Nick Piccone
Jeremy Hellickson will remain with the Phillies through the end of the season, according to CSN’s Jim Salisbury. This is after he was reportedly claimed on waivers, but the Phillies pulled him back, therefore making him ineligible to be traded for the rest of the season.
According to sources, the veteran right-hander was recently claimed on waivers. The Phillies were unable to work out a deal with the claiming team and Hellickson was pulled back, making him ineligible to be traded the remainder of the season.
Hellickson drew interest before the Aug. 1 trade deadline, but the Phillies did not receive an offer that they liked so they hung on to the pitcher. A player traded after Aug. 1 must first go through waivers.
Players traded in August must be on their new team’s roster by Sept. 1 — Thursday — to gain playoff eligibility. Players can still be traded in waiver deals after Sept. 1, but they would be ineligible for the playoffs.
Hellickson’s contract is up after this season and will become a free agent. It’s likely whichever team claimed him is in the playoff hunt and thought giving up little for Hellickson would be a win for them. The Phillies clearly wanted something of value in return, or else they would’ve traded Hellickson for cash.
Does Matt Klentak think he can re-sign the 29-year-old? He would definitely help out a rotation that, heading into next year, has plenty of question marks surrounding it. If the Phillies don’t re-sign Hellickson, they’ll get a compensatory pick in next year’s draft as long as they give him a qualifying offer. Salisbury notes that could be close to $17 million. He also notes that even if the Phillies do give him a qualifying offer, the chances of Hellickson accepting that are slim because he could probably get a long-term deal as a free agent.
The Phillies likely won’t compete next season, but I like Hellickson and think he could make good trade bait at next year’s deadline if the Phillies are out of it by then. But Hellickson probably doesn’t want to go through that two seasons in a row, and likely would look for a long-term answer this offseason. Unless the Phillies, you know, offer him a long-term deal. I just don’t see that happening.