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The Phillies give Vince Velasquez another chance.
The team offered the enigmatic right-hander a 2021 contract on Wednesday night. If the Phillies had issued the tender to Velasquez, he would have become a free agent.
Velasquez was the biggest question mark among the six remaining arbitrator-eligible Phillies who could have become free agents had they not been given a contract by Wednesday night’s 8pm deadline.
In addition to Velasquez, the Phillies have offered a contract to first baseman Rhys Hoskins.
The other four players eligible for arbitration have all reached an agreement with the club on one-year contracts for 2021.
The next generation Hector Neris signed for $ 5 million.
Pitcher Zach Eflin signed for $ 4.45 million.
Pitcher David Hale signed for $ 850,000.
And wide receiver Andrew Knapp signed for $ 1.1 million.
Hoskins, who is represented by power agent Scott Boras, was expected to earn $ 605,000 before the pandemic strikes in 2020. Whether or not he makes it to an arbitration hearing, he will see a nice raise in 2021, which could possibly be over $ 4 million.
Velasquez, 28, was acquired from Houston in former general manager Matt Klentak’s first big trade in December 2015. On his second start with the club, the powerful-wielding pitcher thrilled Phillies fans with a dazzling three hitting, no walking, 16-hitting cleanout for the San Diego Padres on April 14, 2016. However, for the remainder of that season, and the next four, Velasquez failed to muster any level of consistency. He struggled to control the strike zone, control his number of shots, get past the middle innings, and ultimately hang on to his job in the rotation. In his five seasons with the Phils, he’s 27-34 with a 4.76 ERA. He’s averaged less than five innings in 106 career big league starts.
As teams across baseball look to cut costs after suffering pandemic-related revenue losses in 2020, it had been widely speculated that the Phillies could part ways with Velasquez, who in his third and final arbitration year, expects to earn more than $ 4 million. in 2021.
Some teams have made budget cuts. The Cubs did not contract slugger Kyle Schwarber, making him a free agent. Non-bidding Braves Adam Duvall and the Reds did not offer reliever Archie Bradley and receiver Curt Casali a contract, two players who may be of interest to the Phillies.
In all, 59 players became free agents because they were not offered.
In deciding to keep Velasquez – at least for now as he can still be traded – the Phillies have admitted a few things:
First, they haven’t given up on the hope that the pitcher can still exploit its capabilities and put some consistency in place. It has been suggested that new pitching coach Caleb Cotham might be able to switch to Velasquez, but is a new voice really what the pitcher needs when the Phillies have had four different pitching coaches in the past four? seasons?
Second, the starting state of the toss in the game, at least at the end of the spins, is such that Velasquez is probably as good as what’s available in the market for a similar price.
And third, the Phillies’ state of throwing depth is so poor that the club really had to give Velasquez another shot. With Aaron Nola, Zack Wheeler and Eflin, the Phils are in good shape in the top three spots in their rotation, but there’s a huge drop after that. Screened No.4 Spencer Howard struggled as a rookie in 2020 and missed time for the second season in a row due to shoulder strain. The launch “waves” that Klentak referred to when he was hired in October 2015 did not materialize and no one came and made Velasquez consumable.
The Phillies can agree on deals with Velasquez or Hoskins at any time. If a deal cannot be reached, salaries will be determined at an arbitration hearing in February.
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