The Phillies made a minor trade on Tuesday afternoon. Less than week after being designated for assignment by the Phillies to make room for newcomer Michael Saunders, the Phillies traded pitcher Severino Gonzalez to the Miami Marlins, the club announced. The Phillies will received either cash or a player to be named later in exchanged for the right-hander. After designating Gonzalez for assignment, the Phillies had 10 days to trade, release, or reassign Gonzalez. If reassigned, Gonzalez would have had to clear waivers.
Gonzalez struggled at the Major League level for the Phillies, going 4-5 with a 6.68 earned run average in 34 Major League games. Gonzalez made seven starts in 2015 after being rushed from the minor leagues in the face of a pitching-starved Phillies team. In 2016, Gonzalez reinvented himself as a reliever in the minor leagues, mostly because the Phillies saw many pitching prospects rise through the system. After some success in the minor leagues in 2016, Gonzalez earned a Phillies promotion in 2016 and made 27 appearances as a reliever.
Gonzalez still has some upside, and I think if the Phillies were able to get Gonzalez through waivers they might have liked to keep him in the system. With many prospects on the 40-man roster, Gonzalez was not a luxury the Phillies could keep handy on their roster at Triple-A to be summoned upon an injury. Sometimes after a player is designated, a team like the Marlins might state their intention to claim a player like Gonzalez and the teams will work out a deal. Chances are the Phillies will face Gonzalez in the big leagues at some point as a member of the Marlins.
