First Phillies Moves of the Offseason

While nine teams were gearing up for the postseason (sorry Twins), the Phillies were busy making their first roster moves of the offseason.  Phillies Room favorite Ty Kelly was outrighted off the 40-man roster and opted for free agency.  Joining him on the outright and opt for free agency list were pitchers Henderson Alvarez and Kevin Siegrist.  The moves drop the number of players on the 40-man roster down to 37, with seven players still on the 60-day disabled list.

Kelly had a knack for coming up with clutch hits throughout the season, and in 69 games he hit .193 (17 for 88) with a pair of home runs.  His playing time dwindled with the arrival of several top prospects, and the last game Kelly started was way back on July 16th.  He earned two Phillies cards for his efforts - one in the team-issued update set and the Topps Now card featured here showcasing his game-winning hit from July 29th.  Kelly is a favorite in our household as he never denied an autograph request from our son Doug throughout the season.

Siegrist had seven relief appearances with the Phillies following the team picking him up on a waiver claim on September 2nd.  Alvarez started three games for the Phillies in his first big league action since 2015.  He went 0-1 with a 4.30 in those three starts.  Both Siegrist and Alvarez join the long and distinguished list of former Phillies Missing Links, as neither of them will likely ever appear on an official Phillies baseball card.

Moving On - 2017-2018 Offseason

• Henderson Alvarez - rhp (10/4/17) - Outrighted off 40-man roster and elected free agency.
• Ty Kelly - 2b-of (10/4/17) - Outrighted off 40-man roster and elected free agency.
• Kevin Siegrist - lhp (10/4/17) - Outrighted off 40-man roster and elected free agency.