The Phillies announced that they have non-tendered two players who were acquired in the middle of the 2018 campaign. Left-handed-hitting first baseman Justin Bour and lefty reliever Luis Avilan will head to the open market. The former was projected by MLBTR & Matt Swartz to earn a $5.2MM salary, while the latter projected at $3.1MM.
Bour was added as a rental bat last summer, but the 30-year-old was a tough long-term fit on a Phillies roster that already has plenty of immobile sluggers. The 30-year-old will be a prime target of teams looking for lefty pop, though he didn’t perform to his typical standards at the plate in 2018 and is far and away most effective against right-handed pitching.
As for Avilan, 29, he’s sure to find another opportunity. The seven-year MLB veteran has thrown 308 2/3 total frames of 3.09 ERA ball, though of course that has come mostly in action against same-handed hitters. Avilan has held opposing righties to a .672 OPS, which is rather impressive — particularly given that lefty bats carry only a .213/.289/.292 slash against him.
Well, he’ll always have that home run derby on his resumé.
Make sense Phillies need to play Hoskins at 1b everyday. They need to move Santana
Maybe Santana can go back to catching for them lol
Did we really keep Garcia over Avilan? Yuck.
Maybe the Braves add to the homecoming and bring back Avilan…
Bour should go to the AL so he can focus on hitting more
Twins should sign him, would go well with the Cron signing. They could rotate those two with a 3rd guy between 1st and DH.
Should have kept Avilan.
Bour would fit great as a platoon with voit if the Yankees just got rid of bird