Phillies make mind-bending roster decision with trade deadline shakeup looming
By Austin Owens
The Philadelphia Phillies are 9.5 games up in the National League East. As trade season approaches, they are looking to bury the Braves and take their first division title since 2011 convincingly. However, the roster move they made on Friday has a lot of people scratching their heads.
Veteran utility man Whit Merrifield was released by the Phillies ahead of their game against the Oakland A's. Coming off of his third all-star season, Merrifield agreed to a one-year, $8 million contract this past off-season to join Philadelphia.
To take his spot on the 26-man roster, Weston Wilson was called up from Triple-A.
Phillies release Whit Merrifield with no warning in shocking move
It is understandable that the Phillies simply did not have a roster spot for Merrifield anymore. The team has been playing great baseball all season long and Merrifield hasn't exactly been the reason why. He has only appeared in 57 games this season where he posted a .199 batting average with three home runs and 11 runs batted in.
The only halfway logical explanation for the Phillies releasing Merrifield is that by dumping his salary they are making room for another piece at the trade deadline. However, since the Phillies rank first in Major League Baseball in team ERA, third in team batting average and fourth in runs scored, there is not a whole lot that the team will be looking for.
Additionally, freeing up $8 million does not do a whole lot of good in today's market. About the only thing they would be able to afford with that amount of money would be someone like Merrifield.
This move perhaps is so shocking because there are several other teams out there that would be willing to give up something for Whit Merrifield. Regardless of his performance so far this year, a three-time All-Star utility player with experience is the type of player organizations take chances on this time of year. By straight-up releasing Merrifield, the Phillies deprived themselves of any type of return.
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