Asher Dealt to Orioles; Coghlan Released

2017 Chachi Departures #17

2016 Chachi Almost #6

Blue Jays 10, Phillies 4
Spring Training Game 32 - Tuesday Night, March 28th in Clearwater
Record - 12-16-4

One Sentence Summary:  Aaron Nola was hit hard in his final spring training game and the Phils dropped this game to the Blue Jays, 10-4.

What It Means:  Nola had a rough spring.  He finished the exhibition season with an 8.38 ERA after allowing five runs in 1 2/3 innings in this game.

What Happened:  Daniel Nava, fighting for one of the final roster spots, had two hits.  Howie Kendrick went 2 for 3 and drove in three runs.

Featured Cards/Camp Head Count:  35 -2 = 33.  First, in somewhat of a surprising move, the Phillies released outfielder Chris Coghlan.  Coghlan had seemed all but guaranteed a bench spot on the Phillies roster, but this move signals they like their chances with Daniel Nava and/or Brock Stassi better.  In 19 games this spring, Coghlan played fine defensively and but hit just .231 (9 for 39), while Nava (.361) and Stassi (.320, 5 home runs) have been much more impressive at the plate.

Then, the Phillies traded pitcher Alec Asher to the Orioles for a player to be named later or cash.  The move was needed to open up a much-needed spot on the 40-man roster for either Nava or Stassi. Asher came to the Phillies as one of the six players acquired from the Rangers in the July 2015 Cole Hamels deal.  In 12 starts with the club in 2015 and 2016, Asher went 2-7 with a 5.88 ERA.

Alec Asher Chachi Checklist
2015 Chachi #62
2016 Chachi #61
2017 Chachi Departures #17

Finally, non-roster invitees Pedro Florimon, Hoby Milner, Colton Murray, Cesar Ramos and Pat Venditte were all informed on Tuesday they wouldn't be making the team but they'll stick around camp through Friday.

Moving On - 2016-2017 Offseason

• Cedric Hunter - of (10/3/16) - Elected free agency.
• James Russell - lhp (10/3/16) - Elected free agency and signed as a minor league free agent with the Cleveland Indians, 2/13/17.
• Emmanuel Burriss - inf (10/7/16) - Outrighted off 40-man roster, elected free agency and signed as a minor league free agent with the Washington Nationals, 12/13/16.
• Frank Herrmann - rhp (10/7/16) - Outrighted off 40-man roster and elected free agency.
• Jimmy Paredes - of (10/7/16) - Outrighted off 40-man roster, elected free agency and signed with the Chiba Lotte Marines (Japan), 1/15/17.
• Patrick Schuster - lhp (10/7/16) - Outrighted off 40-man roster, elected free agency and signed as a minor league free agent with the Los Angeles Dodgers, 11/5/16.
• Ryan Howard - 1b (11/3/16) - Team option declined and elected free agency.
• Charlie Morton - rhp (11/3/16) - Team option declined, elected free agency and signed with the Houston Astros, 11/16/16.
• Peter Bourjos - of (11/3/16) - Elected free agency and signed as a minor league free agent with the Chicago White Sox, 1/27/17.
• A.J. Ellis - c (11/3/16) - Elected free agency and signed with the Miami Marlins, 12/12/16.
• David Hernandez - rhp (11/3/16) - Elected free agency and signed as a minor league free agent with the San Francisco Giants, 2/14/17.
• Darin Ruf - 1b-of and Darnell Sweeney - inf-of (11/11/16) - Traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Howie Kendrick.
• Elvis Araujo - rhp (11/18/16) - Claimed off waivers by the Miami Marlins.
• David Buchanan - rhp (11/23/16) - Released and signed with the Yakult Swallows (Japan), 12/20/16.
• Cody Asche - of (12/2/16) - Designated for assignment, non-tendered and signed as a minor league free agent with the Chicago White Sox, 1/6/17.
• Phil Klein - rhp (12/14/16) - Released and signed with the Yokohama BayStars (Japan), 12/20/16.
• Severino Gonzalez - rhp (1/19/17) - Designated for assignment and traded to the Miami Marlins for a player to be named later or cash considerations, 1/24/17.
• Alec Asher - rhp (3/28/17) - Traded to the Baltimore Orioles for a player to be named later or cash considerations.

Coming Back

• Jeremy Hellickson - rhp (11/3/16) - Elected free agency, accepted team's qualifying offer, 11/14/16.
• Andres Blanco - inf (11/3/16) - Elected free agency, resigned by the Phillies to a one-year contract, 12/14/16.

New Additions - 2016-2017 Offseason

• Pat Neshek - rhp (11/4/16) - Acquired from the Houston Astros for a player to be named later or cash considerations.
• Howie Kendrick - lf (11/11/16) - Acquired from the Los Angeles Dodgers for Darin Ruf and Darnell Sweeney.
• Joaquin Benoit - rhp (12/6/16) - Signed as a free agent formerly with the Toronto Blue Jays.
• Clay Buchholz - rhp (12/20/16) - Acquired from the Boston Red Sox for Josh Tobias.
• Michael Saunders - of (1/19/17) - Signed as a free agent formerly with the Toronto Blue Jays.

Already Gone - 2016-2017 Offseason

• David Rollins - lhp (12/2/16) - Claimed off waivers from the Texas Rangers.  Designated for assignment, 12/14/16.
• Richie Shaffer - 3b (12/14/16) - Claimed off waivers from the Seattle Mariners.  Designated for assignment, 12/20/16.

Coghlan Joins Ranks of Non-Roster Invitees

2016 Topps Update #US274

Outfielder Chris Coghlan was signed by the Phillies on Friday to a minor league deal with an invitation to spring training.  Coghlan has a decent chance of making the team's opening day roster as a back-up outfielder.  The 2009 National League Rookie of the Year while with the Marlins, Coghlan earned a World Series ring last season with the Cubs.  In 99 games with both the Cubs and Athletics, he hit .188 with 6 home runs and 30 RBIs.

Strangely enough, Coghlan's most recent mainstream baseball card can be found within the 2016 Topps Update set showing him with the Cubs although he already had a card within the first series of the flagship set also showing him with the Cubs.  Wrigley Wax covered this oddity in a post here. Coghlan also appeared in last year's Topps Heritage set.

Player (position) - 2016 Organization - Last Major Baseball Card Appearance
1.  Sean Burnett (lhp) - Nationals/Dodgers/Braves/Twins/Nationals - 2014 Topps #68 (Angels)
2.  Pedro Florimon (inf) - Pirates - 2014 Topps #568 (Twins)
3.  Hector Gomez (inf) - Korea - 2015 Topps Update #US229 (Brewers)
4.  Daniel Nava (of) - Angels/Royals - 2016 Topps Now #293 (Angels)
5.  Bryan Holaday (c) - Tigers/Rangers/Red Sox - 2014 Topps Update #US117 (Tigers)
6.  Cesar Ramos (lhp) - Rangers/Tigers - 2015 Topps Update #US293 (Angels)
7.  Victor Arano (rhp) - Phillies - 2015 Bowman Chrome Prospect Autographs #BCAP-VA (Phillies)
8.  Pedro Beato (rhp) - Orioles - 2011 Topps Chrome #199 (Mets)
9.  J.P. Crawford (inf) - Phillies - 2016 Bowman's Best Top Prospects #TP12 (Phillies)
10.  Taylor Featherston (inf) - Angels/Phillies - 2015 Topps Update #US148 (Angels)
11.  Dalier Hinojosa (rhp) - Phillies - 2015 Immaculate Collection #151 (Red Sox)
12.  Rhys Hoskins (1b) - Phillies - 2016 Bowman Draft #BD186 (Phillies)
13.  Scott Kingery (inf) - Phillies - 2016 Bowman Draft #BD128 (Phillies)
14.  Michael Mariot (rhp) - Phillies - N/A
15.  Logan Moore (c) - Phillies - 2011 Bowman Draft Chrome Prospects #BDPP44 (Phillies)
16.  Colton Murray (rhp) - Phillies - 2016 Topps #488 (Phillies)
17.  Chace Numata (c) - Phillies - N/A
18.  Cam Perkins (of) - Phillies - 2014 Bowman Chrome Prospects #BCP86 (Phillies)
19.  Andrew Pullin (of) - Phillies - 2012 Bowman Chrome Draft Picks #BDPP59 (Phillies)
20.  Brock Stassi (1b) - Phillies - N/A
21.  Ryan Hanigan (c) - Red Sox - 2016 Topps Heritage #694 (Red Sox)
22.  Chris Coghlan (of) - Cubs/Athletics/Cubs - 2016 Topps Update #US274 (Cubs)

New Phillies Uniform Numbers (Getting Closer to Clearwater!)

2016 Topps Heritage #547

2016 Topps Heritage #590

2016 Topps Heritage #694

2016 Topps Heritage #575

At some point over the past few days, I checked the Phillies roster page on their official website and noticed that the dreaded "--" in place of a uniform number for all new players had been replaced with actual uniform numbers.  Friends, this is yet another milestone to the glorious promised land that is spring training.

Here's a look at the new uniform numbers assigned to the newest members of the 2017 Phillies.

New Players (and a Coach) - Under 60 Division

• #5 Michael Saunders - Departed hitting coach Steve Henderson was #5 last year and the #21 Saunders wore the past few seasons with the Blue Jays had already been claimed by newcomer Clay Buchholz.
• #15 Sean Burnett - Emmanuel Burriss wore this number in 2016.
• #17 Pat Neshek - With Peter Bourjos moving on, Neshek reclaims the number he wore with the Twins from 2006 to 2010.
• #18 Pedro Florimon - Florimon takes Darin Ruf's old number.
• #21 Clay Buchholz - With #11 unofficially retired (see below), the new starting pitcher takes #21.  Buchholz has previously worn #11 and #61 with the Red Sox.
• #25 Daniel Nava - Nava will wear the number worn by Cody Asche the prior four seasons.
• #34 Ryan Hanigan - Hanigan takes over the number worn by both Brett Oberholtzer and A.J. Ellis last year.
• #40 Matt Stairs - Mickey Morandini already has #12, the number Stairs wore as a player with the Phillies, so the new hitting coach claims the number worn briefly last season by James Russell.
• #47 Howie Kendrick - No surprise here as the veteran has worn #47 for his entire 11-year career.  Charlie Morton wore the number last season for his four starts.
• #53 Joaquin Benoit - Daniel Stumpf, Frank Herrmann and now Joaquin Benoit are the most three recent #53s for the Phillies.
• #54 Pedro Beato - It appears as if Brad Lidge's number has been officially-unofficially retired.  I don't believe anyone has worn this number for the Phillies since Lidge's final appearance in 2011.  (Matt Harrison had been assigned the number when he came over from the Rangers in the Cole Hamels deal, but he never actually put on a Phillies uniform.)
• #55 Cesar Ramos - David Buchanan last wore #55 during the 2015 season.
• #59 Bryan Holaday - Elvis Araujo's old number goes to Holaday.

New Numbers

2016 Topps Heritage #542

• #30 Taylor Featherston - With Buchholz taking #21, Featherston switches to the number worn by reliever David Hernandez last season.

Highest Number
No one touches Dalier Hinojosa and his #94, but Drew Anderson and his #86 comes the closest.

Numbers Available - Unofficially Retired Division
The Phillies have an unwritten tradition of not giving out the uniform numbers of recently departed franchise players.  For that reason, no one on the roster has been assigned #6 (Ryan Howard), #11 (Jimmy Rollins), #26 (Chase Utley), #35 (Cole Hamels) or #51 (Carlos Ruiz).

Numbers Available - Up for Grabs Division
Of the numbers still available, I'm surprised no one has claimed #3 which was worn last season by David Lough.  This could be reserved for Chris Coghlan, who wore the number last season with the Athletics and who was recently signed on Friday.  #41 (Jimmy Paredes) and #43 (Phil Klein) are still available, as is #52 (Severino Gonzalez).

Memory Lane

2012 New Numbers

2013 New Numbers
2014 New Numbers - Part One and Part Two
2015 New Numbers
2016 New Numbers - Part One and Part Two