Phelps to Phillies

[tmwiese55]

Plenty of lottery ticket type guys moved in deals like this have panned out well over the years throughout the league. Of course it's not a high percent, but it does happen and if it did you just took them to the cleaner for the few hundred K the paid Phelps and him looking good for 1 month.

[brewerfan82]

What are the parameters of making a trade this year? They have to be on the 60-man roster, correct? Would making the players PTBNL affect that at all?

 

Everyone is tradeable because they have 6 months to sort out the "named later" part. So I'm guessing they already decided on names, but the names won't be official until after the season is over.

Cool thanks! For anyone interested, there's some info covered here (which confirms Greenleaf's answer): https://www.mlb.com/news/trade-deadline-rules-for-mlb-in-2020

 

Basically, you can trade for someone not on the 60-man roster, but because it has to be PTBNL, they won't be able to play for the receiving team this year.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

Return is reportedly 3 PTBNL.

 

Per Matt Gelb:

Phillies will trade multiple low-level pitchers to Milwaukee, all PTBNL. Could be two or three, according to sources.

 

Phelps is a Girardi favorite. He has a $4.5 MM club option for 2021.

So a proven set up man for three or four pitchers who will amount to nothing.

 

I hate this quantity over quality crap. Stearns could've got a hundred low level pitchers in the trade, but 100 x 0 is still zero.

 

*shakes head while rolling eyes

[brewers888]

Its just hard to get excited about this organization right now. We are headed towards the Rays financially without the scouts and farm system to get away with it.

[patrickgpe]

if they were going to make a move, this is kind of what I expected. Either bring in a guy like Neil Walker or trade a guy like phelps.

[MilwaukeeBeers]

Could see Hsin-Chieh Lin being one of them based on that write up. I like the deal because it moves towards punting this season.

[Oxy]

Return is reportedly 3 PTBNL.

 

Per Matt Gelb:

Phillies will trade multiple low-level pitchers to Milwaukee, all PTBNL. Could be two or three, according to sources.

 

Phelps is a Girardi favorite. He has a $4.5 MM club option for 2021.

So a proven set up man for three or four pitchers who will amount to nothing.

 

I hate this quantity over quality crap. Stearns could've got a hundred low level pitchers in the trade, but 100 x 0 is still zero.

 

If Devin Williams and Drew Rasmussen were considered "low level" non-top prospect types 2-3 years ago, I'd be happy to keep trading for arms like that.

[narwhalattack]

I could also see Starlyn Castillo and Nicoly Pina being part of that package

[trwi7]

Typical Stearns move, quantity over "quality". Worked pretty well with Freddy Peralta...

 

I guess but it’s David Phelps. We were never going to get the “quality” that would make sense in a 1 for 1 type deal.

[Greenleaf1]

Return is reportedly 3 PTBNL.

 

Per Matt Gelb:

Phillies will trade multiple low-level pitchers to Milwaukee, all PTBNL. Could be two or three, according to sources.

 

Phelps is a Girardi favorite. He has a $4.5 MM club option for 2021.

So a proven set up man for three or four pitchers who will amount to nothing.

 

I hate this quantity over quality crap. Stearns could've got a hundred low level pitchers in the trade, but 100 x 0 is still zero.

 

If Devin Williams and Drew Rasmussen were considered "low level" non-top prospect types 2-3 years ago, I'd be happy to keep trading for arms like that.

 

Devin Williams was a 1st round draft back and Rasmussen was too before a physical discovered an injury. They are hardly "non-top prospects".

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

Given the Brewers' focus on college position prospects in the shortened draft this year, a move like this makes a ton of sense. Several arms for a guy they had very little invented in.

[JohnBriggs12]

There's a lot of uncertainty about revenue for next year even assuming the virus is under control. A 34 year old reliever even at a modest price is a luxury until the picture is clearer. Adding multiple low level arms with short draft makes sense.

[PeaveyFury]

Return is reportedly 3 PTBNL.

 

Per Matt Gelb:

Phillies will trade multiple low-level pitchers to Milwaukee, all PTBNL. Could be two or three, according to sources.

 

Phelps is a Girardi favorite. He has a $4.5 MM club option for 2021.

So a proven set up man for three or four pitchers who will amount to nothing.

 

I hate this quantity over quality crap. Stearns could've got a hundred low level pitchers in the trade, but 100 x 0 is still zero.

 

That wasn't how the equation ended up working out in the Lind trade.

[Greenleaf1]

There's a lot of uncertainty about revenue for next year even assuming the virus is under control. A 34 year old reliever even at a modest price is a luxury until the picture is clearer. Adding multiple low level arms with short draft makes sense.

 

This makes perfect sense. Push financial decisions forward a few years, wait for more certainty.

[jjfanec]

There are people disappointed with this before even knowing the return? What did people expect phelps to bring back?

[PeaveyFury]

There are people disappointed with this before even knowing the return? What did people expect phelps to bring back?

 

Gavin Lux, the only prospect anyone will trade anything for.

[Brewcrewin07]

I mean you couldn't have gotten 1 AAA( or slightly better) bat back for him?? Not even a bench bat??

[sveumrules]

A pretty good indication of how Stearns evaluates the chances of this team accomplishing anything this year.

 

Publicly available sources have the Brewers at about a 50/50 chance at making they playoffs & I'd imagine the Brewers internal calculations peg them in the same range.

 

Trading Phelps is not going to drastically change things one way or another, so I'd imagine before the trade Stearns probably thought we had around a 50% chance of making the playoffs & now that we have traded Phelps he probably still thinks we have around a 50% chance of making the playoffs, but now with three more prospects in the fold.

[dlk9s]

That does it, we're not winning the World Series this year.

[CheeseheadInQC]

If it wasn't going to be a top prospect I think I'd rather have it be pitching than hitting. Close to the majors potential impact bats are likely to fall into the top prospect category, and the Brewers have much more in the way of hitting depth in the low minors than pitching depth. Depending on how things shake out with the assignments, it isn't outside the realm of possibility that Wisconsin's top three starters next season will all be guys who have missed all or most of multiple seasons with injuries.

[ctmyers]

Return is reportedly 3 PTBNL.

 

Per Matt Gelb:

Phillies will trade multiple low-level pitchers to Milwaukee, all PTBNL. Could be two or three, according to sources.

 

Phelps is a Girardi favorite. He has a $4.5 MM club option for 2021.

So a proven set up man for three or four pitchers who will amount to nothing.

 

I hate this quantity over quality crap. Stearns could've got a hundred low level pitchers in the trade, but 100 x 0 is still zero.

 

1 x 0 is also zero.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

There are people disappointed with this before even knowing the return? What did people expect phelps to bring back?

 

It is also important to remember that, at least in this case, "low-level" does not necessarily mean no talent or no-name players. The Phillies have 7 pitchers on their MLB Pipeline Top 30 prospect list that are not part of their 60-man player pool.

[FVBrewerFan]

BF.net summarized:

 

"What has Stearns done lately, the farm is horrible."

 

Stearns trades for upside arms to bolster the minors.

 

"Why is Stearns trading a bullpen arm for prospects!?!"

[jerichoholicninja]

People realize this is David Phelps we're talking about here, right? A 33 year old relief pitcher who, outside of here and there, has been average or worse during his career. Not sure why anyone would expect anything of real value in return.

[Oxy]

If Devin Williams and Drew Rasmussen were considered "low level" non-top prospect types 2-3 years ago, I'd be happy to keep trading for arms like that.

 

Devin Williams was a 1st round draft back and Rasmussen was too before a physical discovered an injury. They are hardly "non-top prospects".

 

Thus the "If." We don't know the return, but I would expect to get back pieces similar in value to how those guys were viewed at their lowest or at least low-end of their minor league value curve. Perhaps a Caden Lemons type(s), who despite being drafted high has never been a "top prospect". Anyway, it's kind of a silly discussion about semantics literally over PTBNLs.