Finally. We’ve reached the final days before real baseball. The Phillies have one more Grapefruit League game. Then they can make the final decision remaining. Centerfield. Which, of course, means that all other roster moves have been made.
The rotation is as we expected for some time now – Nola, Wheeler, Eflin, Moore, and Anderson. (1-5)
The bullpen is not completely as we expected – Alvarado, Bradley, Brogdon, Coonrod, Hale, Kintzler, Neris, and Velasquez. I’m sure that carrying only one LHP in the bullpen is a surprise. Hale and Velasquez are also probably surprises. (6-13)
The non-inclusion of Spencer Howard is also bewildering. Their plan for his use as a reliever this season, but doing so at the Alternate Site is equally confusing.
The catchers are Realmuto and Knapp. (14-15)
The infield is Hoskins, Segura, Gregorius, and Bohm. No surprise. Miller and Torreyes are the utility infielders. Torreyes is a surprise to everyone but me apparently. As soon as Maton and Chatham were optioned, it seemed unlikely that a utility guy who was playing in the outfield exclusively and wasn’t hitting at all would be kept. Although, I must admit that his option surprised me. (16-21)
The corner outfielders are McCutchen and Harper. Joyce is a bench outfielder. That leaves Quinn, Haseley, and Herrera vying for the last two spots on the 26-man roster. Haseley was the early front runner but sustained a development-robbing injury that may have slowed his readiness for opening day. Quinn got food poisoning. Of course. But, at least it’s not some 6-week injury. Herrera got off to a quick start and had a good day at the plate this weekend. I thought Quinn had won the position going into the weekend. (22-26)
Kintzler, Torreyes, and Joyce will require transactions to get them on the 40-man rosters. Adding Herrera would require a fourth.
The Phillies released C.J. Chatham last night. That creates an opening on the 40-man roster and in the Alternate Training Site(28-player limit). Two-three more such moves will balance the roster.
The trades I hinted at last week were shelved for now. Maybe later. Probably not.
The additions of Kintzler and Joyce will raise my estimates by about $4.5M minus the two minimum salaries they bump off the roster. ($3M + $1.5M – (2 x $570.5K))
The Phillies’ running payroll is still $190,838,962.
The Phillies’ salary against the competitive balance tax is still $202,201,782.
The Phillies’ margin under the CBT threshold of $210M is still $7,798,218. (see spreadsheet)
This is the Phuture Phillies Open Discussion for Phillies and other baseball topics.
Key Dates:
- April 1, 2021 – Phillies’ home opener v. Braves
- April 2021 – ST for Double-A and Single-A begins
- May 2021 – Opening day for Double-A and Single-A
- June 25, 2021 – Close of the 2020 international signing period
- July 11-13, 2021 – 2021 Amateur Draft
- October 2, 2021 – Phillies clinch a playoff berth in Miami
For those of you who track the minor leaguers, there is a DSL transaction below. Cesar Mata was released. He had been on the RL for quite some time. The far right column in the Organization’s Rosters below contains the players who are not included in the organization this season. I expect they’ll be released at some point. Most are on the RL.
The rosters and lists are up to date as of March 28th … 330 players in the org
Transactions (newest transactions are in bold print)
3/28/2021 – Phillies released INF C.J. Chatham
3/28/2021 – Phillies optioned INF/OF Scott Kingery to MiLB camp
3/28/2021 – Phillies optioned C Rafael Marchan to MiLB camp
3/28/2021 – Phillies optioned LHP JoJo Romero to MiLB camp
3/28/2021 – Phillies reassigned C Rodolfo Duran to MiLB camp
3/28/2021 – Phillies reassigned OF Travis Jankowski to MiLB camp
3/28/2021 – Phillies released C Christian Bethancourt
3/27/2021 – Phillies released RHP Michael Ynoa
3/26/2021 – Phillies optioned RHP Spencer Howard to Alternate Training Site
3/26/2021 – Phillies placed OF Simon Muzziotti on the Restricted List
3/26/2021 – Phillies released LHP Tony Watson
3/25/2021 – Phillies released RHP Hector Rondon
3/25/2021 – Phillies released RHP Ivan Nova
3/24/2021 – DSL Phillies White released OF Cesar Mata
3/24/2021 – Phillies released C Jeff Mathis
3/24/2021 – Phillies optioned LHP Ranger Suarez Alternate Training Site
3/24/2021 – Phillies optioned OF Mickey Moniak Alternate Training Site
3/22/2021 – Phillies optioned RHP Ramon Rosso Alternate Training Site
3/22/2021 – Phillies reassigned RHP Brian Mitchell Alternate Training Site
3/22/2021 – Phillies reassigned RHP Michael Ynoa Alternate Training Site
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