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Phillies trade Joaquin Benoit to Pittsburgh for single-A pitcher

In return, they received Seth McGarry, a righthanded reliever who had a 1.34 ERA in 40 1/3 innings for high-A Bradenton.

Joaquin Benoit,  40, had a 4.07 ERA in 44 games for the Phillies.
Joaquin Benoit, 40, had a 4.07 ERA in 44 games for the Phillies.Read moreYong Kim/Staff Photographer

The Phillies jettisoned their last veteran commodity moments before Monday's 4 p.m. trade deadline by flipping Joaquin Benoit to Pittsburgh for a single-A relief pitcher.

Benoit, 40, posted a 4.07 ERA in 44 games for the Phillies. He signed for $7.5 million as a free agent last winter. The Phillies included cash in the deal with the Pirates to pay some of remaining money owed to Benoit.

In return, they received Seth McGarry, a righthanded reliever who had a 1.34 ERA in 40 1/3 innings for high-A Bradenton. McGarry, 23, was an eighth-round draft pick in 2015. He has decent numbers, but righthanded relievers in A-ball are not considered prospects. The Phillies did not expect much of a return for Benoit.

"He's having a really good year and one of the things we're really excited about is he has a 73 percent ground-ball rate," general manager Matt Klentak said about McGarry. "So I think he's a guy that will fit in very well in our system. He's another player that does not need to be protected in the Rule 5 draft this year, which is a positive for us."

The Phillies used four relievers during Monday's 7-6 win over Atlanta but stayed away from Benoit as the trade brewed. Benoit sat in the bullpen without any knowledge.

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"It got to the point where I was kind of getting upset about it," Benoit said. "Not knowing and not even getting a call to be put on the mound."

"I am definitely going to be the old man," Benoit said about joining the Pirates. "But at the same time, they've got a pretty good bullpen and I think they are fighting for something and hopefully I can be a good help for them."

More important, the trade frees a late-inning bullpen spot for a younger arm. It could be Ricardo Pinto or Edubray Ramos who fills Benoit's spot. Luis Garcia will continue to have a tryout as a late-inning reliever. Rookie Jesen Therrien, despite a rough outing Monday, will get some chances.

With Benoit removed, the oldest player on the active 25-man roster is Andres Blanco. He is 33. The highest-paid player on the current 25-man roster is shortstop Freddy Galvis, at $4.35 million.

The trade was the fourth move the Phillies made before Monday's deadline. Klentak was able to move all four of the team's higher-paid veterans and received six minor leaguers in return, five of whom are pitchers.

"It was more the nature of these trades. We did not enter into this saying 'we need to add X-number of pitchers or at certain levels,' it's just the way the trades worked out," Klentak said. "As you are all well aware, we are always open to adding pitching because we know what the attrition rate of pitching is and that contributes to it to some degree, but it could have just as easily been five position players."

Extra bases

Aaron Nola will start Tuesday in Anaheim against righthander Ricky Nolasco. The Phillies will face J.C. Ramirez on Tuesday. The former Phillies righthander is the lone active player involved in the 2009 deal that sent Cliff Lee to Seattle. … Hyun Soo Kim walked in his first three Phillies plate appearances, becoming the first Phillies player to do that since Buddy Blattner in 1949.