Joseph Departs; Updated Offseason Moves

2018 Chachi Departures #11

Before the regular season kicks off, I wanted to take a look back at the Phillies' offseason moves and commemorate the moving on of one Phillies Room Favorite and three blink-and-you-missed-them Phillies.

Tommy Joseph was designated for assignment in mid-March to make room on the team's 40-man roster for Jake Arrieta.  The slugging first baseman was then picked up on waivers by the Rangers.

Kevin Siegrist, Henderson Alvarez and Clay Buchholz all had very short stints with the Phillies.  Each recently found new homes, and I've already featured Siegrist's Chachi Departure card in a prior post.  He's a look at the complete Chachi checklist for each departed player and then a look at what could be close to the final list of offseason player moves.

Tommy Joseph Complete Chachi Checklist
2016 Chachi #42
2016 Chachi #67 Home Run Leaders (with Ryan Howard and Maikel Franco)
2016 Chachi Archives #4
2016 Chachi Photo Day #12
2017 Chachi Preview #1
2017 Chachi #6
2017 Chachi Phillies Phestival #22
2017 Chachi In Action #2
2017 Chachi Archives #1
2017 Chachi Photo Night #23
2018 Chachi Departures #11

Henderson Alvarez Complete Chachi Checklist
2017 Chachi #63
2018 Chachi Departures #10

Clay Buchholz Complete Chachi Checklist
2017 Chachi New Additions #6
2017 Chachi #17
2017 Chachi Photo Night #23 (with Cameron Rupp and Andrew Knapp)
2018 Chachi Departures #12

Kevin Siegrist Complete Chachi Checklist
2017 Chachi #59
2018 Chachi Departures #9

2018 Chachi Departures #10

2018 Chachi Departures #12

Moving On - 2017-2018 Offseason

• Henderson Alvarez - rhp (10/4/17) - Outrighted off 40-man roster, elected free agency and signed with Tigres de Quintana Roo of the Mexican League, 3/16/18.
• Ty Kelly - 2b-of (10/4/17) - Outrighted off 40-man roster, elected free agency and signed as a minor league free agent with the New York Mets, 1/22/18.
• Kevin Siegrist - lhp (10/4/17) - Outrighted off 40-man roster, elected free agency and signed as a minor league free agent with the Pittsburgh Pirates, 2/24/18.
• Andres Blanco - inf (11/2/17) - Elected free agency and signed as a minor league free agent with the San Francisco Giants, 1/30/18.
• Clay Buchholz - rhp (11/2/17) - Elected free agency and signed as a minor league free agent
  with the Kansas City Royals, 3/20/18.
• Hyun Soo Kim - of (11/2/17) - Elected free agency, signed with the LG Twins of the Korea Baseball Organization, 12/18/17.
• Daniel Nava - of (11/2/17) - Elected free agency, signed as a minor league free agent with the Pittsburgh Pirates, 2/6/18.
• Jesen Therrien - rhp (11/6/17) - Outrighted off 40-man roster and elected free agency, signed as a minor league free agent with the Los Angeles Dodgers, 11/29/17.
• Michael Mariot - rhp (11/6/17) - Elected free agency, signed as a minor league free agent with the San Diego Padres, 11/29/17.
• Colton Murray - rhp (11/6/17) - Elected free agency, signed as a minor league free agent with the Tampa Bay Rays, 12/14/17.
• Brock Stassi - 1b (11/6/17) - Elected free agency, signed as a minor league free agent with the Minnesota Twins, 12/7/17.
• Cameron Perkins - of (12/11/17) - Claimed off waivers by the Seattle Mariners.
• Freddy Galvis - ss (12/15/17) - Traded to the San Diego Padres for Enyel De Los Santos.
• Tommy Joseph - 1b (3/19/18) - Claimed off waivers by the Texas Rangers.

Coming Back - 2017-2018 Offseason

• Pedro Florimon - inf-of (11/13/17) - Signed to a minor league contract.
• Pedro Beato - rhp (12/22/17) - Signed to a minor league contract.

New Additions - 2017-2018 Offseason

• Engelb Vielma - inf (11/20/17) - Claimed off waivers from the San Francisco Giants.
• Pat Neshek - rhp (12/15/17) - Signed as a free agent formerly with the Colorado Rockies.
• Tommy Hunter - rhp (12/15/17) - Signed as a free agent formerly with the Tampa Bay Rays.
• Carlos Santana - 1b (12/20/17) - Signed as a free agent formerly with the Cleveland Indians.
• Jake Arrieta - rhp (3/12/18) - Signed as a free agent formerly with the Chicago Cubs.

Already Gone - 2017-2018 Offseason

• Engelb Vielma - inf (12/11/17) - Claimed off waivers by the Pittsburgh Pirates.

2017 Topps Allen & Ginter #29 Maikel Franco

Mets 7, Phillies 4 (11)
Game 161 - Saturday Night, September 30th in Philadelphia
Record - 65-96, 5th place, 32 games behind the Nationals

One Sentence Summary:  Asdrubal Cabrera hit a three-run home run off Adam Morgan in the 11th, sending the Mets to a chilly 7-4 victory.

What It Means:  The two teams, both apparently with lame duck managers, will limp to the finish line with Sunday's season finale.

What Happened:  Rhys Hoskins tied the game at four in the seventh with an RBI single and came within inches of winning it with a walk-off home run in the 10th.  The wind blowing in stalled what should have been a home run and left fielder Brandon Nimmo caught the ball right in front of the wall.  Maikel Franco hit his second home run (23) in as many days.  Cabrera continues to crush the Phillies, going 4 for 6 in this game with four RBIs.  Morgan had been nearly unhittable in recent outings before Cabrera's game-winning home run.

Featured Card:  It's been a disappointing season for Franco, and with the infield logjam (Franco, Freddy Galvis, J.P. Crawford, Cesar Hernandez, Scott Kingery) some decisions will need to be made about the once promising prospect's future.

Field Report:  Barring a last minute decision to head to this afternoon's season finale matinee, this was my final game of the 2017 season.  As has become our pattern, Doug and I arrived early and Doug stationed himself at the corner of the Phillies dugout.

He received autographs from coaches Rick Kranitz, Mickey Morandini and Juan Samuel, with Sammy signing both his mini bat and a 1985 Topps card.  Samuel actually recognizes my son at this point and asked him if would be back for Sunday's game.  Henderson Alvarez was surprisingly signing before his start and he added his signature to one of Doug's baseballs.  Andres Blanco also stopped over and signed for Doug and a few dedicated fans.

After the game started, we made our way over to Bull's BBQ to get one last autograph (and picture) from Greg Luzinski.  It was cold, but we made all the way to the end of the game, watching the final pitches of the 11th inning from behind the left field foul pole.  There may have been less than a thousand fans remaining at that point and most of them seemed to be Mets fans.

I attended 18 games this season and finished with a personal record of 9-9.  I'll be working hard over the offseason to improve upon that record in 2018.

2017 Chachi #63 Henderson Alvarez

#58
Henderson Javier Alvarez
Starting Pitcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'0"  Weight:  205
Born:  April 18, 1990, Valencia, Valenzuela
Signed:  Signed by the Toronto Blue Jays as an amateur free agent, October 17, 2006.
Teams:  Toronto Blue Jays 2011-2012; Miami Marlins 2013-2015; Phillies 2017
Acquired:  Signed as a free agent formerly with the Long Island Ducks (Independent), August 25, 2017.

2012 Topps #562

0 Alvarez Baseball Cards in My Collection per The Phillies Room Checklist
First Card:  N/A
First Phillies Card:  N/A
First Phillies Team Issued Card:  N/A
Latest Card:  N/A

First Topps Flagship Base Card:  2012 Topps #562

Complete Chachi Checklist
2017 Chachi #63

Card statistics through 9/18/17.

2017 Topps Bunt #74 Aaron Nola

Phillies 8, Marlins 1
Game 145 - Wednesday Night, September 13th in Philadelphia
Record - 56-89, 5th place, 32 games behind the Nationals

One Sentence Summary:  Rhys Hoskins homered for the 17th time in 33 games and Aaron Nola struck out a career-high 11 in this 8-1 win over the Marlins.

What It Means:  The Phillies are a respectable 7-6 so far in September, and most of that has to do with the power of Hoskins and the energy provided by the newer Phillies.

What Happened:  I've considered adding a new category to these game summary posts called "What Hoskins Did."  Hoskins hit a sacrifice fly in the first, walked and scored in the third, hit a two-run home run in the fifth, and singled in the sixth.  Freddy Galvis had a three-hit night and Odubel Herrera drove in a pair of runs.

2015 Topps #577

Nola allowed just a run on four hits while setting his career-high mark in strikeouts on the way to his 11th win.

Featured Cards:  This is Nola's card from the physical release of Topps Bunt.

Transaction:  Henderson Alvarez was officially added to the active roster and Daniel Nava was placed on the 60-day disabled list.  Alvarez is expected to start for the Phillies on Sunday.  The former Blue Jays and Marlins pitcher hasn't appeared in the big leagues since May 2015, and he was an All-Star in 2014.  His most recent baseball card appearances came in a number of 2015 Topps releases.