Phillies mock trade dumps Jake Arrieta’s contract out west

Another Phillies mock trade shakes up the roster

As the FanSided offseason simulation continues, the Phillies continue to spend stupid money in free agency to make this team a World Series contender.

After adding three high-priced players, who we’ll disclose in a future piece outlining the entire offseason, the Phillies needed to dump some salary.

One of the biggest contracts Philadelphia could move is Jake Arrieta‘s, which has one guaranteed year remaining, plus two team option years, all three worth $20 million each.

We threw the idea out to the other general managers, and the San Diego Padres stepped up to help make a salary dump deal.

Trading Arrieta opens another spot in the starting rotation, but as we alluded to earlier, the Phillies spent big in our mock free agency, and the rotation will be just fine.

To get San Diego to take on Arrieta’s contract the Phillies sent 2010 first round pick Cornelius Randolph, who the Phillies did not protect from the Rule 5 Draft this week, and cash considerations.

Randolph was drafted 10th overall with a really good bat out of a Georgia high school, but he never materialized into a true prospect. He played in Double-A Reading last year hitting .247 with 15 doubles and 10 home runs.

Philadelphia got two 19-year-old prospects back for Arrieta, including the Padres 16th ranked prospect Joey Cantillo. San Diego drafted Cantillo 468th overall in 2017 out of Kailua High School in Honolulu and signed him away from the University of Kentucky.

Last season playing in Single and Advanced-A Cantillo won 10 games with a 2.26 ERA in 26 starts with 144 strikeouts. Baseball America (subscription required) says Cantillo has a “deceptive delivery and a promising 12-to-6 curveball” but still needs to fine tune his mechanics.

He’s only 19 and will have plenty of time to do that in the minor leagues with no pressure to hurry up the organization.

Efrain Contreras, a right-handed starter signed out of Mexico, turns 20 in January and also has a ways to go. Playing in the Dominican Summer League, Rookie Ball, and Short-A in 2018 he had a 2.11 ERA in 16 games, almost half of which were starts, with 76 strikeouts.

Last season Contreras made 23 starts and two relief apperances in Single-A with a 3.61 ERA and 121 strikeouts in 109.2 innings.

This mock deal is an unlikely one given the Phillies need for starting pitching, but it would boost the organization’s pitching prospect depth and clear them of Arrieta’s $20 million salary to sign better, more controllable players.

Be on the lookout for other moves made in our offseason simulation, including a blockbuster trade with the Pittsburgh Pirates.