PHILLIES TRADE FOR MY FAVORITE
You know I do not like Clay Buchholz, that is if you have followed my work over the years. I’ll get to why in a moment. Why is the greasy haired one in the news? Because he was dealt to the National League.
Phillies receive: RHP Clay Buchholz
Red Sox receive: 2B Joshua Tobias
Buchholz is due $13.5 million this season, and it sounds like the Phils will take all of that on. His addition gives the Phillies a crowded rotation of the following arms: Buchholz, Jeremy Hellickson, Aaron Nola, Vincent Velasquez, Jerad Eickhoff, Zach Elfin, Jake Thompson, Adam Moran and Alex Asher. Of course, Buchholz and Hellickson might be trade chips at the deadline, but for now that’s a lot of starting options for the Phillies.
Buchholz is simply not a trustworthy option. The last five seasons check out his ERA volatility: 4.56, 1.74, 5.34, 3.26 and 4.78. The last six years he’s thrown 140-innings just twice. At least he’s never on the hill long enough to truly crush your team if you foolishly roster him. There has been talk of Clay changing his arm-slot, but you should care less. We’ve heard it all before with Clay, and the results you need to know are a 3.96 ERA, 1.30 WHIP, 6.93 K/9 and 2.16 KBB ratio. Those are his career numbers, and they are all league average. Note he also posted a career worst, and pathetic, 1.69 K/BB ratio last season.
Tobias is a 24 year old who played at A-Ball last season and who owns a .301 career batting average. Not much to get overly excited about here.
You never know who is watching.
SPARE PARTS
Oswaldo Arcia was with four organizations last year as you could have used Carmen SanDiego’s help to find him. The 25 year old outfielder simply can’t seem to find his footing anywhere, but most still see the talent that resides in his body. Jon Heyman is reporting that the D’backs might be the next team to kick the tires (note: the Diamondbacks did sign Arcia after this article was written). Per 500 at-bats Arcia has averaged 23 homers and 67 RBI, passable production for a fifth outfielder, no? He does own a ghastly 31.5 K-rate, and his approach is wanting, but with playing time he would be a strong depth play in the outfield in league specific setups.
Chris Colabello was a waiver-wire star in 2015 with a .321-15-54 line with a .886 OPS over 101 games. The follow-up last season was the toughest year of his life. CC served an 80-game PED suspension, something he still vehemently denies having a part in, and ultimately he appeared in just 10 big league games. He will be given a chance to return to significance by the Indians who signed him to a minor-league deal. They currently have a need at first and DH, so Colabello currently has the look of someone who you should be keeping an eye on if you play in an AL-only setup.
Jarrod Dyson is still available according to Fox Sports. I’ve previously written about him in Who Can You Trust?
Jason Hammel is changing agents. Newsflash Jason. The reason you aren’t getting a huge deal has nothing to do with your agent, it’s you. Look in the mirror. You’re a solid hurler, but no team is gonna back up the money truck to sign a 34 year old who has never thrown 180-innings in a season. Never. Not once. Even a great agent isn’t going to be able to convince any club that Hammel is worth gazillions of dollars.
Daniel Hudson is with the Pirates now after signing a 2-year, $11 million deal. As pointed out by Jeff Passan, Hudson posted a 1.60 ERA over 50.2 innings last season... other than the 9.2 inning run he had when he was one of the worst pitchers in baseball history (no hyperbole) as he allowed an astounding 31 runs in that time. The overall results for Hudson, back from two Tommy John surgeries, was a 5.22 ERA and 1.44 WHIP over 60.1 innings. Daniel struck out 58 batters with an average fastball of 95.7 mph as the heater returned. Hudson will setup for Tony Watson, but there could be save chances coming for Hudson at some point in 2017.
Colby Rasmus is looking for work. Sounds like his agent reached out to the Orioles. They were rebuffed due to the price tag. Much like Hammel, this could be a scenario of a player shooting for the moon, only to be turned down. Rasmus is 30 years old and coming off core muscle and hip surgeries. He should be fine physically for the start of the season in 2017, but the fact is that he’s not a good offensive player. He’s just a guy who is coming off a season with an absolutely horrible .206/.286/.355 slash line. I’m not interested in any format.
Ray Flowers can be heard Monday/Tuesday and Thursday/Friday, 8 PM EDT, Wednesday 7 PM EDT on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio (Sirius 210, XM 87). You can also hear Ray Sunday nights at 9 PM EDT PM on the channel talking fantasy sports. Follow Ray’s work at Fantasy Alarm and on Twitter (@baseballguys).