The Phils claimed RHP Brian Schlitter, 25, off of waivers today from the Yankees.  Schlitter was originally the Phillies 16th round pick in the 2007 draft and was traded away to Chicago in 2008 for Scott Eyre.  Schlitter a big righty made his major league debut last year with the Cubs, appearing in 7 games, during which he allowed 11 runs in 8 innings. Appearing for AAA Iowa City last season, Schlitter was 2-1 with a 3.15 ERA in 37 games, saving 13.  In 45.2 IP, Schlitter struck out 42 and walked 21.  Notably, Schlitter was managed by new Lehigh Valley manager Ryne Sandberg last season in Iowa City. Schlitter was added to the 40 man roster and has two options remaining. Continue reading Phils reacquire Brian Schlitter, DFA Drew Carpenter →

Another reclamation project may be coming into the fold, most likely to Lehigh Valley as unconfirmed reports have the Phils signing veteran RHP Jason Grilli to a Minor League deal.  Grilli, 34, missed all of last season after suffering a knee injury in Spring Training, after an invite from the Indians.  Grilli’s best year came in 2008, as he went 3-3 with a 3.00 in 60 appearances split between the Tigers and the Rockies.

Grilli was originally the Giants 1st round pick (4th overall) in the 1997 amateur draft and has thrown in 238 MLB games, including 169 between 2007-2009.

Ed Wade continued stocking the Astros shelves with Phils retreads as the recently designated Sergio Escalona was traded to the Astros for 23 year old 2B Albert Cartwright.  Cartwright split time between High A and AA last season hitting a combined .294/.355/.472 in 547 AB’s with 10 HR and 55 RBI’s to go along with 31 SB’s.  On the substantial down side, Cartwright hit just .229/.289/.271 in his 140 AA AB’s and struck out in 26% of his AA at bats. He additionally committed 29 errors in 119 games at second base last season.

In order to make room on the 40 man roster for the re-signed JC Romero, the Phils have designated 26 year old LHP Sergio Escalona for assignment.  After showing promise in the 2009 season during which Escalona saw some time with the big club, Escalona struggled in 2010 after his demotion to Reading to begin the season. The Venezuelan native was 4-8 in 50 appearances for the RPhils with 10 saves in his 54.1 innings of work.  He walked 22 and struck out 53 in his 54.1 innings, completing the year with a WHIP of 1.25.

The last remnants of the Bobby Abreu trade is now gone as 23 year old RHP Jesus Sanchez signed a minor league deal with the Milwaukee Brewers.  Similar to Yohan FLande, Sanchez was a member of the Phils 40 man roster until just recently and was removed to make room for potential acquisitions in the Rule 5 draft last week.  After a successful transition from Catcher, Sanchez has thrown very well on the mound going 9-7 with a 2.99 ERA in 23 starts for High A Clearwater last year.  This followed an impressive debut on the mound in 2009 when Sanchez went 10-6 with a 3.44 ERA in 26 starts in Lakewood.  Most impressive last season was a WHIP that stood at just 1.09. 

Losing Sanchez hurts a bit more than Flande at this stage in my opinion as it may be still too early to tell what the Phils had or didn’t have in Sanchez.  A young pitcher who flourished in the low levels of the minors, with excellent control and what appears to be a rubber arm is what Milwaukee may be getting.  While it is difficult to argue with the Phils brass recently, the plethora of organizational middle infielders on the 40 man would be a good area to consider cutting for a guy that may not have reached his mound potential as of yet.

LHP Yohan Flande signed a minor league deal with Atlanta yesterday that came with an invite to Spring Training.  The 24 year old Dominican native was a member of the Phils 40 man roster until he was recently removed to clear space for the Rule 5 draft.  The Phils were hoping to resign Flande who went 10-8 with a 4.38 ERA in 27 starts for AA Reading last year.  Flande’s career in the Phils organization stalled in AA after seeing a good deal of success of High A Clearwater. Over two seasons, FLande made 40 starts in AA and went 14-12 with a 4.44 ERA. His WHIP stood at 1.42.

I’m breaking from tradition. We deserve it, especially after I spent a year quelling all of the Cliff Lee talk on this site.

Phillies traded Lee on December 14th, 2009 for 3 prospects. They then signed Roy Halladay.
1 Year later, they re-signed Lee to a 5 year deal. We essentially rented him out for a year, received 3 prospects, plus the best pitcher in baseball, and then we got him back.

Beyond amazing.

Discuss!

Per Matt Gelb on the twitter.

I would imagine this is to clear space in case they see someone they like in the Rule 5 draft.

I have no issues with letting Flande go, but I think Sanchez had some potential as a reliever. Maybe they can bring him back on a minor league deal. I’m sure they’ll try to, actually.

The Phillies signed pitcher Brian Bass, most recently a Pirate, to a Minor League contract with an invite to Spring Training.  Bass a 6’2 RHP was the 6th round pick of the Royals in the 2000 MLB draft and spent most of the 2010 season with Indianapolis (AAA), in the Pittsburgh organization,  In 41 games, Bass was 4-4 with a 3.26 ERA in his 69 innings of work.  Bass allowed 74 hits, walked 23 and struck out 53 for a WHIP of 1.40.  Matt Gelb of The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that he will enter Spring Training as a starting pitcher.  Bass last was a starter for an extended period in the 2007 season. Bass has thrown 101 games at the major league level, including 4 last year for the Pirates accruing an ERA of 12.27.

As you’ve heard, Jayson Werth has signed an eleventy billion year deal for three trillion dollars with the Nationals. The Nats first round pick, #6, is protected, as the top 15 draft picks are every year, so the Phillies will receive the Nats 2nd round pick. Werth was the highest rated available free agent this winter, so the Phillies will receive the first compensation pick of the sandwich round, which this year will be pick #34. So the Phillies will pick #30 and then #34. The 2nd round pick is tougher to determine because a number of compensation picks will be doled out this winter.