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Phillies Outright Francisco Morales

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The Phillies announced that right-hander Francisco Morales has cleared waivers and has been outrighted to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. He had been designated for assignment last week when the club signed Craig Kimbrel.

Morales, 23, was working in the lower levels of the Phillies’ system before the pandemic. His walks were on the high side but he showed plenty of promise down there nonetheless. Baseball America has considered him one of the top 30 Philly farmhands since back in 2018, and he even jumped up to the #4 slot in 2020.

The Phillies added him to their 40-man roster in November of 2020 to protect him from selection in the Rule 5 draft. Unfortunately, his command issues have gotten worse in the upper levels of the minors. In 2021, he split his time between Double-A and Triple-A but walked 15.5% of batters he faced and posted a 6.28 ERA. The club tried converting him to a full-time relief role last year but it didn’t help. He posted a 19.7% walk rate in the minors and also an incredible 28.6% rate in the majors. That latter number was in a small sample of just three appearances but still highlights the ongoing issue.

Morales will now stick in the system but without occupying a roster spot. Since this is his first outright and he has less than three years of MLB service time, he doesn’t have the ability to reject the assignment and become a free agent. He’ll start the year in the minors and try to better harness his stuff to get back onto the roster.

Phillies Release Vinny Nittoli

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The Phillies announced Tuesday afternoon that reliever Vinny Nittoli has been released. He’d lost his spot on the 40-man roster last week once the Phils acquired Erich Uelmen from the Cubs.

Assuming he clears release waivers, Nittoli will head to the free agent market. He’s bounced around a bit on minor league contracts over the past year-plus. After making his MLB debut with the Mariners in 2021, the righty went on to ink successive non-roster contracts with the Twins, Yankees and Blue Jays. He logged Triple-A time with all three clubs without reaching the majors.

Nittoli was set to exercise an opt-out clause in his deal with Toronto last August. Philadelphia jumped in to acquire him, immediately adding him to their MLB roster. The Phils gave him two big league appearances down the stretch, in which he tossed a pair of scoreless innings.

The 32-year-old has three MLB outings under his belt over the past couple seasons. He averaged just under 93 MPH on his fastball while leaning primarily on a slider during his brief look with the Phils. He’s coming off a solid year in Triple-A, where he posted a 3.81 ERA with a quality 30.8% strikeout percentage and a meager 6.7% walk rate over 52 frames. He’ll be a depth option for teams looking to add some upper level relief help, likely via minor league deal with a non-roster Spring Training invitation.

Phillies, Giants Swap Yunior Marté For Erik Miller

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The Phillies and Giants made a trade today, according to announcements from both clubs. Right-hander Yunior Marté is heading to the Phillies with lefty Erik Miller going the other way.

Marté, 28 next month, he spent most of his career with the Royals but never cracked their roster and reached minor league free agency after 2020. The Giants then signed him to a minor league deal and saw him post a 3.49 ERA over 56 2/3 Triple-A innings in 2021. He struck out 24.6% of batters faced, walked 9.1% of them and got grounders on 49.4% of balls in play. That was enough for the Giants to add him to the 40-man in November.

In 2022, Marté made his MLB debut with a 5.44 ERA in 48 innings for the Giants. That came with a 20.6% strikeout rate and 10.4% walk rate, with both of those numbers being a bit worse than league average. He did get grounders at a strong 48.6% rate and might have had some bad luck with a 63.2% strand rate. Statcast found a lot to like in his work, placing him in the 97th percentile in terms of barrel rate, 84th in terms of average exit velocity and 94th in terms of fastball velocity, averaging 97.8 mph. He also tossed 25 2/3 Triple-A innings with a 3.16 ERA and a huge 37.2% strikeout rate, though his 38.8% ground ball rate was lower down there.

Marté still has a couple of option years, so he’ll give the Phils an intriguing arm that they could potentially keep in the minors until needed. The bullpen has been an area of focus for the team this winter, as they’ve signed free agents Craig Kimbrel and Matt Strahm, in addition to swinging a trade for Gregory Soto this weekend and Marté today. For the Giants, it seems like Marté was nudged out of their plans when they signed Luke Jackson today, requiring them to open a roster spot with this trade. Though it was surely tough to part with a talented pitcher like Marté, they are at least getting something in return.

Miller, 25 next month, was a fourth round selection of the Phillies in 2019. He’s been considered one of the better prospects in the Philly system since then, with Baseball America having him in the club’s top 30 in each of the past three years. Between the canceled minor leagues in 2020 and an injury-marred 2021, he hadn’t pitched much coming into 2022. But he seemed to get into a groove at Double-A, tossing 36 1/3 innings with a 2.23 ERA. He struck out 30.1% of batters faced but also walked 11.6% of them. He was promoted to Triple-A but his control problems worsened. In 10 games at that level, he walked 21.5% of opponents, leading to a 7.50 ERA.

Miller got some attention here at MLBTR as the Rule 5 draft was approaching but he ultimately went unselected. That means the Giants have now swapped one intriguing arm for another, with Miller not occupying a roster spot. Baseball America highlights that his fastball can reach 98 mph, with a plus slider and changeup as well. However, they note that a lack of consistency has kept him from truly reaching his potential thus far.

Dave Dombrowski Discusses Gregory Soto Trade

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  • Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski spoke with reporters (including Alex Coffey of the Philadelphia Inquirer) about his club’s trade with the Tigers today.  Moving three players was “not easy for us,” Dombrowski said, but the Phillies were tempted by the chance to add a quality, controllable reliever like Gregory Soto.  The Phillies first talked Soto with the Tigers during the Winter Meetings, but negotiations seemed to cool until this past Thursday, when Dombrowski said that Detroit PBO Scott Harris called to revisit a Soto deal.  In regards to the other players involved, Kody Clemens figures to take over one of the bench spots left by Nick Maton or Matt Vierling, and Dombrowski said the other spot could be filled by a future smaller acquisition, or perhaps by a player already in Philadelphia’s system.

Phillies Acquire Gregory Soto From Tigers In Five-Player Deal

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The Phillies have continued to strengthen their roster following their World Series defeat last year, acquiring left-handed reliever Gregory Soto and utilityman Kody Clemens in a trade with the Tigers. Utilityman Nick Maton, outfielder Matt Vierling and catcher Donny Sands are headed to Detroit in the other end of the deal. The two teams announced the deal this afternoon.

The deal adds another quality southpaw to Philadelphia’s bullpen, as Soto joins fellow lefty Matt Strahm in the relief corps plus another prominent new face in right-hander Craig Kimbrel. Between these bullpen additions and the signings of Trea Turner and Taijuan Walker, president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski is being typically aggressive as he looks to take the World Series finalist Phillies one step further in 2023.

Soto (who turns 28 in February) worked to a 3.28 ERA over 60 1/3 innings for the Tigers last season, striking out batters at a 22.8% clip against a 12.9% walk rate. In the process, he notched 30 saves for the team. The strikeout rate represented something of a dip for Soto, as it sat at 27.5% just a year prior.

Signed out of the Dominican Republic back in 2012, Soto came up through the Tigers’ system as a starting pitcher. He’d make seven starts for Detroit in his rookie year back in 2019, but was rocked to the tune of an 8.49 ERA and has been a reliever ever since. He’s found plenty of success in that role, working to a 3.57 ERA over 181 1/3 relief innings, including earning trips to the All Star game in 2021 and 2022.

Left-handed hitters hit just .225/.328/.277 against Soto, but perhaps most noteworthy is the fact he’s given up just one home run in his career to a left-handed hitter. While he handled the closing duties in Detroit, he’s joining a much stronger bullpen in Philadelphia so may see fewer ninth-inning opportunities, but in any event they’ve got an ideal late-innings arm to shut down any left-handed power threats late in the game.

Soto mixes a fastball which touches triple-digits with an 89 mph slider, as well as a very occasional changeup. As evidenced by his career 13.1% rate, walks have been the biggest issue for Soto during his career. Even with the below-average walk rate Soto has been a valuable relief arm, but if he can tighten up the free passes he has the stuff to blossom into an elite late-inning arm.

Soto has between three and four years of service time, so the Phillies will pay him a first year arbitration salary that Matt Swartz estimated to be $3.1MM. The Phillies will then control him via arbitration for the 2024 and ’25 seasons.

The Phillies pen now includes Kimbrel, Soto and Strahm, as well as Seranthony Dominguez, Jose Alvarado, Andrew Bellatti and Connor Brogdon. In Alvarado and Soto, they’ve now got two of the hardest throwing left-handers in the game, with both possessing the ability to reach 100mph.

They’ll also pick up Clemens, a utility infielder who got his first taste of the big leagues in 2022.  Clemens slashed just .145/.197/.308 with five home runs over 127 plate appearances for the Tigers in 2022. The 26-year-old did hit a much more robust .274/.327/.535 line at Triple-A.

He logged time at first, second and third base in 2022, as well as some time in left field. Though it was a small sample size, he did earn two Defensive Runs Saved for his work at first and third. While unlikely to be a regular in Philadelphia, Clemens comes with two minor league options remaining so should serve as depth/bench piece.

As for the return, Detroit picks up three players who were all on Philadelphia’s 40-man roster. Sands is a 26-year-old catcher who earned his first taste of the big leagues in 2022, appearing in three games for the Phillies. Acquired from the Yankees last winter, Sands made 57 appearances at Triple-A last year, slashing .309/.413/.428 with five home runs. It’s a strong slashline, but with J.T. Realmuto ahead of him Sands was never likely to get an extended look in the big leagues. The Tigers have Eric Haase and Jake Rogers as catching options, but Sands will join that mix and could be in line to serve as a backup.

Maton, 25, is a utility player who appeared in 35 games for the Phillies last year, slashing .250/.341/.514 with five home runs over 85 plate appearances. That was a solid follow-up to his rookie year in 2021, when he hit .256/.323/.385 over 131 plate appearances. He came through the Phillies system as a shortstop but bounced around the infield and outfield in the majors. Javier Baez is locked in at shortstop for the Tigers, but they don’t currently have an obvious option at third so Maton could see plenty of time there as the Tigers look to see if his strong showing in 2022 can be sustained over a full season.

Vierling, 26, wound up picking up 357 plate appearances for the Phillies last season, putting together a .246/.297/.351 line with six home runs. He logged 434 2/3 innings in center, earning -7 Defensive Runs Saved. Vierling graded out much better in a corner spot, earning 1 DRS over 175 innings in right. He also logged a handful of innings at first, second and third. He should compete for a bench spot in Detroit as a fourth outfielder.

While there’s no highly rated prospect going back to Detroit in the deal, all three players are ready to contribute to the major league club in 2023. For the Phillies, these three players would have found opportunities somewhat hard to come by in 2023 unless more injuries (beyond just Bryce Harper’s Tommy John surgery) hit, given the established nature of their contending roster. As such, it’s a solid move from Dombrowski to flip the trio for a player that immediately makes their bullpen stronger, plus Clemens helps replace some of the bench depth sent to the Tigers.

Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia first reported on Twitter that the Phillies and Tigers were working on a trade. Jon Morosi of MLB Network reported on Twitter that the two sides were close on a deal involving the five players. Morosi was also first to report on Twitter that the two sides had agreed to the deal. 

Photo credit: USA TODAY Sports.

Phillies, Jon Duplantier Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Phillies are in agreement with righty Jon Duplantier on a minor league contract, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post (Twitter link). He’ll receive an invitation to big league Spring Training.

Duplantier, 28, will look to get back to the majors after a year in Triple-A. He spent the entire 2022 campaign with the Dodgers’ top affiliate in Oklahoma City. The former third-round pick started 14 of his 34 appearances, working 93 2/3 innings altogether. He posted a 4.80 ERA in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. Duplantier struck out a solid 25.5% of his opponents but only induced grounders on a little more than 30% of balls in play. Perhaps most concerning, he walked 13.3% of batters faced, the continuation of control issues he’s battled throughout his career.

The Rice University product has pitched in the majors in parts of two campaigns. A highly-regarded prospect during his time in the Diamondbacks farm system, he pitched with Arizona in both 2019 and ’21. Duplantier started seven of 19 outings, working to a 6.70 ERA through 49 2/3 MLB frames. He managed a better 45.7% grounder rate in that time but had a below-average 19.7% strikeout percentage and an 11.2% walk rate.

Duplantier adds some swing depth to the upper levels of the Philadelphia organization. He can serve as injury insurance for the rotation or as a multi-inning reliever. Duplantier has exhausted his minor league option years, however. If Philadelphia adds him to the big league roster at any point, he’d have to stick in the majors or be made available to other clubs via trade or waivers.

Phillies Sign Jake Jewell To Minor League Deal

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The Phillies have signed right-hander Jake Jewell to a minor league deal, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. He will presumably receive an invitation to major league Spring Training.

Jewell, 30 in May, has 31 games of MLB experience, scattered over the 2018, 2019 and 2021 seasons with the Angels and Cubs. He’s posted an unsightly 7.75 ERA in that time, with his 13 home runs allowed in just 38 1/3 innings surely playing a role in that inflated figure.

In 2022, he signed a minor league deal with the Guardians. He was throwing well for their Triple-A team for most of the year, logging 43 1/3 innings with a 2.49 ERA, striking out 27% of batters faced, walking 8.4% of them and getting grounders on 63.3% of balls in play. The Guards selected him to the big league roster in August but optioned him back down to the minors and designated him for assignment before he got into a big league game. He was claimed by the Twins and made nine appearances for their Triple-A team, but saw his ERA spike to 5.68. He was outrighted off their roster in September.

Between the two clubs, Jewell finished 2022 with a 3.21 ERA in 56 Triple-A innings, striking out 27.7% of batters faced against an 8.9% walk rate. He’ll give the Phillies’ bullpen some depth without taking up a roster spot for the time being. If he can earn his way onto the roster, he will be able to be cheaply retained for the foreseeable future, as he has just over a year of MLB service time.

Phillies Designate Francisco Morales For Assignment

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The Phillies have announced their signing of righty Craig Kimbrel, making it official. In order to make room on the 40-man roster, fellow righty Francisco Morales has been designated for assignment.

Morales, 23, was working as a starter in the lower levels of the Phillies’ minor league system in the early parts of his career. He showed some promise at that time, including throwing 96 2/3 innings at Single-A in 2019 with a 3.82 ERA. His 11% walk rate that year was a bit on the high side but he also struck out 30.9% of batters faced. Baseball America has liked Morales for some time, as he’s been on their list of top Philly prospects since 2018.

That strong 2019 campaign got him all the way up to the #4 slot at BA going into 2020, when the minor leagues were canceled by the pandemic. The Phillies added him to their 40-man roster in November of that year in order to protect Morales from being selected in the Rule 5 draft.

However, the past couple of seasons have been a struggle. In 2021, he made 24 appearances, 22 of those being starts, between Double-A and Triple-A. He still struck out hitters at a healthy 27.1% clip but his walk rate shot up to an untenable 15.5%, helping his ERA climb to 6.28. That seemed to put an end to his days as a starter, as he pitched exclusively in relief in 2022. However, the move hasn’t suited him so far, as he tossed 51 innings between Double-A and Triple-A last year with a 30.6% strikeout rate but a 19.7% walk rate and 4.76 ERA. He also made three appearances in the big leagues but walked 28.6% of the batters he faced and posted a 7.20 ERA.

It seems the rough results over the past couple of seasons have worn on the patience of the Phillies, costing Morales his roster spot. However, he’s still quite young and has shown promise in the past. He still has one option year remaining and could garner interest from the clubs in search of extra pitching depth. The Phils will have one week to work out a trade or pass Morales through waivers.

Phillies Sign Craig Kimbrel

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January 4: The Phillies have officially announced Kimbrel’s signing.

December 23: The Phillies are adding an established closer. They’re reportedly in agreement with Craig Kimbrel on a one-year, $10MM pact. Kimbrel is a SportsMeter client.

Philadelphia will be the seventh MLB team for Kimbrel, who is headed into his 14th season. He returns to the NL East, where he was arguably the sport’s best closer from 2011-14 as a member of the Braves. Kimbrel remained excellent after being dealt to the Padres and subsequently to the Red Sox. Dave Dombrowski was running baseball operations in Boston while Kimbrel was there for three straight All-Star seasons between 2016-18. They’re now reunited with Dombrowski leading the charge in Philly.

Since leaving the Red Sox, Kimbrel has had his share of ups and downs. He lingered in free agency until June 2019 before securing a three-year commitment from the Cubs. That deal looked like a misfire after he posted an even 6.00 ERA in 41 appearances through the end of the 2020 campaign. However, he looked good as ever at the start of the third season. The right-hander posted a microscopic 0.57 ERA through 31 2/3 innings in the first half of 2021, securing his eighth All-Star selection in the process. The Cubs flipped him to the crosstown White Sox in a deadline deal that brought back Nick Madrigal.

Kimbrel didn’t finish the season all that well, posting a 5.09 ERA for the Sox. Chicago exercised a $16MM option on his services for the 2022 season but shopped him most of last winter. In the days leading up to Opening Day, they sent him to the Dodgers in a one-for-one swap for AJ Pollock. Kimbrel spent his age-34 campaign in Los Angeles, putting up solid numbers overall but showing some worrisome signs down the stretch.

While his first half ERA was a pedestrian 4.35, he struck out more than a third of opponents in that time. The Dodgers relied upon him as their primary closer early in the year, but he began to fall out of favor as the season pulled along. Kimbrel’s strikeout rate in the second half was a modest 20.7%. His ERA checked in at 3.10 thanks to a meager .227 batting average on balls in play against him. The Dodgers were clearly skeptical of Kimbrel’s ability to maintain that kind of batted ball fortune. They removed him from the ninth inning in September and scratched him from the roster entirely come playoff time.

It’s surely not the way either Kimbrel or the team envisioned the season ending, but his 2022 campaign was hardly a disaster. He posted a 3.75 ERA across 60 innings overall. His 27.7% strikeout rate and 12.1% swinging strike percentage were each a bit better than par, and he averaged a quality 95.8 MPH on his fastball. He walked batters at a elevated 10.8% clip and gave up a fair bit of hard contact, but he still showed quality bat-missing stuff. While it wasn’t vintage Kimbrel or even at the level of his 2021 production, he showed enough to believe he’s still capable of solid play.

Kimbrel went 22 of 27 on save attempts this year. He’s now up to 394 saves for his career, most of any active player. Kimbrel should soon become the seventh pitcher in MLB history to reach the 400-save mark, and he’ll have a path back to ninth-inning work in Philadelphia. Players like José Alvarado and Seranthony Domínguez previously stood as the in-house favorites for closing work, though they’re each capable of taking on higher-leverage responsibilities in the seventh or eight inning.

It’s a relatively low-cost gamble for the Phils, matching the $10MM flier they took on Corey Knebel last offseason. They’ll have to tack on a few million extra in taxes, as they’re likely to exceed the luxury tax threshold for a second straight season. Philadelphia’s luxury tax commitments are up to approximately $251MM, as calculated by Roster Resource. They’re subject to a 30% tax on every dollar spent between $233MM and $253MM, so the Kimbrel signing comes with an extra $3MM in fees. It also brings them within a couple million dollars of the second CBT threshold at $253MM. That would come with a 42% tax on overages, with higher penalties in the event they top $273MM.

Precisely where owner John Middleton wants to draw the line isn’t clear, though the Phils have little reason to spare much expense on the heels of a pennant win. Philadelphia has already brought in Trea Turner and Taijuan Walker this winter, and Kimbrel joins Matt Strahm as relief additions. The Phils are set for another battle with the Mets and Braves in a top-heavy NL East, and they’ll hope Kimbrel has plenty of opportunities to lock down wins at the back end of the bullpen.

Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic first reported Kimbrel and the Phillies had agreed to a contract. Jeff Passan of ESPN was first to report the one-year, $10MM guarantee.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Phillies Acquire Erich Uelmen, Designate Vinny Nittoli

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The Phillies have acquired right-hander Erich Uelmen from the Cubs in exchange for cash and opened a spot on the roster by designating fellow right-hander Vinny Nittoli for assignment, per a team announcement. Uelmen was designated for assignment by the Cubs when they finalized their deal to re-sign southpaw Drew Smyly.

Uelmen, 26, made his big league debut with the Cubs in 2022, pitching to a 4.67 ERA with a 17.2% strikeout rate against a 9.8% walk rate in 27 innings. He averaged 93.8 mph on his heater, generally kept the ball in the yard (1.00 HR/9) and posted an above-average 47.6% ground-ball rate in that time.

That marked the continuation of a solid showing in Triple-A, where Uelmen tossed 42 innings with a 2.79 ERA and a huge 55.3% ground-ball rate. He also fanned 29.1% of his opponents in Triple-A, but Uelmen’s 12.8% walk rate clearly left plenty to be desired. He has a full slate of three minor league option years remaining, and he was dominant against fellow right-handers in 2022, limiting them to a .206/.282/.326 output.

Lefties had more success at .234/.390/.318, but if he can rein in his command, Uelmen could be a serviceable option against hitters from both sides of the plate. That’s easier said than done, of course, and Uelmen has walked 11.2% of the batters he’s faced in Double-A, Triple-A and the Majors combined.

Nittoli, 32, reached the Majors for the first time in 2021 when he tossed one inning for the Mariners. It was a tiny sample but a notable one for the former 25th-round pick, as it capped off an eight-year grind to the big league level. He split the 2022 season between the Yankees, Blue Jays and Phillies organizations, with Toronto flipping him to Philadelphia in an August swap. The Phils selected Nittoli to the Majors when rosters expanded on Sept. 1 and got a pair of scoreless innings out of him during his brief time with the big league squad.

Nittoli posted a 3.81 ERA in 52 innings between the Triple-A affiliates for the Yankees, Jays and Phillies in 2022, whiffing 30.8% of his opponents against a tidy 6.7% walk rate. He still has a minor league option year remaining, and the Phillies will now have a week to trade him or place him on outright waivers.

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