Busy Day Before Pitchers and Catchers

Other Stuff

Today was a pretty busy day after a week of inactivity. 

Andrew Bellatti and Simon Muzziotti both cleared waivers and were assigned to Lehigh Valley.

RHP Kaleb Ort was claimed off waivers and recently claimed infielder Diego Castillo was designated for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster.  Ort has an option remaining.

Former Phillies RHP David Buchanan (7th round in 2010) was signed to a minor league contract.  Buchanan was released by the Phillies back in 2016 and spent 7 years playing baseball in Asia, 3 in Japan and 4 in Korea.  He along with Bellatti and Muzziotti were invited to spring training.

The pitchers will provide depth at Triple-A.  Muzziotti provides some outfield depth in light of Brandon Marsh’s recent surgery.

That’s 8 transactions the day before camp opens.  But not one of the kind that we have all been hoping to read about.  Oh well, Boras still has about 5 guys to get signed.

Far more interesting to me is the schedule change for the complex leagues.  Baseball America ran an article that is behind the paywall.  However, I was able to read it on Bluesky.  They have since closed that loophole.

Last year, the complex leagues started June 5th and ran until about August 22nd.  This year the leagues will begin on May 4th and end on July 25th.

What does this mean?  Well, for one thing, I won’t have to stand in the August heat to watch the final 4 weeks of the season.  The past couple of years my attendance was somewhat spotty in August.

But what else?  Well, for one thing, the Rule 4 draft will be held July 14-16.  Teams have about 15 days to sign draft picks.  Now, they can legitimately announce all their signings after the close of the FCL season without assigning the players to an affiliate that is still playing games.  That means that their minor league clock won’t start until the 2025 season.  MLB has effectively brought back the future services contracts they did away with in the current CBA.  They traded a few weeks of the 2024 season for a full season on the back end.  This may also push back when they become Rule 5 eligible.  I’ll have to go to the CBA and check the wording.  Antitrust laws at their finest, eh.

There are legitimate baseball concerns that led to this change.  Mostly regarding pitchers and overusing their arms.  This should also benefit the Dominican Summer League players who have seen their stateside opportunities severely diminish with the cuts to the number of players allowed on stateside rosters.

Last year, organizations were permitted to have 190 minor league players on their domestic rosters (AAA, AA, A+, A, and Complex) during the offseason and 180 during the season.  This year the number of players has been cut to 175 and 165.  For instance, I have the Phillies at 174 players plus 5 guys in transaction limbo – recent DFA Castillo and others who we’ve heard have been signed but not assigned – Wells, Haake, Turnbull, and Contreras.

I’ll close the Super Bowl edition and leave this as the current Phillies discussion.

Important Dates

  • January 15, 2024, 9 a.m. EST: Opening of the 2023-2024 international signing period
  • January 29 – February 16, 2024: Salary arbitration hearings, Scottsdale, AZ
  • February 14, 2024: Voluntary reporting date for pitchers, catchers, and injured players
  • February 19, 2024: Voluntary reporting date for other players
  • February 19, 2024: Minor League Mini-Camp (invitation only)
  • February 23, 2024: Mandatory reporting date
  • February 29, 2024: Start of minor league spring training
  • March 1-10, 2024: Period for renewing contracts of unsigned players (pre-arb, the 0-3-year players) on 40-man rosters
  • March 20-21, 2024: Los Angeles Dodgers vs. San Diego in Seoul, South Korea
  • March 28, 2024: Opening day for all other teams, active rosters reduced to 26 players
  • May 4, 2024: Star of the Florida Complex League
  • June 8-9, 2024: New York Mets vs. Philadelphia in London
  • July 14-16, 2024: Amateur draft, Arlington, TX
  • July 25, 2024: End of the FCL regular season

Transactions

2/13/2024 – Phillies designated SS Diego Castillo for assignment
2/13/2024 – Phillies claimed RHP Kaleb Ort off waivers from Miami
2/13/2024 – Phillies invited non-roster RHP Andrew Bellatti to spring training
2/13/2024 – Phillies invited non-roster CF Símon Muzziotti to spring training
2/13/2024 – Phillies sent RHP Andrew Bellatti outright to Lehigh Valley
2/13/2024 – Phillies sent CF Símon Muzziotti outright to Lehigh Valley
2/13/2024 – RHP David Buchanan assigned to Lehigh Valley
2/13/2024 – Phillies signed FA RHP David Buchanan to an MiLB contract w/invite to ST

15 thoughts on “Busy Day Before Pitchers and Catchers”

  3. I’m not sure where the upside is with Ort he’s been dreadful in the MLB…

    And at age 32 its hard to imagine they’ll unlock something for him.

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  4. Glad Bellati is back. Between him, Brogdon, and even Marte.. I can see one of them having a year like Hoffmann did last year, maybe turned down a bit. Either way, it will be welcomed.

    Are we still in the 3-4 yr window! Not gettting by AZ made them run out of house money to play with. They gotta get it in done in the next 3-4 years, sooner the better. Odds are the braves will finally beat them in playoffs, or they run into LA or now the Orioles. It’s a tough path. These young guys gotta mature with the veterans not losing too much.

    Well buckle up, this window is going to test out metal… and blood pressure.

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    1. Yes, agreed, the idea is to assemble a bunch of good arms in AAA and make one or more of them force a promotion, just as Hoffman did last year.

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  5. I vaguely remember some sort of loophole that I believe was completely ignored in draft discussion…. until it happened”: that if the draftee is a Senior, that the actual deadline is the next draft and not whatever the signing date is. But maybe I remember wrong or maybe that is no longer true.

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    1. You are close….as of last year, do not think it has changed…..a college senior with no eligibility left who is selected in the Rule 4 Draft will remain on the club’s Negotiation List until the player signs or UNTIL ONE WEEK PRIOR to the next Rule 4 draft.

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  6. Romus…just seeing tonight that Don Gullett has passed at 73. He was another one of those guys in my area back in the day. He threw really hard for the time. Article stated his career ended because of double rotator cuff surgery after 9 seasons. RIP.

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  8. Well, if those Phillies’ connect jerseys from before are accurate, it’s not just looking ugly that will be an issue.

    Players are not happy with the quality of their new Fanatics gear. And judging by looks and personal experience, I can’t blame them. I have 1 Fanatics jersey mixed in with my 7 Majestic ones, and I literally can tell the difference across the room. I have never worn the Fanatics one to a game because of how drastically inferior in quality it is. It downright looks (and feels) like a knockoff despite being official merch. Only reason I haven’t gotten rid of it entirely is because it’s a player I don’t have another jersey for and because it was a gift.

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