Phillies Overhaul 40-Man Roster

2016 Choice Lakewood BlueClaws #1

2016 Topps Heritage Minor League #64

2016 Choice Reading Fightin Phils Playoff #23

2016 Grandstand Clearwater Threshers #9

On Friday afternoon, in the biggest 40-man roster overhaul in recent memory, the Phillies dropped three players and added 11 in preparation for the upcoming Rule 5 draft.  Over the past seven offseasons, the most prospects added to the 40-man roster in November prior to this was five.  Here's a look at the 11 players added, their 2016 clubs, and a few brief notes.

• Drew Anderson (rhp) - Lakewood/Clearwater - Struck out 78 in 70 innings and pitched the first four innings of a combined Threshers no-hitter in July.
• Mark Appel (rhp) - Lehigh Valley - Acquired from the Astros in the Ken Giles trade and missed most of the season with a shoulder injury.
• Dylan Cozens (of) - Reading - Co-winner (with Rhys Hoskins) of the 2016 Paul Owens Award for the best Phillies position player in their minor leagues.
• Elniery Garcia (lhp) - Clearwater - 12-4 with a 2.68 ERA in 20 games.

2016 Topps Heritage Minor League #183

2016 Choice Reading Fightin Phils Top Prospects #14

2016 Topps Heritage Minor League #13

2016 Grandstand Reading Fightin Phils #23

• Andrew Knapp (c) - Lehigh Valley - Hit .266 with 8 home runs and 46 RBIs in 107 games.
• Ben Lively (rhp) - Reading/Lehigh Valley - Winner of the 2016 Paul Owens Award for the best Phillies pitcher in the minors.
• Ricardo Pinto (rhp) - Reading - Represented the Phillies on the World Team in the 2016 Futures Game.
• Nick Pivetta (rhp) - Reading/Lehigh Valley - Acquired from the Nationals for Jonathan Papelbon, went a combined 12-8 with a 3.27 ERA in 27 starts.
• Alberto Tirado (rhp) - Lakewood/Clearwater - Acquired from the Blue Jays (with Jimmy Cordero) for Ben Revere.
• Jesmuel Valentin (inf) - Reading/Lehigh Valley - Hit .269 in 125 games.
• Nick Williams (of) - Lehigh Valley - One of the top prospects in the organization, hit .258 with 13 home runs and 64 RBIs for the IronPigs.

2016 Choice Lakewood BlueClaws #24

2016 Choice Reading Fightin Phils Playoff #21

2016 Choice Lehigh Valley IronPigs #2

To create some room for all the additions, the Phillies designated David Buchanan and Cordero for assignment and announced that Elvis Araujo was claimed off waivers by the Miami Marlins.

2016 Chachi Departures #5

Elvis Araujo Chachi Checklist

2015 Chachi New Additions #1
2015 Chachi #37
2016 Chachi #34
2017 Chachi Departures #5

Memory Lane

2009 Additions - Quintin Berry, Yohan Flande and Jesus Sanchez
2010 Additions - Cesar Hernandez, Matt Rizzotti, Harold Garcia, Freddy Galvis and Justin De Fratus*
2011 Additions - Phillippe Aumont, Jake Diekman, Tyson Gillies and Sebastian Valle
2012 Additions - Zach Collier, Ethan Martin, Trevor May and Jonathan Pettibone
2013 Additions - Aaron Altherr, Kelly Dugan, Tommy Joseph and Rob Rasmussen
2014 Additions - Jesse Biddle, Adam Morgan and Nefi Ogando
2015 Additions - Jimmy Cordero, Roman Quinn and Edubray Ramos
2016 Additions - 11 prospects

*Somehow I skipped 2010 and didn't do a post.