2022 Phillies Major League Regular Season Discussion

[andyb]

Interesting roster choices today as they potentially activate Segura. That will require a 40-man move too. Would they move on from Didi? There really are more infielders than they need if they activate Didi. I guess the other alternative is Hall who will go down anyway when Bryce is ready. Stott and Munoz are the other alternatives. Fewer opportunities for Munoz with Segura back and Stott has options.

[xogfog]

Does Falter have options? With Thor in the rotation and Gibson coming back, not sure Falter wouldn't be better pitching on schedule in AAA. That being said I haven't heard anything from the Phillies if Thor will pitch on regular rest the rest of the way, which the Angels didn't do before he came here.

[andyb]

Falter was optioned out yesterday for Thor. He has been using options all year and one is allowed up to 5.

Assume either he or Sanchez will be back as the 14th pitcher in September as a LH long reliever is probably a good idea. The Phillies do have an off day schedule where most starts would be on 5-day rest for Thor. Unclear whether Thor needs the kid glove treatment though since his innings are relatively low now. The 6-man rotation with Ohtani might have just been a benefit that makes him fresher for the Phillies than he would have been otherwise.

[David_Criss]

Right now the 40-man stands at 46 with Segura and Coonrod needing to be added very soon. The others on the 60-day (Eflin, McArthur, Jones, and Crouse) will most likely stay on the 60-day until the end of the season.
Who gets the heave ho when Coonrod's time is up? Vazquez, Muzziotti, Maton, Morales??????? Coonrod himself???
I am hoping Didi is DFAed in favor of Segura today and Stott is playing SS or will Stott be sent to AAA for a little more seasoning? DFAing Didi and his 999 career hits solves the 40-man issue for Segura though.

[zambonir]

Yeah the easy 26-man move is to option Munoz or Hall but they also need a 40-man move. Didi accomplishes both but I'll believe it when I see it, especially with that 999 issue.

It's probably Emanuel. He's behind Falter and Sanchez and won't be on the 40 in the off-season. But Vasquez doesn't seem any more likely to help, and they made that move after losing Romero but before acquiring Thor and Robertson.

[andyb]

Vazquez seemed like a waiver claim where the Phillies hoped they could slip him off the 40 at some point when everybody's rosters were full. He does not seem likely to help this year and I find it hard to believe that he could stick on the 40 all winter. The roster will be crowded, though I guess we don't have to add Brown and O'Hoppe now but it could have been worse. I think there are still 3-4 we will need to add like Rojas.

[julio]

Falter was optioned out yesterday for Thor.

Technically, today, not yesterday. It was after the game yesterday afternoon. The mlb.com transactions page is showing Muzziotti as recalled AND optioned on the same day (8/3). Doesn't work that way; Muzziotti gets one day of service time. If he's recalled in 8/3, the option is effective 8/4, regardless of when the Phillies announce it.

The minor league transactions page also currently shows Andrew Vasquez as "assigned" to AAA - he was optioned, he's still on the 40-man roster.

The people who maintain those pages do not understand the rules.

[zambonir]

I think you hit on it in your own post - MLB.com is a public relations and marketing website owned by Disney that makes announcements as and how they see fit, not an official log of accurate transactions. Of course you would think the former endeavor, still having some pretense to journalism, would also still value accuracy, but...

I also think it's either fully automated or, yes, the info is inputted/posted by people who have no idea or interest in the details (or the authority to even do something different from what they are given).

Sometimes they do fix these things though. As with Thor's number. And the Muzziotti option hasn't appeared here yet:

Injuries & Moves: Harper playing catch, hitting off tee

[Aquapong]

Oh snap. Just on MLTR. Didi released.

[julio]

Oh snap. Just on MLTR. Didi released.

Whoa! Boom, Bam!

The Phillies — the Phillies! — just treated a big fat sunk cost... as a sunk cost!

It's been a while.

[phillychuck]

I wish him well; he's nice guy and should get the chance to get that thousandth hit. For the Nationals...or the Pirates.

Note that the Phils just yesterday treated Familia as a sunk cost, too. Might be a new mindset.

[zambonir]

Good news (sorry Didi. Not your fault you were a bad signing the second time. Might need to rethink your willingness to come off a bench now).

The Phillies announce the following transactions:

CF Brandon Marsh and RHP Noah Syndergaard have reported to the club.

INF Jean Segura has been reinstated from the 60-day IL.

RHP Kyle Gibson has been activated from the Bereavement List.

INF Didi Gregorius has been released.

— Philadelphia Phillies ( @Phillies ) August 4, 2022

[zambonir]

Exceeding the threshold has changed so much this year. They are paying for all those minor leaguers to be on the 60-day, and they are paying every dime of what's left on Thor's $21 million.

The Girardi era is now truly over.

[julio]

I need to add...

The Phillies are "eating" about $5 million of Didi's contract - but this move is not costing them $5 million. If they had kept Didi, and moved Sosa, or Munoz, or Stott, they would have saved about $250k from what they will now spend - not $5 million.

They have to pay Didi either way (it's a sunk cost). This way, they also have to pay one player (who would otherwise be in AAA, or claimed off waivers) just under two months' salary at the major-league minimum. In return for this $250k, they get a better roster, and don't take the risk of losing a player who might help them down the road (if they had DFA'ed Sosa, for example).

[zambonir]

They were probably going to have to option Munoz and DFA a pitcher, Sosa wasn't going anywhere.

I also think in past (recent) years the issue wasn't so much a willingness to eat the cash money, but a refusal to exceed the threshold (like, when the Phillies had to put a prospect into the 2020 Red Sox trade they were worried more about the CBT than the actual cost of paying those reliever salaries).

Now, before this Middleton era of course, the issue was just as often the cash.

Also, if Didi signs with another team (on a major league deal) they will essentially be getting back that $250K they are paying Sosa or Munoz.

[bkeich]

Although catching the Braves seems unlikely, it might be a little more possible than a cursory examination would show. The Braves have played a strangely unbalanced schedule so far (59 Home games, 46 Away) while the Phillies have actually played 2 more Road games. Although those are not clear wins and losses, that does give us a advantage of maybe 2-3 above what one sees directly from wins / losses (we are 6 1/2 behind the Braves).

If we can get Harper and Segura back and stay somewhat healthy we might have a run in us. Hopefully Thor gives us that last solid starter that we have needed (particularly after Eflin went down).

[gmwannabe]

any consideration on the importance of DiDi on the team as far a the clubhouse, leadership, knowledge of the game for younger players. Will this hurt in the long run. I know he wasn't playing well and probably is through, but are those things important. They did just trade for a weak hit, good glove SS. I've seen DiDi make some tremendous plays within the last month.
gm

[zambonir]

Although catching the Braves seems unlikely, it might be a little more possible than a cursory examination would show.

I agree it's possible, the question is, do we want to? While you can't really control it (gotta just try and win) our current path as the 6th seed would be:

@Brewers first round, NLDS vs. Mets

As the 5th seed it would be:

@ Padres first round NLDS vs. Dodgers

(At least they'd get over the jet lag if they actually won in San Diego).

As for Didi has he even been around enough to be a leader at this point. I think at this point the clubhouse would be more disheartened if Stott lost his job. And everybody makes a few good plays in the field; we can't really see the stuff that makes them bad beyond the obvious misplays or errors, and Stott or Sosa probably would have made every single one of those same plays.

[Austinfan]

Didi's lack of range was pretty obvious, he was quick within a short radius, but he doesn't have a great arm anymore and if he had to take more than 3 steps it was an IF hit if not into the OF.

[EDmuch]

Holy crap, the Phil’s just released DIdi !!!!’