Phillies add 4 to 40-man roster
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Phillies add 4 to 40-man roster
Matt Gelb, Inquirer Staff Writer
Friday is the day when all major-league teams must finalize their 40-man roster in anticipation of December's Rule 5 draft and the Phillies made some moves, as expected.
Righthander Phillippe Aumont, catcher Sebastian Valle, lefthander Jake Diekman and outfielder Tyson Gillies were all added to the 40-man roster. The Phillies are at 39 with those additions.
Aumont and Valle were no-brainers. Some evaluators in the team's front office believe Aumont has closer potential after being converted back to relief in 2011. Aumont, 22, finished the season in triple A and has an outside shot at a roster spot this spring.
Valle, 21, is the team's top catching prospect and the likely successor to Carlos Ruiz. He'll play in double-A Reading this season.
Diekman's stock rose this fall. He's a lefthanded reliever, a spot for which the Phillies currently have a need. He made his impression in the Arizona Fall League with a 0.87 ERA in 10 outings. He will turn 25 in January.
Gillies' story is well-documented. Along with Aumont and J.C. Ramirez, he came to the Phillies in the Cliff Lee trade. The Phillies liked his promise and energy but the 23-year-old outfielder has played just 31 games in the last two seasons due to a litany of injuries. He hit .184 in the AFL when finally healthy. All three of the prospects acquired for Lee are now on the 40-man roster.
The most intriguing omission is Jiwan James, an athletic outfielder ranked in the team's top 10 prospects by Baseball America. But James, 22, has yet to play a game above single A. The Phillies apparently decided that Gillies was more of a risk to be taken by a team than James. Again, it's not always about who the Phillies value more, rather how much of a chance a player has of being selected.
With only one free spot on the 40-man roster, some players will have to be removed later in the winter. Figure the most at risk are righthander Scott Mathieson (who is out of options and must make the team out of spring training), John Bowker, Erik Kratz and Harold Garcia (who missed all of 2011 with a torn ACL).
Have a question? Send it to Matt Gelb's Mailbag.
is Savery on the 40 man?— Hunter S. T- The Phillies do have a website with the 40-man roster posted, but to answer, yes, Joe Savery is on the 40-man. — BEMiller
- if we lose Bowker im done with the phils— jim715
- Rube, please, I beg of you, do not select another Rule 5er that we have to keep on the major-league roster for the entire 2012 season. Herndon and Martinez were enough.— PhightinPhil
- I'm begging with you.
— thegamepa - Actually, David Herndon did pitch fairly well last season, and he improved as the season progressed. — BEMiller
- Shane Victorino has been pretty good, too. — phillyl0
- unless you get a rule 5 player who canhit at least .285-.300 and play a few positions forget about them!— srcdaddy1216
- Why is Bowker taking up room on the 40-man roster?— hunglikeaton
- Bowker was our post-season secret weapon. But he's got some much raw power Charlie was afraid to unleash him. — s
- Bowker is 27 years old and has a career OPS of .867 in the minor leagues, but he had an awful 13 at bats in Philly, so the morons are ready to kick him to the curb. — phillyl0
- James is another one of those good athletes the Phillies draft, hoping they can teach them how to pay baseball. They didn't have any luck with him pitching, realized his legs were better than his fastball and made him a centerfielder...only problem, you have to be able to hit and get on base to be a ML centerfielder. Something James has a lot of trouble doing with any consistency, hence no work above single A ball yet. Mathieson is toast. If Garcia's ACL surgery went well and he can return to the good hittinh guy he was, they'd be stupid not to keep him. Kratz, poor guy can't catch a break at his age and probably never will. Bowker? Well, he showed a lot of promise 1-2 years ago....don't know what has happened to him to turn him into the K machine that he is now. Maybe watching too many RHoward videos????— Mark1npt
- Great observations Mark1npt. James is another athlete...not a baseball player. Bowker and Mathieson are done so Garcia, if healthy is the only logical choice. Maybe I missed something but what about Joe Savery?
— Trot - Great observations Mark1npt. James is another athlete...not a baseball player. Bowker and Mathieson are done so Garcia, if healthy is the only logical choice. Maybe I missed something but what about Joe Savery? (HTML deleted)— Trot
- Savery would already on the 40-man from his September call up if he wasn't before that. Full list here http://philadelphia.phillies.mlb.com/team/roster_40man.jsp?c_id=phi— JettMartinez
