Josh Phegley Announces Retirement
Backstop Josh Phegley announced today that he is hanging up his spikes. He appeared in each of the prior eight MLB campaigns.
Phegley, who’ll celebrate his 33rd birthday later this month, opened and closed his career in Chicago but spent most of his time with the Athletics. He finishes with 1,203 plate appearances of .225/.268/.381 hitting and 35 home runs.
A first-round draft pick out of Indiana, Phegley debuted with the White Sox in 2013. He had yet to fully establish himself in the majors when he was shipped to Oakland as part of a memorable swap.
Phegley launched his career with the A’s with a strong showing in 2015, when he slashed .249/.300/.449 in 73 games of action. Unfortunately, that proved to be a high-water mark. Phegley served as a reserve until 2019, when he appeared in a personal-high 106 contests and posted a .239/.282/.411 batting line with a career-best dozen long balls.
In his first trip onto the open market, Phegley settled for a minor-league deal with the Cubs. He cracked the Opening Day roster but only saw limited action. Phegley will bow out of the game now rather than battling for another opportunity. MLBTR wishes him the best in his future endeavors.
Cubs Select Josh Phegley, Designate Josh Osich
The Cubs have selected the contract of catcher Josh Phegley from their alternate training site and designated left-handed reliever Josh Osich for assignment in order to open roster space, per a club announcement. Phegley will make the team’s Wild Card roster.
Phegley, 32, logged 18 plate appearances with the Cubs earlier this season but struggled in that short sample, collecting just one hit and one walk while getting plunked by a pitch in that time as well. He’ll be a third catcher behind Willson Contreras and Victor Caratini this series and give the Cubs a bench option who hit .233/.282/.397 in 300 games with the A’s from 2015-19.
Osich, also 32, allowed six runs (three earned) on five hits with four strikeouts in just 2 2/3 innings over four games with the Cubs. Osich notched a 4.66 ERA in 67 2/3 innings with the Cubs last year while posting a 61-to-15 K/BB ratio in that time. However, he carries just a 5.02 ERA and 5.21 FIP in 206 1/3 big league innings to this point in his career. Osich can become a free agent if he goes unclaimed on waivers.
Cubs Release Cody Allen, A.J. Ramos; Outright Josh Phegley, Ian Miller
The Cubs have released right-handed relievers Cody Allen and AJ Ramos, Jesse Rogers of ESPN.com was among those to report. They also outrighted catcher Josh Phegley and outfielder Ian Miller to their alternate site after the pair cleared waivers, Jay Cohen of the Associated Press tweets.
Allen, who signed with the Cubs in July, was a dominant closer during his heyday. The former Indian logged a sub-3.00 ERA in each season from 2013-17 and racked up 122 saves during that span. Allen totaled another 27 saves in 2018, his final season with the Indians, but his production tailed off significantly then and continued to worsen during a 23-inning run with the Angels in 2019. The Halos signed Allen to an $8.5MM contract before last season, but after he struggled to a 6.26 ERA/8.38 FIP with 7.83 BB/9 and a career-worst 92.3 mph average fastball velocity, they released him in June. The 31-year-old hasn’t pitched in the majors since then.
Ramos, who will turn 35 on Sept. 20, had a terrific run in Miami from 2012-17, when he notched 99 saves and posted a 2.78 ERA in 327 1/3 innings. They traded him to the Mets in the last of those seasons, though, and Ramos proceeded to slump to a 5.59 ERA in New York over 38 2/3 frames in parts of two seasons. Ramos hasn’t pitched in the majors since May 2018 after undergoing shoulder surgery, though he hoped to make a return to the bigs as a member of the Cubs. He’ll now have to try to latch on elsewhere if he still plans on continuing his career.
Both Phegley and Miller became Cubs on minor league contracts last offseason, but the team designated the two for assignment in recent days. Phegley, formerly the A’s starting catcher, went 1-for-16 as a Cub before they kicked him off their roster. The fleet-of-foot Miller appeared in one of Chicago’s games, but he didn’t record a plate appearance.
Cubs Acquire Jose Martinez From Rays
The Cubs are acquiring designated hitter José Martínez from the Rays, per ESPN’s Jeff Passan (Twitter link). Chicago is sending two players to be named later or cash considerations in exchange. Catcher Josh Phegley has been designated for assignment to clear roster space.
Martínez burst onto the scene with the Cubs’ archrival Cardinals between 2017-18, hitting .306/.369/.478 over those two seasons. Since the start of 2019, Martínez has put up a more pedestrian .264/.339/.406 mark split between St. Louis and Tampa Bay, although he’s continued to feast on left-handed pitching in that time.
The Rays just picked Martínez up from St. Louis over the offseason in a trade that sent top pitching prospect Matthew Liberatore to the Cardinals and also brought back outfielder Randy Arozarena. He played a little bit of first base in Tampa but will obviously be seen almost exclusively as a DH in Chicago, where Anthony Rizzo has first locked down. Martínez will make just over $320K the rest of this season, followed by two additional years of arbitration control. With Martínez gone, Tampa figures to lean more heavily on Yoshi Tsutsugo and Ji-Man Choi at first base/DH.
Cubs Select Phegley & Brothers, Designate Robel Garcia; Zaguns Opts Out
The Cubs have settled upon their roster to open the 2020 campaign. Catcher Josh Phegley and reliever Rex Brothers both made the cut, so they’ll be added to the 40-man roster.
To clear room, the Cubs announced several 40-man departures. Utilitymen Robel Garcia and Daniel Descalso are both off of the list; the former was designated for assignment and the latter was placed on the 45-day injured list. Also moving off of the MLB roster was outfielder Mark Zagunis, who opted out of the 2020 season.
Cubs Notes: Epstein, Extensions, Catchers
Theo Epstein has largely led his clubs with positive, progressive messaging that, if anything, lands on the overly-diplomatic end of the spectrum. True to form, he and the Chicago Cubs organization are encouraging their players to speak their minds as they so choose, writes Tim Stebbins of NBC Sports. Though Epstein’s comments may come off as hollow, there’s little to suggest he’s being anything but sincere. He’s been up front about wanting to organizationally (and personally) take a long, inward look at themselves for traces of the systemic racism that’s been at the fore of the country’s cultural conversation. These comments stemmed from a tweet from Adbert Alzolay that voiced some of his concerns about camp in South Bend. That tweet, however, was deleted after some of his facts proved to be inaccurate, per The Athletic’s Sahadev Sharma. This Here’s more from Chicago…
- Epstein more-or-less put the kibosh on any potential extensions for Chicago’s many popular, star players, per MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian. After Kris Bryant recently re-iterated his desire to stay in Chicago, it’s a little disquieting to hear Epstein so thoroughly shut down the idea of extending much-beloved Cubs like Bryant, Javier Baez, or Willson Contreras. On the other hand, it’s certainly a confusing time in baseball, and there are plenty of logistics to keep the organization busy just in trying to keep players safe and return to the game of baseball. The market for star players like Bryant and Baez could not be any more uncertain, and with at least two seasons before any of their core players reach free agency, the Cubs have the luxury of time. If nothing else, next offseason will offer a fascinating data point as Mookie Betts hits the open market. The Cubs certainly have the funds to re-up their stars, but they might just want to wait to see the going rate for a superstar in these uncertain times.
- On the field, manager David Ross is mulling the possibility of carrying three catchers once the season starts, per Bastian (via Twitter). Given the somewhat chaotic terms of the 2020 season, it would not be surprising to see many teams go this route. For the Cubs specifically, Victor Caratini proved enough with the bat last season to get some at-bats at first base or designated hitter while Contreras continues to serve as the everyday catcher. The switch-hitting Caratini, 26, hit .266/.348/.447 across 279 plate appearances. He saw 23 starts at first base and 2 at third base to go along with 59 starts behind the plate. Josh Phegley would figure to be the third catcher. Phegley hasn’t rated all that well defensively, but the former Oakland Athletic did pop 12 homers with a .411 slugging percentage last season.
Cubs Sign Josh Phegley To Minor-League Contract
The Cubs have signed catcher Josh Phegley to a minor-league contract, reports Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune (via Twitter). No further details are available, although it seems likely Phegley will receive an invite to MLB spring training. Phegley is represented by Pro Star Management.
Phegley (32 in February) has been with the A’s the past four seasons. He got his most extensive MLB action in 2019, logging 342 plate appearances of .239/.282/.411 hitting (82 wRC+). That’s passable work at the dish for a catcher, but Phegley’s framing metrics were among the league’s worst. With top prospect Sean Murphy reaching the big leagues last September, Oakland elected to non-tender Phegley after the season.
The Cubs’ catching tandem of Willson Contreras and Víctor Caratini is among the league’s best, so Phegley could have an uphill battle cracking the roster. Contreras, though, has been bandied about as a potential trade candidate this offseason.
A’s Non-Tender Treinen, Phegley, Buchter
The A’s have non-tendered reliever Blake Treinen, reports Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle (via Twitter). He’d been projected for a $7.8MM salary, which the low-payroll A’s evidently found too steep. Additionally, the club is parting ways with reliever Ryan Buchter and catcher Josh Phegley, Slusser adds (via Twitter). Phegley had been projected for $2.2MM, while Buchter was in line for around $1.8MM.
Today’s news perhaps isn’t too surprising; MLBTR’s Jeff Todd and Steve Adams identified Treinen as a non-tender candidate last week. Oakland doesn’t figure to have much wiggle room in the budget this offseason, no doubt contributing to their efforts to find a taker for Treinen, Jurickson Profar ($5.8MM projection), and Phegley before tonight’s non-tender deadline. Profar ultimately landed in San Diego, while Treinen and Phegley were let go. Despite some late interest from the Yankees, though, the A’s were unable to match up on a Treinen deal.
Such an outcome would have been unthinkable a year ago. Treinen finished sixth in AL Cy Young voting in 2018, reflecting his otherworldly season. That year, he tossed 80.1 innings with a 0.78 ERA and sparkling peripherals. His 31.8% strikeout rate and 6.7% walk rate were easily the best numbers he’d put up since moving to the bullpen for good in 2015. Toss in Treinen’s typically strong ground ball ability (51.9% ground ball rate) and he was quite arguably baseball’s best reliever just a season ago.
Unfortunately, everything went backwards in 2019. Treinen’s ERA jumped more than four runs per nine to an unsightly 4.91. His strikeout rate regressed to a pedestrian 22.2%, while his walk rate more than doubled to a career-worst 13.9%. On top of all that, Treinen’s ground ball rate- his calling card dating back to his time as a National- fell nearly ten points. All that said, Treinen still boasts a high-90’s fastball and is one year removed from utter dominance, so he’ll surely attract interest. New York could be expected to touch base with his camp now that he’s a free agent, but almost any team in baseball could seek to add his upside to their bullpen.
Phegley, like Treinen, evidently failed to drum up significant trade interest. The 31-year-old slashed .239/.282/.411 (82 wRC+) in 342 plate appearances this season. While that’s actually solid for a catcher, he rated extremely poorly as a pitch framer, per Baseball Prospectus, which placed him 107th out of 113 backstops leaguewide. With the A’s acquiring Austin Allen to back up Sean Murphy in today’s Profar trade, the writing was on the wall for Phegley.
Buchter, meanwhile, pitched to a 2.98 ERA, making today’s news a bit surprising at first glance. However, that was the product of an unsustainable 91.4% strand rate, as Buchter’s 4.96 FIP suggests. His walk rate spiked to an alarming 11.6%, and Buchter’s always been a fly-ball pitcher. The home run finally caught up to him in 2019. Nevertheless, he comes with an additional season of arbitration control beyond 2020 and has sported an above-average strikeout rate in four consecutive seasons, so teams looking for left-handed bullpen help could certainly take an interest in him in free agency.
A’s Could Trade Treinen, Profar, Phegley
The Athletics swung a notable trade this past weekend, sending right-hander Jharel Cotton to the Cubs. But that may not be the last near-term trade the A’s make, as Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (subscription link) reports the team’s “discussing” moves involving reliever Blake Treinen, infielder/outfielder Jurickson Profar and catcher Josh Phegley. Barring trades, they could all be non-tender candidates for low-budget Oakland, which is projected to owe Treinen $7.8MM, Profar $5.8MM and Phegley $2.2MM in 2020.
Whether there’s an appealing piece here is up for debate, but Treinen’s just a year removed from enjoying one of the best seasons in the history of relievers. Treinen posted an eye-popping 0.78 ERA across 80 1/3 innings in 2018, but just about everything went backward for him in 2019. While the 31-year-old continued to throw in the 97 to 98 mph range, his strikeout rate fell from 11.2 per nine to 9.05, his walk rate skyrocketed from 2.35 to 5.68, his groundball percentage dropped from 51.9 to 42.8, and his home run-to-fly ball percentage shot from 4.4 to 16.4. All of that helped lead to a 4.91 ERA/5.14 FIP during an injury-shortened, 58 2/3-inning effort for Treinen, who lost his closer role to Liam Hendriks and whose days with the A’s are likely over as he approaches his final season of arbitration control.
The switch-hitting Profar, 26, was supposed to solidify second base in 2019 for Oakland, which acquired him from division-rival Texas in a high-profile trade last winter. Instead, though, Profar batted a mere .218/.301/.410 in 518 plate appearances. Even though Profar did slug 20 home runs, this past season still went down as yet another disappointing campaign for a player who was once an elite prospect.
Phegley, 31, recorded yet another underwhelming offensive season in 2019, as he hit just .239/.282/.411 with 12 homers in 342 trips to the plate. The right-handed Phegley did, however, slash a strong .284/.320/.526 in 103 PA versus lefties, continuing a career-long run of managing respectable production against southpaws. Defensively, Phegley was a mixed bag, as he threw out 32 percent of would-be base-stealers (league average was 27 percent) but finished dead last in the majors in Baseball Prospectus’ Fielding Runs Above Average metric.
In the cases of Treinen and Phegley, the Athletics are well-equipped to move on even if it means non-tendering the two. The team has Hendriks, Yusmeiro Petit, Joakim Soria and Ryan Buchter among its top late-game possibilities in the bullpen. It also boasts highly promising youngster Sean Murphy as its No. 1 choice behind the plate. But there’s less certainty at second, where Chad Pinder, Sheldon Neuse, Franklin Barreto and prospect Jorge Mateo comprise a largely unproven group of options. Of course, should the A’s part with Profar, they could sign one of the many veteran second basemen on the open market to take his place.
Athletics Designate Dustin Garneau, Activate Josh Phegley
Change is afoot behind the dish for the Athletics. The club announced today that it has designated Dustin Garneau for assignment, clearing the way for the return of Josh Phegley from the injured list.
Garneau, who recently turned 32, had a nice run in seven games with the A’s. But he was obviously seen mostly as a roster patch for the Oakland org, which is now going back to its preexisting arrangement. In parts of five seasons in the majors, Garneau carries a .207/.290/.343 batting line over 381 plate appearances.