The Phillies have selected the contracts of RHPs Seranthony Dominguez, Franklyn Kilome and Jose Taveras and LHP Ranger Suarez to the 40-man roster. In addition, they claimed INF Engelb Vielma from the San Francisco Giants.
To make room on the 40-man roster, RHPs Mark Appel and Alberto Tirado were designated for assignment and LHP Elniery Garcia was outrighted to triple-A Lehigh Valley.
Dominguez, Kilome, Taveras and Suarez were all eligible for the upcoming Rule 5 Draft and therefore needed to be added to the 40-man roster for protection.
Vielma is a 23-year-old from Venezuela who spent all six seasons of his minor league career with the Minnesota Twins before being claimed off waivers by the Giants on September 14. In 2017, Vielma split time between Minnesota’s double-A and triple-A affiliates, batting a combined .229/.273/.280 with 17 doubles, two triples, 25 walks and 85 strikeouts in 455 plate appearances.
The injury-riddled Mark Appel experiment is over in Philadelphia. The former #1 overall selection could not reinvent himself upon being traded from the Astros to the Phillies as part of the compensation for reliever Ken Giles.
Tirado also experienced an injury in 2017, but that wasn’t the only thing that led to the Phillies designating him for assignment. Tirado struggled in the rotation when he reached high-A and was subsequently moved to the bullpen. His struggles continued there before he got injured.
Garcia will remain in the Phillies organization but can be selected in the upcoming Rule 5 Draft. He declined this season after a nice 2016 season. We can’t buy too much into that season, however, as Garcia was suspended 50 games prior to the 2017 season for violating the league’s performance-enhancing drug policy.
A surprise non-addition to the 40-man roster is OF Carlos Tocci. Tocci will now be eligible for his third Rule 5 Draft, and this time there will probably be teams interested.