Phils' Deadline Acquisitions!

julio 2023-08-02 00:51:42 UTC #1

For people who might not want to wade through a thread that's nearly 500 posts long:

The Phillies have acquired RHP Michael Lorenzen from the Tigers in exchange for minor league INF Hao-Yu Lee, Phillies President of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski announced today. To make room for Lorenzen on the 40-man roster, INF Josh Harrison was designated for assignment.
— Philadelphia Phillies ( @Phillies ) August 1, 2023

The Phillies have acquired INF Rodolfo Castro from the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for LHP Bailey Falter, Phillies President of Baseball Operations David Dombrowski announced today.
— Philadelphia Phillies ( @Phillies ) August 1, 2023

zambonir 2023-08-02 00:57:31 UTC #2

Funny, usually we do have separate "Phillies acquire "X" threads but it was so limited (and in a very limited time frame) and somewhat low-key, so obviously no one felt inspired.

julio 2023-08-02 01:05:18 UTC #3

Yeah, I wasn't surprised, really. But... we are traveling today. After landing at our hotel, I opened the laptop, saw that there were tons of new posts in the discussion thread, and really wished somebody had put up a separate thread/headline. I looked long enough to see "Lorenzen," said, "Who?!"... and then we went out for about four hours. Just got back a few minutes ago.

I waded through the discussion thread, pulled out a couple of tweets to show the "news"... and now I need to go figure out what happened in the DC courtroom this afternoon!

It figures... we leave for a brief, two-day trip, we're away from the internet and any news sources... and everything goes down at once!

Good afternoon, though. Four hours or so on the Penn State campus and downtown State College. So much has changed (in 40 years!), but it's still kind of "coming home."

andyb 2023-08-02 13:22:26 UTC #4

Fangraphs on Lorenzen. Historically he has thrown 2 mph faster in relief roles. Better control this year is leading to his success though he may have been lucky. And whatever new ads are on Fangraphs are really intrusive and annoying.

And the Athletic actually did trade grades for Rodolfo Castro:

And Lorenzen of course:

One other nice thing about Lorenzen. Perhaps more importantly than his hitting, he is fast. Sprint speed of 28.8 the last year he was hitting (2019) and he usually played CF and not a corner. Makes it easier if we burn Rojas earlier in the game to use him (for example as a ghost runner in extra innings).

And finally, all the talk about Castro fails to mention his one shining moment on Sports Center:

zambonir 2023-08-02 13:46:28 UTC #5

Yes I was amused to realize that's who Castro was.

So Lorenzen is our new Vince Velasquez really.

andyb 2023-08-02 14:15:51 UTC #6

He does seem a much more consistent pitcher at least.

andyb 2023-08-02 15:44:41 UTC #7

Lee the 9th ranked prospect to move at the deadline. Mets well represented at the top of the list (1, 2, 6, 8, others).

Aquapong 2023-08-02 16:19:07 UTC #8

A few low cost upgrades around the edges, but no earth shattering moves. As some have been saying, there’s no easy fix for this team and the well paid guys on the roster need to hit.

zambonir 2023-08-02 16:56:33 UTC #9

And as I like to say there's no easy fix for this team because it isn't actually broken. These moves and a couple of guys having good months (one or the other or both) will keep them where they already are, or better. They're a half-game out of the 4th seed right now, a spot they almost never got within striking distance of last year.

andyb 2023-08-02 19:30:38 UTC #10

Matt's summary here. I think I am a little more skeptical of Castro than he is, though agree the price did bring in a younger player who could easily get a bit better. It probably does not matter much whether Castro or Wilson or Kingery fills that last right-handed spot on the bench and we could easily just add Pache when he is healthy as the extra bat for September (or earlier with Castro going down for 10 days before September 1. It might not be the worst thing to have both Pache and Rojas available in September. We could roll out a 3 CF defense in the late innings and we have multiple pinch runners.