While the Phillies will shop players with expiring contracts leading up to the trade deadline, team president Andy MacPhail also suggested Friday that general manager Matt Klentak would at least listen to offers for all of their big leaguers, writes Todd Zolecki of MLB.com. “He needs to keep a wide spectrum, wide horizon, and any opportunity that makes sense for us going forward, he should explore,” MacPhail said of Klentak. The Phillies own the majors’ worst record (26-52), but they’re not devoid of intriguing, controllable players who might pique teams’ interest in the next month. Outfielders Aaron Altherr and Odubel Herrera stand out in their group of position players, while Aaron Nola, Jerad Eickhoff, Vince Velasquez and Hector Neris are among their cheap pitchers who could be on clubs’ radars.
More from the National League:
- Mets third baseman David Wright is at least three to five weeks away from beginning baseball activities, GM Sandy Alderson told Anthony DiComo of MLB.com and other reporters Friday. A setback would likely end the 34-year-old Wright’s chances of playing this season, observes DiComo, which is the latest discouraging update regarding the longtime franchise cornerstone. Wright, who’s dealing with neck, shoulder and back issues, has appeared in just 75 games dating back to 2015 and hasn’t played since May of last year.
- Cardinals first baseman Matt Carpenter hasn’t seen any action at second base this year, but he did get some work at his former position before the Redbirds’ game on Friday, relays Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com. Langosch adds that moving Carpenter back to the keystone, at least temporarily, could lead to more opportunities for first baseman Luke Voit (via Twitter). Notably, St. Louis didn’t try this season earlier in the season when it couldn’t find at-bats for first baseman Matt Adams, whom it traded to the Braves in May for an insignificant return. Adams has since been one of the majors’ hottest hitters. In fairness to the Cardinals, though, second baseman Kolten Wong wasn’t on the disabled list at that point. Wong landed on the DL with an elbow strain the week after the Adams trade and won’t return until mid-July.
- A first baseman throughout his professional career, the Dodgers are considering turning Ike Davis into a pitcher, per Ken Gurnick of MLB.com. Pitching isn’t foreign to the 30-year-old Davis, who was an accomplished hurler in high school and went on to strike out 78 hitters in as many innings at Arizona State. Now struggling offensively at Triple-A this season (.206/.257/.381 in 70 plate appearances), Davis threw a bullpen session Friday, tweets Oklahoma City broadcaster Alex Freedman. Dodgers director of player development Gabe Kapler then commented, “We all know he’s an athlete, and we believe he might be able to provide value in many different areas.” Davis is best known for his 32-home run season with the Mets in 2012, though he hasn’t made much of an offensive impact in the majors or minors since then. Davis isn’t the first Triple-A position player the Dodgers have experimented with on the mound this year, as they’ve also tried outfielder Brett Eibner in that role. Unfortunately, though, the club had to shut down Eibner on account of a sore arm, according to Gurnick.
All Mets fans love you David but it’s time to hang it up.
Gotta think the Mets need to approach him soon and see if he will agree to a buyout of sorts, perhaps incentivize him with a role in the organization
Yeah, it’s quite a bummer. He’s owed about 67 million dollars on his contract, including this season. He’s made around 145 million in his career. I suppose if he’s not willing to be bought out he’ll just be placed on waivers – nobody is going to claim him. They’ll eventually have to remove him from the 40-man – even as much as he’s being paid, his roster spot is more valuable, It’s a sad case; he was so dang good in his prime.
He’s on 60-Day DL which means he’s not taking up a 40-man roster spot.
His situation is sad, but he’ll hang it up when ready. I give him credit for his persistence and resiliency. I hope he makes it back but am doubtful he won’t put himself at risk diving and sliding even if capable of throwing.
He should be given the space and respect to retire on his terms. Maybe that’s some pinchi hitting in September.
A healthy David Wright had good chance to reach the Hall of Fame on the performance trajectory he was on. Oh well.
They have to take him off the 60-day DL in the offseason.
Well, It hurts the team in the offseason when having to leave this or that player unprotected in December from Rule 5. when David gets his 40-man spot back.
But then again his spot was supposed to be occupied through the end of his long term contract so was already factored.as part of the big picture 40-man through 2020.
But in-season, he could return to 60-Day in 2018 if still unable to play but hopeful he still can.
.I don’t see the Mets ever putting David on waivers.
One, the Mets have too much respect for him to do something against his will.
Two, I don’t think they can in that David as full no trade rights.
And three, if the Mets feel the end is definite, David Wright will as well.
They will then work through the legalities and any other alternate plans such as working in the organization in other capacity.
Personally, I think David Wright will become Mets manager in the future.
MLB contracts are guaranteed. Wright’s contract can’t be bought out.
Which is a great thing about baseball. But players can reach an agreement to buy out their contracts. The Mets have had at least one player allow his contract to be bought out just a couple years ago (Cuddyer) and the White Sox and Adam LaRoche reached an agreement that bought out his contract after the thing with his son last year.
If he retires, he leaves that money on the table. If they DFA him he still gets it. As long as he is trying he can still get his money. No reason not to try.
nope. still gets his money. nothing in the contract that says he gives that up.
Wrong Thor.. if the player retires he is voiding the contract. He is still under control of the organization until contract is up, but he doesn’t get paid for retiring unless the player and organization agree on a “buyout” to end the contract. If the organization cuts him then he still gets paid.
And that’s why Wright will never retire while he’s still under contract.
See: Meche, Gil
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Wonder if there was any other news on Ike Davis’ bullpen session. How’d he look? Seeing position players moved to a pitching role is fascinating to me. I know a lot of kids in high school pitch and play a position when not pitching, but once they’re drafted scouts determine which role they’re better suited for. Trevor Hoffman seems to be the most notable. Kenley Jansen I believe was also a position player.
Tigers are trying it with Anthony Gose, who apparently is throwing 97+ mph as a lefty. It’ll be interesting to see if he has the command needed.
It happens the other way too. Gregory Polanco was signed as a pitcher.
And Rick Ankiel iirc.
Jansen was a catcher, Ankiel was a pitcher, both converted.
Trevor Hoffman signed as a shortstop and spent a year playing the position in the very low minors.
The Phillies are probably willing to sell Odubel at fifty cents on the dollar. That’s the way they operate. If a player is going good he’s untouchable, if he goes south with them they demonize him publicly like they have done to Odubel and push him out the door for nothing in return.
I don’t believe they would move Aaron Nola. They’ve always liked him and his value isn’t high now.
Franco is the one that really worries me. I get the feeling he is number two on this list to dump behind Odubel and Franco has massive upside with the bat. The Phillies don’t even have another 3B prospect in their system.
Aaron Altherr is well liked too. I don’t see any chance of him being dealt. John Middleton is not trying to create a hole in the outfield for Bryce Harper.
Good one on Bryce..lol
“Good one on Bryce..lol”
Jayson Stark has been remarking for years about the Phillies lack of outfield talent and they never showed any inclination to focus there. The Phillies have paid a starting pitcher (Cliff Lee….though the insurance company probably paid the last two years) but they have never paid an outfielder.
Bryce Harper becomes a national media item with his “inevitable” free agency and suddenly the Phillies have a furious interest in young athletic outfielders. Look at their drafting and their prospect list.
They’ll never sign Harper…by the way Jason Stark is unemployed.
So if he’s unemployed, his,takes,are,irrelevant? jayson was too smart for ESPN
That’s why they laid him off,but my point is Harper won’t sign with the Phillies!
The Phillies aren’t gonna trade Herrera for cheap after giving him a 7 year deal. They knew exactly what they are getting. Hes be really good with the bat for 2 out of the seasons 3 months. he’ll be just fine. Franco isnt worth trading A.) no reaplacement B.) no one is giving up anything for him. Might as well ride it out.
I’d be interested in the padres trading for Franco. They need a 3B and have some prospects to deal from to take a chance on him. Something like Buddy Reed and Mason Thomspon or Reggie Lawson.
Ideally I’d like them to trade for Franco and take a chance on him or bring up Christian Villanueva who is raking in AAA with .306/..366/.602 while I do like Spangenberg I do think the Padres need more power production from 3B.
So you’d be interested in trading for Franco but are offering prospects ranked in the 21-30 range according to mlb.com? It’s one thing to try to buy low on someone but this isn’t even close to buying low. This is “oh you’re about to cut this guy, okay take this instead”
.219/.277/.371 this year doesn’t walk much, doesn’t strike out much either.
He has declined for 2 straight seasons- last year he declined from his 2015 form, and he is declining from his 2016 form this year.
He is a typical buy low candidate as they come. And to even be ranked in the padres farm system, which is rated top 3 in baseball by many, isn’t a knock on the players for being rated 21-30. They’d be ranked higher if they were in other teams farm systems so you can’t go off their rankings in a deep farm system and think they’re junk/throw aways.
Buddy Reed and Mason Thompson/ Reggie Lawson aren’t throw away prospects. They were high draft picks by the padres in 2016- Reed a 2nd round pick, Thompson a 3rd, and Lawson a CBB. The reason Thompson fell to 3rd was TJS- otherwise he was a 1st round draft pick, Lawson fell as well due to injury. Thompson and Lawson are both young and raw- its not like I said well we can give you Chris Huffman who’s 24 pitching in AA. Thompson and Lawson were both drafted out of HS and all 3 have only have 1 year of development.
“Something like Buddy Reed and Mason Thomspon or Reggie Lawson.”
ROFLOL!
I’ve heard of Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble, but I’ve never heard of these three.
Here’s where you’re wrong though: It’s not Franco’s time to be given the boot. The public boot work has been done on Odubel. They’ve prepared the fan base for Odubel to be kicked out so you need to offer packages like that for Odubel.
As soon as Odubel is gone the Get The F….. Out spotlight will immediately shift to Franco and a similar package will get him.
That;’s how the Phillies work.
Hector Neris was 24 carat gold last July. What did the Phillies do with him? Give Neris the second or third highest work load in MLB. Just burned up his arm.
Klentak is from Dartmouth. That’s William F. Buckley’s alma mater!
I’m familiar with the prospects and like I said, there’s such a thing as selling low and straight giving a player away. The package you offered has 0 risk involved for Padres and 0 incentive for the Phillies to sell low.
All 3 of those guys would be top 20 prospects most farm systems. The Padres are so deep that they are down near the bottom of their top 30.
Not a particularly good trade for the Padres in my opinion.
Not quite sure you get selling low vs. giving away a player.
Franco has 4 years of control. If he doesnt turn things around youll get nothing for him and the padres could wind up with him and keep those players.
If Dartmouth were Yale, then what you said would be true.
Dude you’re such a negative fan. So what deal did they sell a player $0.50 on the dollar? They got good value for both Giles and Hamels (at the time at least). Any other guys were part of the other regime. If anything, they’ve acquired talent at half their worth in Kendrick, Neshek and Hellickson. The knock is that they held players at the deadline when they should’ve moved them. Players lost value now. VV should’ve been moved if there was as much interest as was talked of and Hellickson absolutely should have been moved.
And Cole Stobbe. Ever heard of him? No 3B in the system. Got it.
I’m frustrated with this team right now but we all knew it was going to be rough. They had no farm to speak of and a fading core. This was going to happen.
Yeah that original post is a joke. I understand being down on the team, but that guy is on another level.
The farm system is deep and fans need to show patience. I know it can be tough when the big league team is as bad as it is and no one currently on the roster is showing themselves to be a big part of the future. That’s not to say guys like Nola won’t be because I think he is, but no one has stepped up to the point where you say “okay he is a definite key to our future”
Cole Stobbe looks promising but is probably 4 years away from the majors if all goes well.
“And Cole Stobbe. Ever heard of him?”
He plays in that Pennsylvania town where the Little League World Series is held. Stobbe is hitting .220 with 18 strikeouts in 41 AB.
When I say “prospect” that means a guy who is on Top 100 lists or about to be put on those lists.
“This was going to happen.”
It’s going to happen again too. Eric at Fangraphs just posted his Top 25 list for July 2nd. The Phillies are connected to one player, the Red Sox are attached to three on the list.
Jesus you are clueless
David wright needs to keep on the comeback trail make sure the mets pay him that 67 million lol
Tommy Joseph not mentioned. cheap controllable 30-35 hr’s in a full year worth of plate appearances and just looks like an AL 1B/DH. W/ Hoskins being the most MLB ready prospect the Phillis have they would be motivated to move Joseph. Does he have any trade value?
“Tommy Joseph not mentioned. cheap controllable……”
.309 OBP
Ideally Joseph is a 6 hitter being on base is not a primary concern there RBIs and instant offense is.
As I recall, Ike Davis throws 90+ from the left side, Mets should have converted him to a pitcher years ago.
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