. He didn’t find the same level of success last year, pitching to a 5.11 mark through 24 2/3 big league frames.

The 32-year-old Bellatti posted strong results while in Triple-A a year ago. He worked to a 2.42 ERA with an above-average 25.7% strikeout percentage in 27 appearances with Lehigh Valley. The Phillies have a week to trade him or place him on waivers. Bellatti has been outrighted multiple times in his career, so he’d have the ability to elect free agency if he goes unclaimed in the coming days.

Phillies Claim Diego Castillo From Yankees

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The Phillies have claimed infielder/outfielder Diego Castillo off waivers from the Yankees, per announcements from both clubs. The Yanks designated him for assignment a week ago. The Phils now have a full 40-man roster after this move.

Castillo, 26, spent 2023 with the Diamondbacks but has been on the roster carousel so far this year. Since the calendar flipped to 2024, he’s been claimed by the Mets, Yankees and now Phillies. That’s likely a reflection of the fact that he has some intriguing characteristics, enough to get claimed, but not enough to hold a roster spot.

He generally does a pretty good job of getting on base, but without much power. He also has a bit of speed, some defensive versatility and one option year remaining. With the Snakes in 2023, he only got into one major league game but took 556 plate appearances at the Triple-A level. He drew a walk in 17.4% of those and was only punched out at a 14.2% clip. He only hit three home runs in that time but his .313/.431/.410 batting line still amounted to a wRC+ of 117, even in the hitter-friendly environs of the Pacific Coast League.

He also stole 13 bases and bounced around the diamond, lining up at the three infield positions to the left of first base as well as left field. In past seasons, he’s played a bit of first base and right field, in addition to some brief mop-up duty on the mound.

For the Phils, Castillo can provide them with some depth all over the diamond, alongside other multi-positional guys like Kody Clemens, Rodolfo Castro and Weston Wilson. The major league bench projects to feature Garrett Stubbs as a backup catcher with players like Edmundo Sosa, Cristian Pache and Jake Cave filling out the final few spots. Those final three names are all out of options, which could give them a leg up in earning a roster spot to start the year.

But injuries will inevitably pop up throughout the season and perhaps open opportunities for Castillo or some of the club’s other depth players. But also, given the way this year is going for Castillo, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him back on the waiver wire shortly.

Jimy Williams Passes Away

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Former player, manager and coach Jimy Williams has passed away, according to announcement from his previous clubs. He was 80 years old.

Williams was born in Santa Maria, California in 1943 and started his professional career by signing with the Red Sox. He was selected by the Cardinals in the 1965 Rule 5 draft and made his major league debut with that club. His playing career was quite modest, as he got into just 14 big league games with the Cards, 13 in 1966 and one more the following year. He made 14 plate appearances, walking once and striking out six times. His three singles in 13 at-bats gave him a batting average of .231.

He was traded to the Reds after the 1967 season and selected by the Expos in the 1968 expansion draft, but he never made it back to the big leagues. Though his playing career was limited, he managed to have brushes with greatness. His first appearance was against Sandy Koufax and his first hit came off Juan Marichal, both of whom eventually became Hall of Famers.

He transitioned to coaching and managing in the ’70s, starting in the Angels’ farm system. He got to the big leagues as the third base coach of the Blue Jays in 1980. He was promoted to the manager’s chair in 1986, with Bobby Cox vacating the role and heading to Atlanta. The Jays posted a winning record the next three seasons though didn’t make the postseason. Toronto fans of a certain vintage will remember that the 1987 club had a 3.5-game lead over the Tigers before losing their final seven contests for a heartbreaking second-place finish despite winning 96 games on the year. In 1989, the Jays got out to a slow start and Williams was fired in May, replaced by Cito Gaston.

Williams’ next gig was with Atlanta, reuniting him with Cox. Williams served as the third base coach in Atlanta from 1991 to 1996. The 1994 season wasn’t finished because of that year’s strike, but Atlanta won the National League East in every other season during that stretch, winning the World Series in 1995.

He got another managerial gig in 1997, getting hired by the Red Sox. They finished in fourth in the American League East in the first of his seasons in Boston but then got up to second place and earned the American League Wild Card spot in both 1998 and 1999. Williams won American League Manager of the Year honors in the latter of those two seasons, but the Sox didn’t make it back to the postseason in 2000 and then Williams was fired in August of 2001.

A few months later, Williams was hired to manage the Astros. They finished with winning records but shy of the postseason in 2002 and 2003, before Williams was fired midway through the 2004 campaign. That would be his last managerial gig, but he was hired to be the Phillies’ bench coach going into the 2007 season. The Phils won the National League East that year but lost to the Rockies in the NLDS. The next year, they won the division again and eventually won the 2008 World Series, a second ring for Williams as a coach. He decided not to return to the club the following year, finishing his career on a high note.

Over his career, Williams managed parts of 12 seasons with a combined record of 910-790, a .535 winning percentage. His two sons, Brady Williams and Shawn Williams, went on to become professional baseball players and minor league managers/coaches. We at MLB Trade Rumors join the rest of the baseball world in sending our condolences to the Williams family as well as Jimy’s many friends, acquaintances and fans throughout the game.

Phillies Interested In Jakob Junis, Phil Maton

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Right-handers Jakob Junis and Phil Maton have both drawn interest from the Phillies, Scott Lauber of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.  Beyond these two specific names, Lauber speculates that the Phillies have “likely” explored most other available relievers on the market, as the club continues to look for depth in its pitching ranks.

Junis would be an interesting asset to both the rotation or bullpen, given his experience as a swingman over the last few seasons.  Junis has started 27 of his 79 appearances from 2021-23, though his four starts in 2023 are more correctly described as opener/piggyback duty.  The Giants used Junis and several other pitchers in somewhat haphazard fashion to cover three rotation spots, making for a wide array of opener/bulk pitcher scenarios, bullpen games, and two swingmen working in concert for multi-inning duty.

This type of flexibility might make Junis particularly useful on a Philadelphia team that already has a set starting five (Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, Ranger Suarez, Taijuan Walker, Cristopher Sanchez).  President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski recently spoke of the difficulties in attracting quality depth options to a club that doesn’t have any openings if everyone is healthy, whereas another club with a less settled rotation can offer a free agent more of an opportunity to earn a starting job.  However, Junis’ history of moving back and forth between pitching roles means that the Phillies could possibly regard him as just an available arm, rather than strictly as a depth starter or a reliever.

After posting a 4.75 ERA over his first 627 1/3 MLB innings from 2017-22, Junis had a 3.87 ERA in 2023, finishing well above the league average in walk rate, strikeout rate, and hard-contact rate.  The latter two statistics are particularly noteworthy, as Junis had usually posted below-average numbers in those departments during his career.  This could suggest that the mostly multi-inning relief role agreed with Junis, as it allowed him to lean harder on his best pitch — a slider that batters hit only .216 against in 2023.

Dylan Covey, Nick Nelson, and the newly-acquired Kolby Allard look like the top depth options in the event of an injury, plus the Phillies could also consider using Matt Strahm as a starter again.  If signed, Junis could simply push everyone down a step on the depth chart, with Allard, Covey, and Nelson competing for perhaps just one big league job.  Covey is also out of minor league options, perhaps giving him some leg up on the competition.

Maton would be a straight-forward addition to the bullpen, and a durable addition at that — since the start of the 2021 season, only eight pitchers have appeared in more games than Maton’s 200 outings.  In a swap that now looks like a steal for the Astros, Houston acquired Maton and Yainer Diaz from Cleveland for Myles Straw at the 2021 trade deadline, and Maton has since delivered a 3.67 ERA over 157 regular-season innings and a minuscule 0.49 ERA over 18 1/3 innings in the postseason.  Maton didn’t participate in the Astros’ World Series run in 2022, however, as a fractured pinkie finger kept him off the playoff roster entirely.

Maton turns 31 in March, and he has found success despite a fastball that averaged only 89mph in 2023.  His above-average strikeout numbers speak to his elite spin rates, and few (if any) pitchers in baseball are better than Maton at limiting hard contact.  Maton’s barrel rates are good but not outstanding, as he is prone to giving up homers on the rare occasions that batters are able to really square up on his pitches.

The Cardinals and Yankees have been linked to Maton’s market this offseason, while the Astros reportedly showed only limited interest in a reunion even before Houston signed Josh Hader.  Junis’ market has been more of a mystery, as the Phillies are the first team known to have any public interest in the right-hander all winter.

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