Phillies, Pat Neshek agree to reunion

Earlier today, the biggest Phillies news involved a pitching prospect most recently seen in the Arizona Fall League.

The bespectacled, perfectly monikered young hurler put in quite a performance this past autumn, exemplifying the (thus far) ideal way in which we so often envisioning trade deadline deals going for rebuilding teams: Hammer was a product of a veteran being converted into prospects via the Pat Neshek trade with the Rockies orchestrated by Matt Klentak, and at the moment, at least one of the three minor leaguers acquired in the deal seems to have some promise.

It makes sense, then, that Klentak would consider bring the 37-year-old Neshek back for another go. Well, that, and Neshek’s profound effectiveness out of the Phillies’ bullpen for the first half of last season, during which he appeared in 40.1 innings of relief, logging a 1.12 ERA, 45 SO, and a 9 SO/W ratio. He was the team’s unarguable and sole all-star, and was cashed in, as stated, in late July for three Colorado prospects: The aforementioned Hammer, RHP Alejandro Requena, and IF Jose Gomez.

Things seemed to develop quickly this afternoon as the Phillies brought back the veteran reliever/side-arming autograph hound, reportedly going from “progressing toward a deal” to having it confirmed in about nine minutes. It looks to be a two-year set-up in the range of $16.25, according to Phillies infiltrator Todd Zolecki.

You knew this team would chase relievers, and they got a good one back—Neshek appeared in 22 innings for the Rockies after his trade with a 2.45 ERA in 28 games. My god, he had 69 SO and only 6 BB last season; not to mention his 22.5 SO/W vs. right-handed batters.