Jake Thompson dealt by Phillies to Milwaukee Brewers

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Jake Thompson dealt from Phillies to Milwaukee Brewers

The Philadelphia Phillies “traded” pitcher Jake Thompson to the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday. 

In exchange the Phillies received…cash. Not an intriguing prospect named “Cash”, just plain cash, as in money.

In effect, the Phillies sold Thompson to a National League Wildcard playoff rival. There is no other way to color this transaction than the Phillies giving up on Thompson.

Though details on the exact “why” were not announced, the likelihood is that the Brewers claimed Thompson after the Phillies designated him for assignment on Friday. That move was done in order to make room on the roster for the newly acquired Justin Bour.

With the claim, the Phillies would have three choices. Pull him back and DFA someone else. Let him go to the Brewers for nothing. Or cut some type of deal with Milwaukee.

GM Matt Klentak was obviously offered some amount of cash that he felt comfortable receiving back from Brew Crew GM David Stearns in order to surrender Thompson.

All of this begs the question, why Thompson? Why did the Phillies choose to DFA a 24-year-old pitcher who in seven minor league seasons has surrendered fewer hits than innings pitched, has produced a 3.55 ERA over 669 innings, and who just two years ago was the 2016 International League Most Valuable Pitcher?

There were other options. The club could have chosen to DFA someone like Mitch Walding, a soon-to-be 26-year-old. Walding is enjoying a nice season with the AAA Lehigh Valley IronPigs. However, he is nowhere to be found on any list or discussion of top Phillies prospects. He is an “organizational” guy available for positional depth at best.

The club could have chosen from a number of other similar pitchers rather than Thompson. Right-handers Ben Lively, Mark Leiter Jr, Yacksel Rios, and Drew Anderson. Lefties Adam Morgan or Jose Taveras.

These would have been the other candidates. You can make a legitimate argument that none has higher upside than Thompson. It’s hard to see any reason that Taveras was kept over Thompson other than the age-old baseball love for left-handed pitchers of nearly any skill level.

If you’re wondering whether the Phillies could have chosen to DFA catcher Andrew Knapp, the answer is both yes and no. The backup backstop turns 27-years-old in early November and has slashed .217/.310/.354 while demonstrating questionable defensive ability at best behind the plate.

However, with Wilson Ramos still on the DL at the time that the Bour move needed to be made, Knapp and Jorge Alfaro were the lone catchers on the 40-man roster. There is no way that you can play with just one legitimate catcher. So, while results and upside might mean Knapp could go, short-term practicality meant that he could not.

None of this is to say that Thompson didn’t have his own issues, command and control chief among them. With the Phillies, Thompson had allowed 4.7 walks for every nine innings pitched. Over 16.1 innings with the big club this season that BB/9 average was at the unsightly 6.1 mark.

His minor league record reveals just a 3.2 BB/9 figure over 144 games, 118 of those starts. However, this year his 5.0 mark revealed regression. Perhaps the Phillies simply didn’t think that he was fixable.

There is also always the possibility that some situation was going on behind the scenes to which we aren’t privy. Some personal or disciplinary problem. But that would be nothing more than pure speculation.

What we do know is that the Phillies now have given up on half the return which they received from the Texas Rangers in the Cole Hamels trade three years ago.

Thompson was considered a big part of that deal at the time. He had been the Detroit Tigers second round pick in the 2012 MLB Amateur Draft out of a Texas high school. Detroit dealt him along with Corey Knebel at the approach of the 2014 trade deadline to the Rangers in exchange for reliever Joakim Soria.

Almost exactly two years ago at this time, Thompson was making just his second MLB start. In earning his first big league win with a five-inning effort against the Colorado Rockies at Citizens Bank Park he also made a little Phillies history.

Thompson struck out four Rockies batters in the second inning of that contest. In doing so he became the first Phillies pitcher ever and the 80th in MLB history to accomplish the feat.

Also gone from the Hamels deal is lefty pitcher Matt Harrison, who was never going to pitch for the Phillies. He had career-ending injury issues that the club new about at the time of the trade, and his inclusion was simply the Phillies taking on a contract in order to obtain a better prospect package.

Right-handed pitcher Alec Asher was basically given away to the Baltimore Orioles. He was dealt at the end of spring training in 2017 for cash considerations or a player to be named later who was never named. Odds are that some small amount of cash was passed between the two organizations.

Remaining with the Phillies are the current starting right fielder Nick Williams, starting catcher (for the time being) Jorge Alfaro, and injured pitcher Jerad Eickhoff.

The Phillies are not likely to miss Thompson very much in the long run. That they felt capable of giving up on a talented pitcher who still projects to have some upside says something positive about the state of the organizational pitching options.

Originally published at Phillies Nation as "Phillies give up on pitcher Jake Thompson"

Finally emerging as an everyday starter, Nick Williams catches fire with Phillies

Williams finally breaking out as an everyday player

Former Phillies 2008 World Series hero Cole Hamels was traded last night for the second time in three years. 

The now 34-year-old lefty went from the Texas Rangers to the Chicago Cubs for a couple of lightly regarded prospects in what was more of a salary dump by Texas than anything else.

It was a far different deal than the one that went down at this time three years ago. On July 31, 2015 the Phillies sent their popular star pitcher to Texas in exchange for a huge six-prospect package. The package that Hamels was able to fetch at that time was filled with highly-rated youngsters to help bolster the rebuilding Phillies minor league system.

The return to the Phillies included prospect arms Jake Thompson, Jerad Eickhoff, and Alec Asher. The Phillies also picked up their current starting catcher, Jorge Alfaro, in that deal.

Acquiring such a large and attractive group of young talent was made possible in part because the Phillies also provided salary relief to Texas. They did so by taking on the contract of injured veteran pitcher Matt Harrison, who would never throw an inning in a Phillies uniform. Harrison’s contract hung a $30 million price tag on that package.

The final player acquired in that big haul was a then 21-year-old outfielder named Nick Williams. Full of promise, Williams had been the Rangers second round choice in the 2012 MLB Draft out of Ball High School in Galveston, Texas.

Williams spent the next couple of years following the trade by rising through the Phillies farm system. He spent the last few weeks of 2015 with AA Reading, then the entirety of the 2016 and start of the 2017 seasons at AAA Lehigh Valley.

A solid 2016 campaign in which Williams banged 33 doubles and 13 home runs seemed to be positioning him for a big league promotion with a floundering Phillies team. However, questions began to arise regarding his hustle and attitude.

During that season, each of the other prospects obtained in the Hamels deal spent time at the MLB level. Williams was the only one left behind, and he didn’t take it well. But to his credit, he would eventually learn and grow from the experience.

Prior to the opening of spring training in 2017, Williams was quoted by Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia:

“All of the guys that I was traded with ended up in the big leagues except me. But I realize that they were ready and I wasn’t. Last year was a huge learning experience for me — new organization, going to Triple A — and I did some dumb things, some immature things. I got benched for not running out a ball. I look back and I might have thought it was harsh, but it was my fault. I should have run the ball out. That’s what I call not respecting the game. It sucked, but I had to take the punishment. I did it. It was my fault.”

Williams began the 2017 season back with the IronPigs, but also with renewed energy and a sense of purpose. On June 30 it paid off with his own first promotion and taste of the big-league lifestyle. He has been with the Phillies from that point onward.

Entering his first full season in Major League Baseball this spring, it was expected that the lefty-swinging Williams would spend much of the year platooning in right field with the right-handed bat of Aaron Altherr. That was how it went for the better part of three months. There was even a stretch early on where Williams struggled and was briefly benched.

Altherr would end up struggling much more, and was ultimately sent back to the minors last week. This has left Williams as an everyday starter for the first time in his big league career. He seems to be making the most of this opportunity.

Last night, Williams was one of three hitters (Rhys Hoskins and Maikel Franco were the others) to bang a pair of home runs as the Phillies tied a club record with seven dingers. Those blasts powered the team to a 9-4 victory over the host Reds at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati.

Jerad Eickhoff should be a long term workhorse in Phillies rotation

The surprising Eickhoff looks like a long term mid-rotation starter

At the 2015 MLB trade deadline, the Philadelphia Phillies shipped their ace starting pitcher Cole Hamels to the Texas Rangers.

It was a crucial deal for the Phillies rebuilding program, coming as the team was dismantling the 2008 world champions and moving on from a core that had captured five straight NL East crowns.

In return for Hamels and hard-throwing reliever Jake Diekman, the Phillies received a package of five prospects. The Phils also agreed to take on the contract of injured pitcher Matt Harrison.

Those five prospects were the key to the deal for the Phillies. Those players were catcher Jorge Alfaro, outfielder Nick Williams, and pitchers Jake Thompson, Alec Asher, and Jerad Eickhoff.

No disrespect at all to Eickhoff, but he was easily the least well-known of the prospects. But having turned 25 years old just weeks prior to the deal, he was also the closest to being ready to help the Phillies in the short term.

Matt Harrison Will Not Pitch in 2016

The Philadelphia Phillies have announced that a pitcher received in their big trade with Texas last year will miss the entire 2016 season.

In dealing Cole Hamels and Jake Diekman to the Texas Rangers at the 2015 trade deadline, the Phillies received a package of major prospects that included pitchers Jake Thompson, Jerad Eickhoff, and Alec Asher, outfielder Nick Williams, and catcher Jorge Alfaro.

Also received in that package was veteran left-handed starting pitcher named Matt Harrison. 

The Phillies have now announced that Harrison has been excused from spring training, and will miss the entire 2016 season. 

In fact, it has to be presumed that his career is now in jeopardy. Because of various back ailments, the now 30-year old Harrison has appeared in just nine games over the last three seasons.

Cole Hamels Traded to Texas

It was revealed through numerous sources last night that the Phillies and Texas Rangers have agreed to a trade sending lefty ace Cole Hamels and lefty reliever Jake Diekman from Philly to Texas.

In exchange, the Phils will receive lefty Matt Harrison and a quintet of prospects: catcher Jorge Alfaro, outfielder Nick Williams, and pitchers Jake Thompson, Alec Asher, and Jerad Eickhoff.

It marks the 2nd straight day that the Phillies completed a major trade involving a heavily rumored pitcher, following Tuesday's swap of closer Jonathan Papelbon to the Washington Nationals.

Nobody was more tuned in to this developing deal over the last couple of days than Jim Salisbury. The Comcast SportsNet insider has taken to Twitter a handful of times since the lefty finished off his historic final-start no-hitter on Saturday with revealing information, and he was first on the story yesterday.

For the franchise, another chapter closes in the book which I frequently have come to refer to as the "Glory Era", covering that period of consistently winning Phillies baseball from 2001-2012 which included just a single losing season, and that one at just 80-81 in 2002.

Hamels was the Phillies 1st round selection at the 17th overall pick in the 2002 MLB Amateur Draft out of Rancho Bernardino High School in his native San Diego, California.

In a minor league career that lasted just 39 starts over parts of 4 seasons, Hamels went 14-4, allowing just 117 hits in 201 innings with a strong 276/74 K:BB ratio.

He was first called to the big leagues in May of 2006, making his first start at Great America Ball Park in Cincinnati. 

While he did not gain the official Win on that night, he was strong. Over five innings, Hamels allowed just one hit while striking out seven Reds. He did show some first-start jitters, however, walking five batters.

In the starting lineup that day were a half-dozen players with whom Hamels would forge a strong bond, and with whom he would win a ton of baseball games over the ensuing years: Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley, Pat Burrell, Ryan Howard, Shane Victorino, and Carlos Ruiz.

He gained his first official big league Win on June 6th of 2006 at Chase Field in Arizona, as the Phillies drubbed the DBacks 10-1. Hamels went 5.2 innings that evening, allowing just three hits. Overall he would go 9-8 across 23 starts as a rookie, allowing 117 hits over 132.1 innings with a 145/48 K:BB ratio.

That exciting freshman performance was the beginning of his career, and brought him into the tremendous nucleus that the club was forming. 

That nucleus would win the next five consecutive National League East crowns, would win back-to-back NL Pennants in 2008 and 2009, and would most importantly win the 2008 World Series.

In that 2008 World Series run, Hamels was named the Most Valuable Player of both the National League Championship Series and the World Series. 

He went 4-0 in that postseason, possibly missing out on a record-tying 5th victory only due to the rain deluge that turned Game 6 of the World Series into a historic four-day long epic saga clincher.

Overall in parts of 10 seasons with the Phillies, Hamels accumulated a 114-90 record with a 3.30 ERA and 1.145 WHIP across 295 games, 294 of those as a member of the starting rotation. In his 1930 innings pitched, Hamels allowed 1717 hits with an 1844/492 K:BB ratio.

In 2011, the final winning season of that "Glory Year" period, Hamels was part of the "Four Aces" rotation along with Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, and Roy Oswalt. The group was largely responsible for a record-setting 102 regular season Phillies victories.

As his slightly older "Glory Era" teammates aged around him, some were traded off and found success elsewhere, such as Victorino, who won a World Series with Boston, Burrell, who won a World Series with San Francisco, and Jayson Werth, who remains with a contender in Washington.

Most of the others either have retired, such as Halladay, Oswalt, Jamie Moyer, and Brett Myers, or are dealing with the twilight of their careers with declining results or injuries, including Lee and the only three remaining 2008 champions: Howard, Utley, and Ruiz.

In Texas, Hamels joins a team that is just four games out of the 2nd AL Wildcard playoff position, but that would have to jump over a half-dozen other teams to ultimately earn that postseason spot. They trail the first place Houston Astros by eight games in the AL West race.

It is rumored that the Astros were the other finalist for Hamels services, and the Phillies brain trust may have actually preferred the package of prospects that Houston was offering. 

However, Houston was also not on Hamels list of nine teams to whom he would accept a trade per his contract, and it is rumored that he turned down a request to go to the Astros.

If the Rangers don't make a run to the postseason this year, they still have what they wanted in Hamels. 

Outside of Coors Field in Colorado, Texas is probably the 2nd best hitters park in Major League Baseball. It is extremely hard to lure a big name free agent to the club. Hamels was willing to accept a trade there, and is now under team control for the next 3-4 seasons as well at a fair market value.

Texas has righty ace Yu Darvish currently on the disabled list after he underwent Tommy John surgery back in the spring. The supremely talented Darvish should return sometime around next May or June, giving the Rangers a strong 1-2, lefty-righty combo atop their rotation for the next few years.

This is an emotional moment for Phillies fans, the 2nd one that we have had to deal with in recent months, following the winter trade of iconic shortstop and franchise all-time Hits leader Rollins to Los Angeles. There will be more to come in the months ahead as Howard, Ruiz, and Utley also leave, one way or another.

On Sunday, September 7th of last season, with none of us having any clue that it was taking place, Hamels took the mound in what history reveals was a goodbye of sorts to that "Glory Era" club.

In a 3-2 loss at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C. on that Sunday afternoon, Hamels went 6.1 innings and took the loss. Rollins and Ruiz were in the starting lineup with him. Howard and Utley would make pinch-hitting appearances. 

It would be the final time that what has to be considered as the "Core Five" of that club would appear in a game together in a Phillies uniform. As a side note, Werth was in the Nats lineup that day.

Hamels not only has been a tremendous performer on the field, but through his and wife Heidi's charitable efforts with 'The Hamels Foundation', he has been a contributing member of the local and broader community, and a positive example for young fans and other players to emulate.

It's an emotional time for me personally, as it is for most of you reading this piece. I clearly remember the day that Hamels was being called up to make his first career start. It frankly doesn't seem that long ago, and yet it has now been over nine years since that May day in 2006.

He and the group of players that came through the system with him, and those who came to the team during those late-00's seasons, provided so much entertainment, so many joyful memories, so much great baseball to a town that was starved for that kind of sustained performance from our Fightin' Phils.

No doubt, we will have opportunities to cheer them again. Not only in person when some actually return during their playing careers as opponents, but also in future reunions of the great 2008 championship team, and the memorable 2011 record-setting team as well. 

I look forward to each of those opportunities to thank and pay tribute to performers who gave us all so many wonderful moments and memories.

Twice in my lifetime, I have been blessed to enjoy such a sustained run by Phillies teams. The other time being as a teen and young man during the mid-70's through early-80's period which also yielded a World Series victory. 

I feel blessed to have enjoyed both runs fully. I think we all hope to enjoy another at some point in the not-too-distant future.

This trade has been rumored, discussed, and anticipated for months. No doubt it will be dissected numerous times in the coming days, months, and years. But it is done, and the franchise continues to look towards the future more and more.