Phillies cut ties with Saunders, Gomez; call up Perkins, Milner

The transactions executed Tuesday afternoon by the Phillies had percolated for weeks. The decision to jettison Michael Saunders and Jeanmar Gomez, two men who began the season as the team's No. 5 hitter and closer, was broached Sunday evening in the basement of Citizens Bank Park.

Manager Pete Mackanin met with members of the Phillies' front office after another loss. It was time, they decided, for change. When Saunders and Gomez arrived to the ballpark Tuesday for work, they were designated for assignment.

"They didn't show a lot of surprise," Mackanin said. "They both took it professionally."

The Phillies replaced them with two 26-year-olds who had produced at triple-A Lehigh Valley. The termination of Saunders and Gomez before the official start of summer marked an admission that $13.2 million was wasted.

It bought them a .617 OPS in 214 plate appearances and a 7.25 ERA in 22 1/3 innings.

"Obviously in January this was not the story we were hoping would be written," Phillies general manager Matt Klentak said. "I think one of the things as management that we have to do is to always keep an open mind. You can't lock yourself in and become too rigid in your decision making. You have to be willing to make adjustments when the time is right."

So Cameron Perkins and Hoby Milner, who will both make their major-league debuts with the Phillies, joined the roster. They arrived in time for the Phillies' 38th loss in 49 games, an agonizing 8-1 defeat to St. Louis in 11 innings.

"Well," Mackanin said, "it was a good game for 10 innings."

They lost because Edubray Ramos faced two batters and walked them both. Casey Fien, acquired in a cash transaction with Seattle earlier this season, surrendered a two-run double to Stephen Piscotty. Yadier Molina crushed a two-run homer. Tommy Pham provided an exclamation point with another two-run homer.

Ramos is tops in the Phillies' bullpen with a 26 percent strikeout rate. But has walked 14 percent of the batters he has faced, and that is an untenable figure. He now owns a 4.55 ERA.

Jeremy Hellickson danced through seven innings. He benefited from some luck on balls in play and failures by the Cardinals with runners in scoring position. Constant losing, Hellickson said, has not infected the clubhouse. But the roster changes were noticed.

"Those were two great teammates that I wish could have stuck around a little longer," Hellickson said. "But that's just how it goes sometimes."

Six days earlier, Klentak had extolled Saunders' value in the clubhouse and potential to ride a hot streak. Saunders batted five times after those comments, with two hits. What changed between Klentak's assessment then and the roster move Tuesday?

"The truth is we still believe Michael Saunders is capable of getting hot and getting through a stretch where he gets going again," Klentak said. "Hopefully for him that will happen. But we reached a point now, we're getting toward the end of June."

Saunders signed a $9 million deal late last winter. He was an all-star last season with Toronto. But he faded in the second half, and that is why he was available on a one-year contract in January. Saunders, over the last 365 days, has batted .204 with a .647 OPS in 512 plate appearances. There was enough evidence to suggest Saunders could not save his season as a part-time player with the Phillies.

"We just came to the conclusion that we can't wait forever for Mike to come around," Mackanin said. "Mike's a better hitter than he's shown, but he just hasn't done it. It seemed to be a good time to do it."

He will likely clear waivers and sign with another team for a prorated amount of the major-league minimum salary. The Phillies are responsible for the remainder of his money.

The same applies to Gomez, who re-signed for $4.2 million. He saved 37 games for the Phillies last season. He lost his closer's job less than two weeks into this season. The Phillies tried to trade him last July, when his value was highest, but found no takers.

Neither Perkins nor Milner was a high draft pick or ever regarded as a prospect, but they have performed well in the minors. They are older than the typical player at his first call-up. They are just the first benefactors of a roster shuffle between now and the July 31 trade deadline.

The Phillies, 69 games into the season, opted for change to the worst team in baseball.

"I do think bringing up young players can have a positive effect on teams sometimes," Klentak said. "Not to put all the pressure on the two guys we just called up. But injecting some new life into a team could be helpful."