The Phillies have pulled off a tremendous trade that brings them three players.
Phillies general manager Matt Klentak has pulled off a trade that looks tremendously one-sided in favor of the Phillies, acquiring three players from the Seattle Mariners.
The official deal brings shortstop Jean Segura and relievers Juan Nicasio and James Paxos to Philadelphia in exchange for shortstop J.P. Crawford and first baseman Carlos Santana.
Somehow Klentak avoided sending any prospects or additional money to the Mariners in the deal.
We’ve talked a lot about Segura and what he brings to the team, but who are the other two players Philadelphia acquired in the deal?
Fans might recognize Nicasio from a one-game stint in Philadelphia two seasons ago. After being picked up off waivers from the Pittsburgh Pirates on August 31, 2017, the righty pitched 1.1 perfect innings for Philadelphia.
In a rare September trade less than three weeks later, Nicasio was sent to the St. Louis Cardinals for minor leaguer Eliezer Alvarez.
Seattle gave Nicasio a two-year deal last offseason, and Philadelphia will pay him $9 million in 2018 to be a middle reliever.
Last year Nicasio struggled and finished the season with a 6.00 ERA in 46 games. His deal helped balance out the money Seattle took on with Santana and he is poised for a bounce-back season in his second stint with the Phillies.
The second reliever acquired is 27-year-old lefty James Pazos, a 13th round pick of the Yankees in 2012. After 18 games over two seasons with the Yankees and a poor ERA, Paxos was sent to Seattle where his career quietly took off.
Pazos had a 3.86 ERA in 59 games for the Mariners in 2017 with 65 strikeouts, and he rebounded in 2018 with a 2.88 ERA in 60 games with a 0.8 WAR.
Interestingly, Pazos was extraordinarily better at home than on the road last year. In 32 home games he had a 1.07 ERA, but on the road, in nearly as many innings, his ERA inflated to 4.74.
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Pazos was actually more effective against righties than lefties last year, holding righties to a .228 batting average compared to a .280 against fellow southpaws.
What’s tremendous about Pazos is his controllability moving forward. The Phillies have two years of team control plus three years of arbitration, which could carry him in the Phillies uniform through the 2022 season.
Pazos primarily entered games in the seventh inning, during which he had an astounding 0.48 ERA in 18.2 innings last year. He could compete with Adam Morgan for a left-handed specialist role next year or serve as a set-up man given his equal success against lefties and late in games.
By all means, this deal was a major win for the team considering what they gave up. That might change in five years if Crawford has developed into the star some thought he would, but for now, the team has cleared a spot at first for Rhys Hoskins, a spot in the outfield for Bryce Harper, and improved their bullpen going into 2019.