Phillies likely to get virtually nothing from David Robertson
By John Town
With David Robertson undergoing Tommy John surgery, the Phillies are unlikely to get any real value from signing him during the offseason.
The Phillies‘ injury woes just got even worse Saturday as Todd Zolecki of MLB.com reported that reliever David Robertson underwent Tommy John surgery. Given the injury’s 14-16 month recovery period, he is not expected to be able to pitch at all during the 2020 season.
Robertson has not pitched since April 14 when he had a 5.40 ERA, 6.07 fielding-independent pitching, 2.100 WHIP, six strikeouts, and six walks in seven games. He came in expecting to be a closer or late-game reliever, but he had done little to warrant such a position.
Philadelphia placed Robertson on the injured list April 15 with elbow soreness, which was later diagnosed as a right flexor strain. There wasn’t much concern at the time with Robertson expected to come back soon enough. However, his prognosis deteriorated as the season went on.
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First, Robertson was moved to the 60-day injured list at the end of the May after he was on the shelf for more than a month. He was still aiming to return at some point in June, even after being shut down for three weeks by Dr. James Andrews. June came and went, yet Robertson was still on the injured list.
Then, Robertson was slated to return by the end of July after throwing a bullpen session at the end of June.
If he came back then, he virtually would have been a trade deadline addition. Even then, he would have missed more than three months.
Then, on the last day of July, when Robertson was supposed to be back, it was revealed he was to have season-ending surgery on his elbow. On top of that, Tommy John was still on the table, which we learned Saturday that he did have.
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Based on Zolecki’s estimate, Robertson will not be able to pitch until October 2020 at the earliest. Barring an in improbable recovery timeline, which is unlikely to come from the 34-year-old Robertson, he won’t pitch at all next year.
Robertson is under contract for the 2020 season for $11 million, all of which will be wasted on the injured list. For a team that will be up against the luxury tax next season, that salary will be a burden for the front office trying to make additional moves this offseason.
There is a $12 million team option for 2021 in Robertson’s contract, but it’s far more likely that the team buys it out for $2 million.
Almost no team would pick up that option considering Robertson will be a 36-year-old coming off Tommy John that year.
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All things considered, it’s likely that Philadelphia gets basically nothing from Robertson over the course of his contract. On top of that, they now have to replace him as well as all the other holes they need to patch during the offseason.