Michael Schwimer traded to Blue Jays
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Michael Schwimer traded to Blue Jays
Matt Gelb
CLEARWATER, Fla. — Scott Proefrock walked through the Phillies clubhouse during the eighth inning of Saturday's Grapefruit League game with papers in his hand. The assistant general manager instructed a clubhouse attendant to find pitcher Michael Schwimer.
Schwimer was in the Phillies bullpen, exactly where one is supposed to be when scheduled to pitch. Except Schwimer was no longer a Phillie. He had been traded during the game to Toronto for Art Charles, a minor-league first baseman.
"Very surprised," Schwimer said.
This, in reality, was a move months in the making. Schwimer had angered the organization twice last season; first, by announcing roster moves on Twitter and, second, by disputing the team's decision to send him to triple A in August.
Both Schwimer and Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said those incidents had nothing to do with Saturday's trade. Nonetheless, the Phillies dealt a 27-year-old arm with big-league experience for a 22-year-old first baseman who has never played above single A.
"It's an arm that should pitch in the big leagues," pitching coach Rich Dubee said of Schwimer. "He's got plenty of talent to pitch in the big leagues."
Schwimer said the players' union has not closed an inquiry into whether he was optioned to the minors while injured. That is against Major League Baseball's rules. The Phillies said Schwimer was healthy. The pitcher claimed a biceps ailment.
He can file a grievance with the union to seek lost service time and back pay up to approximately $75,000.
"It's still definitely an open issue," Schwimer said.
The Phillies had 13 relievers on their 40-man roster, and Amaro noted there would be a roster crunch to come before opening day. In 2012, Schwimer pitched more innings (34 1/3) than any Phillies reliever not named Jonathan Papelbon or Antonio Bastardo.
"This is a business," Schwimer said. "Everybody has to do what they think will make the team better. I respect their decision completely. I absolutely loved my time with the Phillies. They drafted me in 2008, called me up to the big leagues and if I wasn't a Phillie I would never have met my wife."
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Scrappy but Crappy— stoky
Schwimmer and Rosenberg are almost the same guy. Whatever. Charles is 22 with power. Maybe he turns into something. Maybe not.
It would be nice if one of our reporters asked the Phillies who approached who about this trade. And then, what it was about Charles that they liked. It would just be nice.— zubzub- It was only a matter of time. Reuben just had to find a team to take him off his hands.— watsonmr
- For a player who was sort of on the fringe of the major league roster to make an issue of his demotion, Schwimmer must have been really convinced that he was right and had a good case. You can't demote a player if he really should be on the Disabled List - that's the rule. Amaro is partially to blame for trying to get around that rule to save what amounts to peanuts for a major league organization.— D.K.O.
- Art Charles sounds like the name of a game show host from my '60's youth...on second thought, that was Art Fleming. Funny how Dubee builds Schwimmer up like he is a potential star pitcher we just gave away for a nobody. I agree with Bearsfriend, this has spite written all over it.
Mike Arbuckle should have been named GM of this team for his work under Wade. He is more responsible for the Utleys, Howards, Rollins, Hamels, Floyds, then anyone else there, IMO.....— DelawareRiverRat - This comment has been deleted.— orange rhino
- Looks like they took away your scholarship to charm school. You think it's O.K. to bad mouth somebody's wife?
The circus just left town. If you chase them, they still need someone to clean up after the elephants.— r a leon - It's pathetic that the Phillies questioned his injury and now trade him. They were wrong and now they take their revenge, like a petulant child. Teams should never question injuries, and you can't send someone down who is injured. They will lose the case with the union. Amaro behaved like a jerk on this one.— mouthwash
- @RiverRat ... no disrespect intended.
...but I liked Mike Arbuckle as well for the GM job. Didn't happen. Oh well.
But, Mike Arbuckle is still the "assistant" GM in Kansas City. It's not just that no other team in the last five years saw fit to appoint him as their GM. It's that EVEN Kansas City hasn't seen fit to promote him. ??— zubzub - Mike Arbuckle is pure scout, not a "yes man" who will say "Gesundheit" everytime Monty sneezes...The guy did fine work as a scout building the Braves 25 years ago, did fine work helping build a winning nucleus (with cheap ownership),drafting the likes of Rollins,Burrell,Howard,Utley,Hamels (even with his broken arm in HS), Myers, claimed Victorino...signing Ruiz as a runt second baseman in Panama (like all scouts/administrators, he's had his share of misses, but he brought on Woever, and he's a good man as well)...Don't believe the current trend is hiring the aging,Mid West type, as by 2010 over 30% of MLB teams had GM's under the age of 40...He's again doing fine work with the Royals, stuck in his role (as 10 years ago was his "time"), and their talent base in the minors isrecognized as good as 90% of the other ML teams. — bearsfriend
- Right Bearsfriend, Schwimmer is another name to add to the scrapheap of can't miss phenoms you have made out to be superstars: Kyle Drabek, Michael Taylor, RJ Swindle, Joe Bisenius, Mike Costanzo, and on and on. The bullpen today is has multiple arms that are as good or better then Schwimmer. The guy reminded me of Wayne Twitchell and I did not miss him when he left either.— Special Agent Fox Mulder
- Because of being away for a bit, didn't think I'd get such a snide comment, (sort of creepy), and inaccurate..Well, here we go...Schwimmer does touch 96, and DOES have a plus slider (go ask Joe Kerrigan). Regarding your list (?), guys I've touted are Travis D'Arnaud (and Halladay was worth it, so be it)...but Gose,Villar, Singleton...and especially Domingo Santana as a "throw in".These exoduses were silly, as both the Oswalt and Pence deals were not necessary, and seriously depleted the Phillies of positional talent in the minors, while trying to preserve a "window"...From your list, only Michael Taylor has EVER been typed by these hands, and that guy would have been the Phillies best minor league OF the past 2 years, or a suitable 4th/5th OF on last year's Phillies squad....BTW, outside of a few blockbusters that were simply busts, ignoring both Brandon Moss and Jason Grilli in the Summer of 2011 could of saved fans the premise of instead paying to watch Laynce Nix and Chad "8th inning disaster"...The fact that you even remember the late Wayne Twitchell tells me you should be asleep this time of night...Thanks for playing...Check you out later. — bearsfriend
- Other than trading for Halladay, who basically campaigned to be a Phillie, can anyone name any great moves Amaro has made? I'm not even being sarcastic, i'm really having a tough time thinking of any where he got the better end of a deal, or didn't grossly overpay a free agent, etc. Ugh— FlyerAdam30
- Again, Amaro comes up "small".
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— Quixote II - What is all the fuss about? Schwimer was not about to make the Phils roster. They need bodies in the minors and the kid they got has the same kind of upside as Darren Ruf. There is a possibility that they will have to eat Ryan Howard's contract if he can't come back fully to at least his 2011 level of play. It is about winning, not about personalities. Knock Amaro all you want but he has put a winning team on the field. The only time they didn't win was when their best players were on the DL or playing hurt (Halladay).— gotedge
