The Phillies announced that they have claimed left-handed reliever Bobby LaFromboise off waivers from the Angels and designated former top prospect Jesse Biddle for assignment to clear a spot on the 40-man roster. While Biddle’s DFA may come as a surprise to those who recognize his name, Biddle underwent Tommy John surgery back in October and is expected to miss the entirety of the 2016 season as a result.
LaFromboise, 29, had a very nice year with Triple-A Indianapolis in the Pirates organization last year, working to a 2.98 ERA with 8.6 K/9 against 3.5 BB/9 in 54 1/3 innings. He also recorded eight innings at the big league level, during which he yielded just one run on five hits and a walk with eight strikeouts. LaFromboise has a generally strong track record at the Triple-A level and has also had a fairly reasonable degree of success in his brief Major League time, having pitched to a 4.03 ERA with a 23-to-5 K/BB ratio in 22 1/3 innings. This past season, he held lefties to a .218/.255/.366 batting line with a 36-to-5 K/BB ratio between the Majors and minors.
Because they finished the season with the worst record in the Majors, the Phillies have first crack at claiming any player that is placed on waivers, meaning LaFromboise was snatched up by the first team to which he was made available. He’ll compete for a spot in the bullpen along with lefties Elvis Araujo, Mario Hollands (who is recovering from his own Tommy John surgery), Daniel Stumpf and non-roster invitee James Russell in Philadelphia.
As for Biddle, the former 24-year-old will sit out the 2016 campaign and hope to get his once-promising career back on track in 2017. The Philadelphia native was drafted by the Phillies with the 27th overall pick in 2010 and quickly found himself as a universal entrant in top 100 prospect rankings, appearing on such lists from publications like Baseball America, Baseball Prospectus and MLB.com. By the time he was 21, Biddle had a full season of work at the Double-A level under his belt, and while he battled some control issues there, he worked to a 3.64 ERA and averaged 10 strikeouts per nine across 138 1/3 innings despite being nearly four years younger than the average age in the league. However, he struggled in repeating the league, and while he moved up to Triple-A in 2015, Biddle posted a 6.25 ERA in 44 1/3 innings there late in the year before news of his surgery was reported shortly after the conclusion of the regular season.
Jesse Biddle is a really nice guy, its a shame how his career has turned out to this point. Hopefully after the surgery he can come back strong and salvage it.
DFAing a former first rounder for an out-of-options LOOGY is never a good idea…
Yeah, they should have seen if Bryan Bullington wanted a job before picking up LaFramboise.
Terrible to see where Biddles career has gone. I don’t think anyone will claim him and he just ends up in the minor league system. But just reading that headline isn’t what anyone would have expected a couple years ago. Maybe he figures things out and has decent cheer out of a bullpen somewhere.
Maybe the Brewers should take a chance on Biddle.
He’s not going to pitch at all this year and will be worked back slowly next year, they’re not going to burn a 40-man spot for that.
Brilliant move by the Phillies. Chances are that no one is going to want to waste a 40 man spot on a guy that will not pitch in 2016. Therefore, they should be able to outright him and add him to the 40 man after the season if they think he is going to be okay. Even if someone claims him, it was worth the risk.
Biddle sounds like the kind of player the Braves are stock piling up on. Wouldn’t be surprised if they get him.
Why? He can’t pitch it would be a waste of a 40 man spot
“As for Biddle, the former 24-year-old will sit out the 2016 campaign “. So, what is he now? A current 25- year-old? I wish I had that problem.
I remember being a former 24-year old. Sadly I now remember being a former 40-year old too.
Aren’t we all former 24-year-olds?
Hahahahahahahahaha
I was hoping the Cubs would trade a prospect to get LaFramboise.
I’m still mildly disappointed that the Bucs didn’t keep him around. He was a luxury last year, but with the departures of Bastardo and Blanton he might have had a shot at more work.