Phillies utilityman Ryan Flaherty plans to opt out of his minor league contract, Todd Zolecki of MLB.com tweets. The Phillies will have 48 hours to add Flaherty to their 25-man roster or let him go. Odds are that they’ll grant him his release, per Zolecki. The 31-year-old Flaherty was a member of the Orioles from 2012-17, and Baltimore reportedly made an attempt to keep him before he joined the Phillies. Now, he could head back to the O’s, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com suggests.
More from the NL…
- Brewers southpaw Wade Miley exited his outing Wednesday with a strained left groin and will undergo an MRI, Adam McCalvy of MLB.com was among those to report (Twitter links here). That’s obviously not ideal for Miley, who’s vying for a place in the Brewers’ rotation, or the team, which isn’t yet sure who will occupy the final two starting spots behind Chase Anderson, Jhoulys Chacin and Zach Davies. Miley looked like a front-runner to earn one of those jobs prior to Wednesday – manager Craig Counsell said that “Wade had made a really good case to be on the team” – though that’s up in the air as we await further news on his injury. It’s also worth noting that the 31-year-old can opt out of his minor league deal as early as Thursday.
- Lefty reliever Boone Logan also left the Brewers’ game with an injury, McCalvy relays (Twitter links). Counsell attributed his departure to triceps/shoulder discomfort, but he’s not yet sure of the severity. Logan joined the Brewers for a guaranteed $2.75MM over the winter after spending a shortened 2017 in Cleveland, where his season ended in July on account of a strained lat muscle.
- Having allowed six earned runs on 15 hits in eight innings this spring, Mets righty Zack Wheeler isn’t a lock to be part of the team’s season-opening rotation, Mike Puma and Fred Kerber of the New York Post report. If Wheeler doesn’t show well against Washington on Thursday, the Mets could elect to give the fifth spot in their starting staff to Robert Gsellman or Seth Lugo, the reporters add. But any of Wheeler, Gsellman or Lugo would likely be a placeholder, as the Mets just need a fill-in while Jason Vargas recovers from surgery on his non-pitching hand. The other four spots in their rotation belong to Noah Syndergaard, Jacob deGrom, Matt Harvey and Steven Matz.
- The Pirates expect to re-sign free agent outfielder Daniel Nava, Liz Bloom of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. Pittsburgh released Nava on Tuesday, but general manager Neal Huntington suggested at the time that the team would like to bring him back. Nava is still on the mend from February back surgery, and the Pirates want him to rehab as a member of their organization. “We anticipate him being a second-half contributor to the major league team,” said Pirates director of sports medicine Todd Tomcyzk, who noted that “the sooner we can get our hands on him, is the better.”
Would be funny if the Orioles brought Flaherty back with a full police escort like BOS did with Doug Mirabelli in 2006.
Noooooooooooooooooooooooo… not Flaherty again.
He’s actually quite versatile. I know the O ‘s have been aggressively trying to fill the utility role. They’re ina good position: hire the guy in camp whom the like best; and if that doesn’t seem desirable, go with a guy with a proven experience on the team and in the clubhouse.
Poll: How long before this site sells out to a corporate entity?
Poll: How long before this site provides the option to mute or ignore other users who regularly post dumb comments?
Yea god forbid they make money off this great sports website that you don’t pay for.
Miley getting hurt makes that awful Brewers rotation even better.
Zack Wheeler and moan and complain about the rotation situation, but what has he done for the mets the last couple of seasons besides getting injured and under producing
Agreed
Give Zach some credit here. He provides false hope to Mets’ loyalists whenever another member of the staff goes in the DL.
In the face of such news they pound their fist on their chest and exclaim, “Its ok to lose – – – -, we’ve got Zach Wheeler ready to take his spot in the rotation! Do you know what his stats are WHEN he pitches?”.
Lol
Giant douche sanggggggwich
No more Ron Flattery, ever.
Hey David Stearns: Thanks for sitting on all that payroll room, and failing to trade one of our too many outfielders, or sign Arrieta, Cobb or pretty much anyone decent. Now, we’re so desperate, losing even a scrub like Miley hurts us.
yea, it was a bit odd to see them making solid, productive moves to create an awesome outfield but then also decide that a mediocre rotation is good enough to get the job done. Thought for sure they would sign Cobb and/or trade for a Duffy-type pitcher. As it stands now, its just a half-assed attempt at pushing the team to contention, it seems.
It’s surprising that they couldn’t at least move Santana in a deal for a good SP even if not 1-1
You know what I think you guys need to relax because no one knows this team better then Counsel and Stern. I don’t think we’re hurting as bad as you think it is. We have Woodruff, Wilkerson, Corbin,Williams,Derby, and Gallardo. Kirby that can start. We are also covered in the bullpen too in Lopez, Derby , Drake, Houser, Diplan and Ramirez that I think will do very good this year. I named 12 very capable pitchers even if let’s say 4 have breakout years then we are sitting Damn good. Could we had made some trades absolutely but let’s face it there wasn’t a Sabathia or Greineke that was out there to get. There is some available but we have guys down on the farm just as good.
And I think YOU need to be realistic. You are counting on 4…yes, not 1, not 2, but 4 break out years? ”
if we get the 99th percentile outcome, we can be good!” Yeah, great strategy. If that was there plan from the get go, then it’d be less bothersome, but you don’t make the moves they made in the beginning of the offseason, then revert to the “pray for the best” plan.
I’m counting on the pitching staff that was top 5 in the NL in ERA last year, one point behind the Cubs.
I understand and agree with you that a Greinke/Sabathia type trade wouldn’t be best for the Brewers, longer-term. But we could have signed free agents, with a bottom 5 payroll, without gutting the farm system. And a Santana for Duffy trade would have helped both teams. But you’re planning for/hoping/expecting AA arms and a clown like Gallardo (who craps the bed whenever he faces St. Louis) to get us to the playoffs?
And 18th in fip, and 20th in xfip in mlb…
Also my post should be their* plan.
Worry about fip and xfip when they become the official stats that count.. At the moment, that Milwaukee was in the top 5 in ERA (which is a stat that counts) shows that neither of those was much of a predictor.
Flaherty probably best utility man around
Lol. The Phillies didn’t think so.
My point was why pay a Cobb 50 million for 4 years when I just named all those guys and I know there is atleast 4 of them that will be better then him in that 4 year span. I have seen these guys work and some of you don’t give this pitching staff credit, the rebuild has gone better and quicker because of them. I’m being realistic here look at what Stern got for all these guys that they have traded away and you can’t deny we have won those trades pretty handedly. I got no problem making trades for a Greineke or Sabathia type pitcher but there wasn’t any available this year and yes I said Archer isn’t in that category. Corbin alone will be better then him then you want to add atleast 3 to 4 more guys on to that no way and no I wasn’t saying let’s just pray that hopefully 4 workout. I’m saying that there is a bunch of guys that are going to be ready for the next level in the farm system, not just ready but will actually succeed in the majors
Ah ok so you know 4 will be better in that span? Where’d you buy your crystal ball? What are your credentials to be making a claim like this? Or are you just being a Homer?