Sunday was a busy morning for the Phillies, who traded Jake Cave to the Rockies for cash considerations, extended the contract of Matt Strahm through 2025 with a club/vesting option for 2026, and reassigned right-handed relievers Andrew Bellatti and Jose Ruiz to minor-league camp.
There's much more clarity now with the Opening Day roster. The Cave trade likely means both Johan Rojas and Cristian Pache will make the team, barring a last-minute trade or signing. (Remember, a year ago Pache was acquired from Oakland a day before the opener.)
Cave was out of options so the Phillies would have likely lost him for nothing if they tried to pass him through waivers. Instead, they got cash.
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If both Rojas and Pache make the team, the Phils' bench will skew right-handed. The only lefty bat would be Garrett Stubbs, save for the nights Whit Merrifield spells Brandon Marsh in left field or Bryson Stott at second base. That's meaningful considering Rojas is a bat they might want to pinch-hit for late in games. The Phillies do have several left-handed-hitting choices in Kody Clemens, who was optioned to Triple A on Sunday, and David Dahl and Cal Stevenson, who were reassigned to minor-league camp on Friday.
The Bellatti and Ruiz moves appear to have solidified the 13-man pitching staff, with Connor Brogdon, Yunior Marte and Luis Ortiz likely to make the club.
The Strahm extension is reportedly $7.5 million in 2025 and the option is worth the same amount in 2026.