The Phillies added to their rotation on Wednesday by officially announcing the signing of right-hander Roberto Hernandez to a one-year, $4.5MM contract. In addition to that base salary, Hernandez can earn $1.5MM via incentives. MLBTR's Tim Dierkes has learned that Hernandez will earn $200K for reaching 140 and 155 innings pitched, $300K for reaching 170 and 185 innings pitched, and $500K fo reaching 200 innings pitched. Hernandez is represented by Charisse Espinosa-Dash and Jorge Brito of Draft Pix Sports.
On the morning that the agreement was reported, GM Ruben Amaro Jr. told reporters that he had an agreement in place with a starter but didn't wish to disclose the pitcher's name until a deal was finalized.
Formerly known as Fausto Carmona, the 33-year-old Hernandez pitched to a 4.89 ERA with 6.7 K/9, 2.3 BB/9 and a healthy 53.2 percent ground-ball rate in 151 innings, marking his first full season since 2011. Hernandez will join a rotation that is fronted by Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels and also figures to include Kyle Kendrick and Cuban right-hander Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez as well.
Though his ERA wasn't all that impressive, Hernandez was primarily done in by the fact that 20.9 percent of his fly-balls left the park — a rate that is nearly twice as high as his career mark. Assuming that trend was an anomaly, it could be reasonable to expect a 2014 ERA that more closely resembles Hernandez's 3.60 xFIP or 3.66 SIERA — both of which reward him for solid command and a plus ground-ball rate.
Hernandez's best season came in 2007 when he finished fourth in the American League Cy Young voting after posting a 3.06 ERA in 215 innings for the Indians. A hip injury derailed his 2008 campaign and likely impacted his 2009 season as well, but he came back strong with Cleveland in 2010, posting a 3.77 ERA in 210 1/3 innings and earning his first All-Star selection.
A move to the National League for the first time in his career will likely benefit Hernandez, and his career 57.8 percent ground-ball rate will play well in the small dimensions of Citizens Bank Park. Dierkes reports (on Twitter) that the Cubs were also very competitive on Hernandez, but Hernandez really wanted to pitch in Philadelphia.
Jim Salisbury of CSN Philly first reported the agreement with Hernandez (on Twitter). MLBTR's Tim Dierkes was the first to report the terms of the contract and the incentives structure (via Twitter).
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
It actually hurts to be a Phillies fan sometimes.
I was thinking the same thing. RAJ didn’t want to name him because he wasn’t sure what his name was!
I just feel bad for all of those poor baseballs. Baseball abuse is a serious problem people.
Pretty good, which I said, doesn’t equal strong.
Rollins and Utley, regardless of age, are still plus defenders. As stated above, Galvis and Hernandez are plus defenders. Asche is average defender, maybe slightly below. Ruiz is a plus defender. I’d say when 3/5ths of your infield is above average it’d still be a ‘pretty good’ defense.
Utley, Rollins and Ruiz have each shown noticeable defensive regression the last 2-3 years. And Howard is as substandard as they come, and always has been. Ashe being average at third may be their best defensive position this year, if Rollins loses yet another step.
They are average defensively on the left side (Rollins and Ashe) and far below average on the right side (Howard and Utley). No one in the infield is “above average” today.
It’s not 2008 anymore.
I agree. The worse part bout Ashe is we don’t know if he can hit major league pitching.. if he can’t you are really in a mess at third base Michael Young hit better Rollins had a substandard offensive year as did Ruiz . At least Utley can hit.Howard may be done if his legs are shot
All i have to say is lol
I came here to write only ‘LOL’ and then saw your comment, haha. Not that I think it’s an egregiously terrible move or anything, I just find it funny.
Amaro wasn’t lying. He’s a back end, way back end starter.
bascially another Kendrick GREAT!
Like Kendrick, but older and with more baggage.
And Kendrick was the worse starter in the National League the second half of the season
Disappointed
Lots of groundballs coming. He had better control and more strikeouts last year – leading to a decent xFIP and SIERA (3.60 and 3.66, respectively). He’s a good type of guy to sign (assuming its for a lower end salary) for a team who has decent pitching a year away.
Beat me to it, this is going to be a better signing than people think.
He sucked with Tampa’s superior defense (both overall and due to their shift/positioning) behind him…moving to a more hitter friendly park and with the Phillies creaky defense behind him is not going to improve matters.
My sentiments exactly. Although moving to the more pitching friendly league could offset some of that.
Who knows? Who cares? They are a 3rd or 4th place team in denial without him, probably no better than a 3rd place team in denial with him.
Doubtful. Philadelphia is a terrible place to pitch, and guys who give up home runs like that aren’t going to get better, even if they are a sinkerballer. Braves and Nationals have good lineups too, and the Mets have added power too.
If the Nationals had such a good lineup, they would’ve made the playoffs last year. They’re an average at-best lineup.
If the Nationals had such a good lineup, they would’ve made the playoffs last year. They’re an average at-best lineup.
But Amaro is purely a scouting GM, he doesn’t look at analytics as “advanced” as xFIP. Those numbers make me feel a bit better, considering our defense sould at least be average now that Asche is helping out at 3B.
Still, Amaro shouldn’t pay more than $3 mill for this guy, not after he underperformed on the same exact deal
That was essentially his role in TB in 2013. He ate a lot of the innings left open with the departure of James Shields pitching 150+ despite being demoted to the bullpen for September and being skipped a few times otherwise in favor of some of our younger kids. He wasn’t brilliant but he was solid. He was actually effective coming out of the BP sometimes too. I don’t know enough about the Phillies staff to speculate on his role but he’s not a bad guy to have for long relief and the spot start when the schedule requires it. I will admit that I’m glad somebody else signed him so there’s no chance he’ll be back in TB though.
I’m now actually sad that it wasn’t Jerome Williams…way to keep lowering those fan expectations, Rube!
Hey, that’s six starters on the 40 man. The way has been cleared for a Lee and/or Hammels trade! Gotta clear that logjam, Ruben!
good luck with that, better off signing Roberto Hernandez the former late inning reliever 🙂
haha yea, I was wondering if he was making a comeback?? Then I saw Fausto Carmona and thought, ohhhhhhhhhh…..THAT guy
4.67 career era with a whip of 1.42…. Ruben your actually making the team WORST
Ruben Amaro was being truthful about needing a youth movement, you know, because Fausto Roberto Carmona Hernandez is only 33 (as far as we know), which is barely out of diapers compared to the rest of his signings over the past year or two.
Watch it be an overpay
Hasn’t had a WAR above ZERO since 2010, yet somehow Rube translates that into $4.5M……..well, if you were hoping for an overpay, you weren’t disappointed.
I was hoping for the contract Lannan got, which I think was 2 Mil or so.
When Scott Feldman gets 3/30 from the ASTROS, 4.5 mil is not really an overpay. Some team on the market would have given him that amount no doubt (Cubs). Ruben doesn’t dictate all of that
Amaro continues his brilliant signings
I miss the name Fausto Carmona
I miss the name Car-bomb
I know right. such a cool sounding name. I wonder why he chose that.
In Amaro’s eyes, Christmas came early.
I know I’m in the minority on this one, but having watched him with the Rays last year, I wouldn’t be surprised if he actually has a decent year. He seemed to be quite unlucky last year in regards to giving up HRs and he drastically improved his SO / BB ratio. If his HR totals come back down to earth, along with pitching in the NL, he could be better then one would think.
While I wish I could share your optimism, I can’t help but wonder…
Do HR/FB ratios often drop when pitchers move TO Citizens Bank Park?
I know it isn’t the bandbox it appeared to be when the Phillies had a monster offense and a brutal pitching staff that surrendered homeruns like it was going out of style, but you have to admit, it certainly still yields a fair number of cheap homeruns.
Unsustainable ones (like a 21% HR/FB for a career 12.5% HR/FB pitcher) usually do – no matter what park you’re moving to/from.
I don’t hate this move. It’s all dependent on the $ though. As a 4th/5th starter in the NL, he shouldn’t be terrible.
Also, the phillies infield d is actually still pretty good.
First baseman with no range and lousy hands
Second baseman with two bad knees
Shortstop losing range every year, but still has strong arm
Third baseman who looks good at times, but defensive metrics show him as average at best
Yeah, that’s a strong defensive infield.
Losing range every year? He won a gold glove in 2012, last year.. He had 1 bad year. Utley has proven to be healthy. And with Galvis on the bench, he could defense for Asche late in games.
He…won…a…Gold…Glove…most meaningless testament to a player’s defensive prowess ever. Jimmy Rollins gets to substantially fewer batted balls the last two years than he used to. He is losing range every year (which is what happens to short stops as their age progresses through their 30’s).
Utley has not “proven to be healthy”. He missed an entire month last year. Just because it was not related to his knees does not mean it didn’t happen. And just because he had one year without major knee problems does not mean his chronic, degenerative condition in BOTH knees has miraculously gone away. Also, his health is irrelevant. He had drastically diminished range last year, healthy or not.
Since 2007, Chase Utley has had a broken right hand (2007), torn left hip labrum (2008), torn right thumb ligament (2010), destruction of the cartilage in his right knee (patellar tendinitis and chondromalacia) (2011), destruction of the cartilage in his left knee (patellar tendinitis and chondromalacia) (2012), strained abdominal muscle (2013)…oh yes, he has been the epitome of health and durability.
I love him, but he has never “proven to be healthy”.
Which is why the Phillies should’ve traded him to the A’s last year for at least OF Michael Choice and let Galvis/Hernandez play 2B.
Utley’s knee problems (as you probably don’t know because you don’t follow) look to be completely gone. The Phillies found out how to treat them, and it looks like they’re going to be a non-factor. One of the better second basemen in the game.
Rollins is one year removed from a 8.7 UZR/150, and in the past year dealt with an infield and pitching staff in shambles.
Cody Asche has played 50 major league games and some minor league games and you’re already claiming you know how good he is defensively?
This is not a bad signing. What more do you want out of a fifth starter? Matt Garza?
I agree, its kind of hard to hate this move because even if he’s terrible its not a huge investment. 4.5 mil is nothing in this market. Ruben managed to get a SP on a short contract, who wanted to play in philly for virtually nothing in financial terms. Its easy for everyone to poke fun at Ruben’s signings, but apparently he didn’t want to waste over 10 million per season on an average-at-best pitcher (Nolasco, Hughes, Feldman, Colon, Kazmir…)
But……infield D is maybe “still pretty good,” but its regressed quite rapidly
Phillies Have Agreement With Unnamed Starter
…
Phillies To Sign Roberto Hernandez
😀
With drafting a player in the Rule 5 draft earlier, it means the Phillies will make some kind of move (roster is at 40 now, would be 41 with Hernandez – which is why this deal hasn’t been announced, along with him still needing to pass a physical). Something has to happen before this signing goes official.
Hope it isn’t too costly a deal, Hernandez/Carmona has only had 2 good seasons, 2010 and 2007.
was it one under Hernandez and the other one under Carmona?
Ruben saw he had 59 wins and knew he had to sign him.
He was poor for the Rays last year, wouldn’t even consider him for a starting spot. May be a userful long innings guy from the bullpen. Good luck Phillies, you will need it.
Does he replace Kendrick or does Kendrick and his potential 6 to 8 million dollar arbitration win stay on the roster?
Almost anyone can out perform John Lannan right?
I know this is pretty funny, but Lannan was useful in certain situations last year. At times he was awful, but it seemed like every time the Phillies needed a big win in July/August in fear they would be eliminated completely from contention, Lannan threw 7 IP 2 ER.
Not a horrible pitcher for his career. Just never could find a niche in the MLB with one team. Kind of sad when you think about it. Really good guy.
He had two very good starts in July. He was horrible in August..10.2 IP, 12.66 ERA, 2.53 WHIP
True. Yeah i was thinking about July when he had a nice little run. Either way definitely not a good pitcher for his career but he had his moments.
Anything more then 4M and incentives is a bad deal.
Report: 4.5M + Incentives, deal could reach 6M if he has a solid year.
Whatt… how does RAJ continue to get the green light to overpay sub-par talent?
4.5M + incentives isn’t that bad. The market is crazy. Phil Hughes got 8M for 3 years.. 4.5M isn’t that bad. ‘Overpay’ is a stretch.
He’s no more than an inning eater a the end of the day and there’s a bunch left on the market that could be had for less.
Like who? Joe Saunders..?
A little high for my liking, but in this market, it’s probably about average.
So does this mean Miguel Gonzalez starts in the pen or Triple-A? Got Hamels, Lee, Kendrick and Pettibone slotted for the rotation and the #5 spot I guess is between Hernandez and Gonzalez.
I suspect that Pettibone is the odd man out as long as MAG doesnt completely implode in ST. They’ll either use him as a long man or stash him in Lehigh given that he still has options remaining. His numbers werent that amazing last year anyway so he could probably use a bit more seasoning as it is.
They weren’t amazing, but he wasn’t over-matched by big league hitters.
I’m not sure what’s going on with Pett (shoulder/injury-wise). I hope he’s ready to start, and if he is I could see Hernandez as being a swing-man (akin to KK in 2011 and 2012).
Yeah, you mentioned the shoulder the other day. No updates since he was shut down so I guess it’s wait and see.
Yea, no news is usually good news (especially in the offseason), but like I said the other day, I don’t think they want to take a chance and have another season where 10% of there games are started by guys like Tyler Cloyd/Zach Miner/Raul Valdes.
I’m surprised they don’t pick up Cloyd on a minor league deal. Not like he was completely brutal
Eh, Cloyd (IMO) is easily replaceable in a minor league system. He doesn’t have dominant stuff. He doesn’t really outsmart hitters. He got hit pretty hard last year (88 hits in 60 IP in MLB). To a tune of a .365 BABIP (for note, it was about .300 in the minors, so it’s not like that jump is unreasonable). He had a great season in 2012. But even that was unsustainable (84% strand rate, and .240 BABIP).
Hopefully if guys do go down their starts go to Biddle and/or Morgan and not some Four-A journeyman.
I think Morgan would have been up late last year had it not been for his own injury issues. And I like Biddle, but he hasn’t exactly been consistent – and his control is struggling (5.3 BB/9 last year). It’s about what I’d expect out of a 21 year old with 3 + seasons of pro baseball.
Yeah, plus command is almost always the final piece to arrive for young pitchers. Even dart thrower Cliff Lee had a 4.2 BB/9 in the minors. When he got demoted in ’07 he had a 5.5 BB/9 in Triple-A.
I expect a 4 way battle in Spring Training for 3 spots, and the last guy will imaginably be in the bullpen (unless the loser is Pettibone). Kendrick had a rough end to the season, Pettibone has injury concern and isnt flashy when on the field, Gonzalez has never thrown an MLB pitch and now this guy, who could do well, but it all depends on him.
I just wish we had some more sure things.
I expect a 4 way battle in Spring Training for 3 spots, and the last guy will imaginably be in the bullpen (unless its Pettibone). Kendrick had a rough end to the season, Pettibone has injury concern and isnt flashy when on the field, Gonzalez has never thrown an MLB pitch and now this guy, who could do well, but it all depends on him.
I just wish we had some more sure things
the price isnt bad in comparison to what the FA market has been like this year. They get him for 1 year, an if it doesnt work out? see ya!
Nothing to complain about here philly, that 4.5/6 mil wasnt gonna make you competitive anyways.
Shouldn’t the phillies be looking to get younger?
Hes a stopgag for Biddle I would imagine.
Or Morgan.
I don’t think it’s a bad signing. I’m expecting them to be a third place team regardless of what they do (hoping for more though!) and I’d rather they sign these kinds of players than give someone a $100+ million contract.
Still would like to see them add a guy on a minor league contract who could be this year’s Scott Kazmir though. (Scott Baker?)
I don’t mind the signing either, as long as it doesn’t stunt the progression of Jonathan Pettibone or Biddle/Morgan if they’re called up.
There are some guys there, but with how the market has gone this year (where mid-rotation to bottom rotation guys are getting $8+ M a year), I’m thinking there won’t be as many minor league deals. Some good candidates are: Scott Baker, Gavin Floyd, Tommy Hanson, Daniel Hudson, Jeff Niemann, and Suk-Min Yoon (he’s the international flyer, so probably not a minor league deal).
With the incentives it seems he’s destined for the rotation.
Does this give the Rays a compensation pick? I know he’s not a Type A free agent but do they still do the Type B comps?
No it does not net them a pick
No more Type A, Type B free agents. Just qualifying offers now.
Roberto Hernandez aka Fausto Carmona is not a terrible signing at $4.5M. The transaction that is going to kill the Phillies is paying a ham and egger like Kyle Kendrick $7 M via the arbitration process. Kendrick, Hernandez, MAG/Pettibone lands you in 4th place in the NL East.
The only way Hernandez made sense for the Phillies was to also sign a Tanaka or AJ Burnett and Non-Tender the famously average Kyle Kendrick.
The Phillies make a smart signing? What is this madness?
Another guy with issues? No matter what the dollar amount comes out to be, guys with extra baggage hurt their ball club. See Delmon Young
Yea, those guys with off field issues really kill their club.
Could you imagine if he had a DUI!?
Yeah, they do kill their club. I say this on here a lot but only because it is true, baseball is a game played by humans. No matter how good a guy is if he is a negative influence it will hurt the team. Being around a guy who is lazy, arrogant or just plain unpleasant can take even the best of players and negatively affect their performance. I’m not saying Hernandez is any of those things but the whole business with his name is yet another distraction on a team that needs no distractions.
Miggy was arrested with a DUI a few years back. In 2011, Shin-Soo Choo was arrested for a DUI. Coco Crisp has been arrested on suspicion of DUI. None of these incidents seem like they hurt the team or the player’s acceptance on the team.
Yeah, they do kill their club. I say this on here a lot but only because it is true, baseball is a game played by humans. No matter how good a guy is if he is a negative influence it will hurt the team. Being around a guy who is lazy, arrogant or just plain unpleasant can take even the best of players and negatively affect their performance. I’m not saying Hernandez is any of those things but the whole business with his name is yet another distraction on a team that needs no distractions.
I would much rather have had the Phillies overpay for 1 year ($4.5M isn’t even that bad). If his HR/FL rate goes down, the Phillies are probably looking at a 200 IP, 4.10 ERA, 11-13 win guy. All of that for $6M? I’d rather take the chance on your fifth starter that he can ACTUALLY be useful.
Okay move for the Phils hopefully he not horrible just something better then Pettibone for a year until Biddle is ready
I’d rather have Pettibone than Hernandez. Pettibone is only 23 and posted an era of 4.04, not bad for a rookie. Keep in mind that he had a start at Coors where he let up 6 earned over 3 and it was a very, very solid limited performance. Pettibone has a lot of potential
No reason why he won’t look pretty good in the NL.
No DH and IMO easy hitters to face
Ruben says more bang for the buck. Thats for sure with all the baseballs leaving the ballpark. They will have to score 5 runs a game to win when Hernandez pitches . And they passed up on Ubaldo Jimenez, Matt Garza , and Ervin Santana , three very good pitchers who allow less than 4 runs a game. . Ruben do you want to win or not? If you believe what you are saying you are incompetent and should be fired. And if the owners just won’t spend the money for decent pitching,admit it. Don’t try to con us.
This is the worse signing since the Phillies signed Paul Abbott in 2004 He was the worse pitcher in baseball Ruben worked for EdWade at the time He also said the other pitchers wanted too much money.. I thought we were past that You can’t win with 2 solid starters
I am actually OK with this move. For Amaro, $4,500,000 is like a minor league contract. the ground-balls with Utley and Rollins as a double play team can turn out good. I know that they are both getting older, but they are still above average defenders in my opinion. With Biddle and Morgan almost ready, he’s just holding down the fort until next year. He also gives us wiggle room for the trade deadline. If he has a good 1st half and the Phillies are losing, flip him and give Biddle some experience in the big leagues. The low salary can make him an attractive piece if he works out.
I don’t like taking the negative view, but Hernandez has posted an ERA of 4.89 or higher in 5 of the last 6 seasons. In the unlikely event that he does have a good first half, his track record won’t allow for much of a return. Would be lucky to get a prospect ranked in the 25-30 range.
On a 1-year deal the Phillies could’ve doubled that amount and gone after Josh Johnson. With a bounce back year he’d have some real value in a deadline deal or possibly a draft pick if given a qualifying offer.
Philadelphia’s downward spiral continues. Who goes after next season, Amaro Jr. or Sandberg?
This was a decent signing on the cheap for a #5 starter. He’s an obvious upgrade to what they had been using and seeing the stat anomoly from last year. I think Roberto Fausto Hernandez will really help.