News of Phormer Phillies, 2022

[Philsmania]

Bad day for former Phillies pitchers:

Red Sox Designate Connor Seabold For Assignment

Though that trade sure remains a bad one for the Phillies (it would have been a bad one even if they just gave the Red Sox a couple of bags of peanuts, Workman and Hembree were that bad), the Red Sox were once laughing at having acquired Seabold. Of course, like Morales for us, maybe he'll clear waivers and profit from further development but, so far, Seabold hasn't been one who got away. Seabold was supposedly the key to the deal for Red Sox with Pivetta being something of a reclamation project. Pivetta is the one who ended up working out.

[andyb]

Second tier pitching prospects like Seabold fail all the time. He had injury issues almost his entire time with the Red Sox and his stuff had little room for error.

He will likely get a few more chances though clearly the lack of success the Phillies had with their string of control guys (the Fullerton pipeline?) has led to today's emphasis on more velocity (and we'll teach them command and control along the way).

[Philsmania]

Cubs Designate Mark Leiter Jr. For Assignment

In other news, Mark Leiter Jr. was still on a major league roster.

And he's 32 years old already.

[zambonir]

Haha wow. But I guess he was pretty much as old as could be when he first came up. He even pitched for Mackanin!

[julio]

Andrew McCutchen goes back to Pittsburgh. Is this to close out his career?

Pirates To Sign Andrew McCutchen

Cutch is going home. I love this! A first-class human being, probably ending his career in the town he adopted as his home. Kudos to the Pirates for doing something right (for a change).

[I fixed your spelling of his name. ]

[Philsmania]

[I fixed your spelling of his name. ]

Doggonit!

Unfortunately for Cutch, it doesn't look like he's going back to Pittsburgh to be a veteran presence for a young team coming out of a rebuild. The Bucs are still rebuilding.

[julio]

The Pirates may always be rebuilding, at least until they get real ownership. It’s a shame; it was a great baseball town.

[Philsmania]

Jorge Alfaro to Red Sox.

Red Sox, Jorge Alfaro Agree To Minor League Deal

[zambonir]

Boy, that JT trade looks pretty good huh? It was always a known factor that Sixto might not work out or might be an All-Star, but either way the Marlins were at least supposed to get a decent (and younger) long-term catcher in the deal.

[LoneStarPhan]

Yes, once upon a time, we all had high hopes for Alfaro.

[bkeich]

Alfaro had one of the most remarkable arms I have ever seen for a catcher. It looked like he was handing the ball to the 2B/SS. He couldn't hit much but had immense power, I figured his floor was backup catcher until his body gave out as he was a real weapon with his arm and power can always be called upon at times in games.

Shame to see my estimation of his floor was "off"

[Philsmania]

Yet, Alfaro was the best piece we got back for Hamels, especially after Thompson went south and Williams plateaued. I almost forgot about Eikhoff who did give us a couple of solid years.

[zambonir]

Yes, they ultimately turned Hamels into Realmuto, at least in part. Eickhoff wound up providing more than Thompson, but TNSTAAPP.

[Philsmania]

The unfortunate thing about Thompson is that he really looked so good until he made his ML debut.

[zambonir]

I thought he might go the failed starter/solid reliever path but it just didn't happen. Still could, I suppose (He's only 29 and last pitched in Mexico I guess?)

[David_Criss]

Really liked Thompson when the trade happen. To bad it didn't work out. Another one of the didn't work out trades: Pivetta and Seabold given away for Workman and Hembree. Well it worked out for the Sox. Seabold now on his way to Colorado.

Rockies pick up righty Seabold from Red Sox

[Philsmania]

Seabold is off to Pitcher's Purgatory after he got hit hard in Boston. Gulp. In the end, the Phillies just gave away Pivetta in that trade since Seabold turned into a nothing for the Red Sox in the long run. And, barring a strong late-season run here in 2020, there was probably at least a good chance that the Phillies would have eventually cut or nontendered Pivetta after that season anyway since it just wasn't happening here and none of the four Phillies pitching coaches he worked under (McClure, Kranitz, Young, Price) could get things to click with him. He simply needed a change of scenery and/or a completely new set of eyes looking at him. Same was true for Velasquez who was cut the following season. Pivetta has had stretches of brilliance in Boston but has mostly been mediocre there.

[zambonir]

It was a decent trade of Pivetta based on the Phillies' needs at the time and his need for a change of scenery even though the relievers turned out to be trash. Seabold was only included so the Red Sox would pick up salary. That no longer happens now that the Phillies have exceeded the CBT but you still gotta wonder what they could have done differently in '20 and '21 (even with that manager).

[andyb]

ivetta has had stretches of brilliance in Boston but has mostly been mediocre there.

Pivetta on BR has generated 2.6 WAR the past 2 seasons. That is a pretty solid 4th starter to me. Zach Eflin but actually healthy. I know people get frustrated with Pivetta because they see good stuff and think he should be better, but sometimes you need to appreciate what he is. Maybe that was part of the problem with the Phillies. We always thought he should be a number 2 starter and he never was.

[zambonir]

Well, to be fair, the team thought he was too!

We always thought he should be a number 2 starter and he never was.