With the recent release of George Sherrill by the Los Angeles Dodgers, one wonders whether Ruben Amaro, Jr. and the Phillies’ front office will look to add him to their struggling core of relief pitchers.
Sherrill, himself, has struggled this year with an ERA of 7.17 and WHIP of 2.20, hence the reason for his outright release. However, he was solid for the Dodgers last year and has a career ERA of 3.64 and WHIP of 1.32.
He also has late inning experience, serving as the closer for Baltimore and recording a few saves for both Seattle and LA.
And perhaps the biggest asset to the Phillies is the fact that he is a lefty.
The Phillies sole left-handed reliever currently on the staff is JC Romero although they have a few prospects in the minors that they could recall should the need arise. None of their prospects has anywhere near the experience of a pitcher such as Sherrill.
This would be a good low-risk and high-reward signing that the Phillies will likely do their due diligence in examining. The lone problem, which is a big one, is Sherrill’s large salary ($4.5million). The Phillies are unlikely to be willing to put in a waiver claim on Sherrill and be obligated to pay the remainder of that large of a salary.
However, given Sherrill’s service time, should he clear waivers, he can opt not to be sent to the minors and declare himself a free agent. This would negate his contract, which might not be in his own best interest monetarily.
It will be interesting to see what transpires with Mr. Sherrill in the next 10 days as there aren’t many proven relief pitchers on the market. Maybe a change of scenery would serve him and his new team well.
The question is whether that team is in the majors or the minors, and I am betting it is the former rather than the latter.
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