eye rays defensive player Britt Phillips To be appointed yesterday get defensive player Jose Seri From the Astros, and while the team usually has a week to trade a player after the DFA, that’s not the case with the 6 PM ET deadline approaching. Phillips is likely to change today, as he is already attracting the interest of many clubs. Alex Speer of The Boston Globe Tweets That the Red Sox has arrived at the Rays, while Alex Coffey from the Philadelphia Inquirer Tweets That Velez has also shown interest as they are looking to add some defense in the center. Brendan Coty from NJ.com Add Yankees as another interested club.
It’s been a bleak season for Phillips, who scored just 0.147/.225/.250 from 208 board appearances, spreading at a whopping 40.9%. He’s never been one to offer much with the bat, but this year’s struggles still represent a clear departure from last year’s .206/.300/.427 takeout and the .201/.291/.381 career Phillips endured in the season.
For all of Phillips’ struggles with the bat, he has long been one of the game’s main defenders. Not only is he capable of playing all three outside positions, but he’s an extra defender across the board, as evidenced by the marks of his career with 38 defensive points saved, 31 above average, and an eventual 25.3 point rating in just 2,100 innings of Work on the field in his career. The left-handed Phillips also showed a lot of pop and was an excellent starting stealer before the season. In 675 previous board appearances, he had made 23 appearances and went 29 to 34 in loot base attempts.
Phillips is earning $1.4 million this season and can be controlled for another two years by judging, although this year’s struggles on the scene make him a clear underdog candidate. However, as a reserve player with strength, speed and elite gloves, he could provide a lot of value to a competitor off the bench in the final two months of the season. He has run out of small league options, so he’ll need to stay on the list of any club potentially acquiring it.
Conjecturally, there are plenty of other potential spells even outside of the three teams that have reportedly inquired. Both the Marlins and the Astros have been known to research potential center field upgrades, and Phillips is of course a former Astros ranch worker. The Twins’ domain is out of recognition at the moment, and Phillips will give them a low-cost gap with an elite defense to help prop things up. Blue Jays can see Phillips as a more attractive version of the same skill set that the current 4th Defender possesses Bradley Zimmer offers.
Despite the lack of offensive value, defense, pace and previous energy production could land Phillips well with another team at some point today.