2020 Phillies Spring Training News, Notes & Discussion

andyb 2020-07-22 16:43:51 UTC #722

I assume the start of the season means added costs for the competitive balance threshold get pushed to next year. I do wonder if Betts in in a class of his own. There was also some pressure on the Dodgers to not give up 3 young players for almost no time of Mookie Betts. The Phillies do admittedly have the pressure of no credible replacement for Realmuto in their system. I guess we'll find out if their complaints about cash flow and losing so much money are real.

zambonir 2020-07-22 19:41:40 UTC #723

Yeah, he probably needs to make the offer. They were never going to finalize/announce a contract before Opening Day, but if Realmuto takes the "I don't want to negotiate during the season" position they may have already missed their shot. He may just be determined to hit the open market anyway, which doesn't mean the Phillies still can't be the highest bidder. Where it would get interesting is if the team is out of it on August 25. Then it's a Hamels 2012 situation.

I assume the CBT threshold starts on Opening Day but Betts already makes $27 million so giving him a $29 million AAV deal doesn't really matter (like signing Neil Walker, basically). They could also wait to announce it. The Dodgers aren't as close to the threshold as the Phillies anyway. And a Realmuto contract would be a much bigger bump.

el-pietro 2020-07-23 00:14:33 UTC #724

https://twitter.com/m_montemurro/status/1286061480530542592?s=21
Wheelers wife had their baby, hes available to pitch Saturday. I think the expectation had been that he would miss some time due to this birth/quarantining.
The other news is that Vinny Velo is our Number 3 starter, Arrieta starting Monday (game 4 vs the Yankees). Eflin may be the fifth starter depending on how he does in a sim game tomorrow. This might just be a match up thing as much as anything else. Game 3 against the Marlins seems an easier task on paper than Game 4 vs the Yankees.

Nola
Wheeler
Velasquez
Arrietta
5...?

zambonir 2020-07-23 00:23:24 UTC #725

Interesting. But I mean, there's no quarantine rules - players are allowed to go home, see family, go to restaurants. You just hope they won't. And you only have to quarantine if you have contact with someone who may be positive. Maternity ward is probably safer than the grocery store. He already took the biggest risk by not isolating himself from baseball in anticipation of the birth, but since he has access to testing that probably didn't matter either.

I don't think starters 3-5 mean much this season, and even less so once the rotation shuffles again. It's also not at all clear that Vinny isn't better than Arrieta!

If Eflin isn't ready I'd consider Irvin. Suarez is not expected to be on the Opening Day roster I gather.

David_Criss 2020-07-23 00:35:51 UTC #726

Any update on Eflin?

zambonir 2020-07-23 01:58:16 UTC #727

Not 'til he pitches tomorrow.

andyb 2020-07-23 15:29:51 UTC #728

Lots of teams are posting their final roster moves now. Nothing yet from the Phillies but I assume they have to do this by today rather than tomorrow.

Also ongoing negotiations regarding expanded playoffs. Any agreement needs to be done by first pitch tonight.

julio 2020-07-23 15:34:21 UTC #729

For whatever reason, the Phils' information (rosters, etc.) tends to be among the last posted. I don't know whether this is a function of something at CBP, or in New York, but it's pretty common to see information on about 20 other franchises go public before the Phils' stuff.

zambonir 2020-07-23 16:56:28 UTC #730

Phillies have announced their Opening Day roster, which features 16 pitchers.

Notable inclusions: pitchers Ramón Rosso, Trevor Kelley, Reggie McClain and Austin Davis and outfielder Kyle Garlick.

Stock was DFA’d. 40-man roster is full.
— Meghan Montemurro ( @M_Montemurro ) July 23, 2020

If there weren't any other DFAs than one guy (Suarez?) is still on the COVID-IL. Didn't see Davis coming (but he would replace Suarez I suppose).

They were due at noon. I'm sure the email/press release/Phillies.com story is coming. Whether the actual roster section gets updated today, well...

andyb 2020-07-23 17:00:35 UTC #731

McClain, Davis, and Garlick would not require 40-man moves. They used their open spot for Walker. Rosso and Kelley require 2 more. Stock and the exemption for the Suarez spot could do it. I did think Rosso looked good the other day. They'll still need spots for Howard and Bohm in a week of course. Wonder if Neris is activated as he was technically on the IL?

zambonir 2020-07-23 17:27:51 UTC #732

Also...

There are only 29 players on this 30-man roster. Phil Gosselin could be added before Opening Day. He had a billion hits in summer camp.
— Todd Zolecki ( @ToddZolecki ) July 23, 2020

I thought Davis had been outrighted but I guess I'm confusing that with the fact that he was not on the initial Summer Camp list.

So Suarez must indeed be on the COVID IL, which means they can add a 41st player, who would then become the 30th player. Or they could bide their time in case they need more pitching.

I believe Seranthony hadn't been moved to the 60 yet so that was the other opening.

David_Criss 2020-07-23 18:09:31 UTC #733

Gamboa is still on the 40-man and could be designated if they add someone else. So I guess we are still waiting to see who wins the other bench spot between Gosselin and Torreyes? I thought Parker would make the team. Guessing this means Parker, Mahtook, Martini, Nick Williams are on the taxi squad, but not cut? Stock could always pass through waivers and be named to the taxi squad, too, right?

andyb 2020-07-23 18:16:29 UTC #734

Gosselin certainly qualifies as a guy very unlikely to be lost if they have to outright him when the roster contracts and when they want Howard or Bohm. I think they want Torreyes around the LHV roster in case there is an actual injury or positive test at SS.

LoneStarPhan 2020-07-23 18:17:27 UTC #735

I believe I read that the taxi squad had to have a catcher and two other players. The term taxi squad being the term to identify the three players who are with the active roster, home and away. The remainder of the 60 player pool have to be assigned to the alternate location. I have seen this group also being called the taxi squad, but that seems to promote confusion since I believe the MLB operating rules for the season use the term taxi squad for the three players with the active roster. However, it may be that the taxi squad three are listed on the alternate training site roster.

Who are the 3 players on the Phillies taxi squad that will travel with the active team on road trips?

julio 2020-07-23 18:20:50 UTC #736

The 40-man roster is full now - not including Ranger Suarez. Beat writers say they expect Gosselin to be added to the Active (30-man) roster tomorrow - but as of now, there's no space on the 40-man for him, so assuming that happens, expect to see another DFA to make room.

Currently:

29 players on active roster
8 players optioned, at Alternate Site (Arano, Cleavinger, De Los Santos, Garcia, Llovera, Romero, Grullon, Williams)
3 players optioned, not in player pool (Gamboa, Medina, Sanchez)

julio 2020-07-23 18:25:14 UTC #737

I'd have to go back and read the Ops Manual, but my recollection is that the taxi squad members don't have to be announced. You're correct that one must be a catcher (presumably Deivi Grullon). We'll probably have to rely on eagle-eyed beat writers to spot and ID these guys.

zambonir 2020-07-23 18:35:09 UTC #738

I would agree that Gosselin, and likely some of the relievers too, would probably clear waivers and go back to the alternate training site. But having options is also clearly an important quality in a player right now. They could just send down Garlick and Davis when it goes to 28. Then Rosso and another pitcher (whether by option or DFA). And somewhere in there Gosselin loses his spot to Bohm (unless Walker does).

Of course this all assumes great health, which seems unlikely even w/o the virus.

Is Sanchez fungible? Seemed odd he wasn't put on the 60. And yeah Stock might just clear waivers.

We'll see if Parker sticks around. Torreyes could only request release as of June 1 if another team offers him a major league roster spot. He can request release with no conditions on August 15. Don't know if any of those dates were affected by the new schedule.

Seems like De Los Santos would be the most likely taxi squad starting pitcher candidate though of course it will probably change with each series depending who's on turn.

andyb 2020-07-23 18:38:19 UTC #739

Looks like the Blue Jays road series they had coming up might be played (still as a road series) in Philly. One of two series where there is a conflict with the Orioles being home apparently.

The Blue Jays' players really get the short end of the stick here with constant travel all season.

andyb 2020-07-23 18:41:04 UTC #740

It would seem logical that their taxi squad would be a catcher, a multi-position utility player, and a pitcher that could give them at least 2 or 3 innings in an emergency.

zambonir 2020-07-23 18:59:30 UTC #741

Once the roster is down to 26, yeah. But I would think until then you want two pitchers. Also for the Phillies (and most teams) their catchers can play other positions (as well as DH) so if you really needed a bat for 1-2 nights you could carry three catchers.

I assume all normal roster rules apply, that the sole purpose of the taxi squad is to allow you to expand your travelling party, and once the road series is over you can dip back into the alternate training pool if necessary (or pluck someone from there for the next taxi squad if the previous person remains on the active roster).