Phillies trade Jeremy Hellickson to Baltimore Orioles

Friday night's game against Atlanta was scheduled to be Jeremy Hellickson's final start before the trade deadline, one last gasp for the righthander to prove his value ahead of Monday.

That last start proved to be unnecessary as the Phillies traded Hellickson and cash considerations to Baltimore in exchange for outfielder Hyun Soo Kim, lefthanded pitching prospect Garrett Cleavinger and international signing bonus pool space. The trade occurred a few hours after he was scratched just 30 minutes before he was set to take the mound, signaling the likelihood that a deal was near.

Baltimore drafted Cleavinger in 2015's third round. The 23-year-old relief pitcher had a 6.28 ERA this season with Baltimore's double-A affiliate. He has struck out 42 batters this season and walked 23 in 382/3 inning. He has a mid-90s fastball and was the closer at Oregon. He will join former Ducks pitcher Cole Irvin at double-A Reading.

"We definitely like his arm. He still needs some work. He's a project, but he's a pretty interesting project to turn over to our player development group," general manager Matt Klentak said. "We think our player development staff on the pitching side does a really good job, and we're excited to see what they can do with Garrett. This guy, two years ago, was a third-round pick. He doesn't come out of nowhere. We obviously like his strikeout work quite a bit."

Kim, a lefthanded hitter, is in the final year of a two-year contract he signed with Baltimore in December of 2015 after leaving his native South Korean league. He will spend the rest of the season as a bench player behind Aaron Altherr, Odubel Herrera, and Nick Williams.

The Phillies — just as they did in the trade that sent Howie Kendrick to Washington — obtained extra bonus money to spend in the international free agent market. That could end up being the key to this trade. The Phillies have added an $1 million over the last few weeks.

"The name of the game is talent and there are limited way that we can acquire talent. One is through the draft, another is through trades and another is through signing international amateurs," Klentak said. "There are rules that govern how much we can spend in all those areas, but this was an opportunity for us to add to our pool and allow our international group to go and identify more talent. So in a sense not only have we added the named players in these two trades today, but we're also adding some yet-to-be-named players who haven't signed yet, but at some point in the next 11 months we'll make some more signings that in theory are part of these trades."

Hellickson had a 4.73 ERA this season in 20 starts. He allowed six runs last Saturday in five innings in what proved to be his final start with the Phillies. The 30-year-old had a 1.80 ERA in April but has a 5.79 ERA since. He reached the seventh inning just twice in 15 starts since May 1. Hellickson may not be an ace, but can give a contender a reliable pitcher every fifth day.

"At the time we acquired him, we talked about the importance of stability. He joined a young and unproven rotation," Klentak said. "For the last year and a half, he has delivered incredible stability to this pitching staff. He has held up his end of the bargain magnificently. I told him tonight on his way out of the park just how much we appreciated that because he entered this organization at the very beginning stages of the rebuild."

The Phillies tried to move him last July but could not find a suitable offer and instead opted to sign the pitcher this season to a $17 million qualifying offer. They still owe Hellickson roughly $7 million, which they will pay in order to sweeten the return. The Phillies are likely fielding similar trade offers to what they received for Pat Neshek, who went to Colorado on Wednesday night for three minor-leaguers.

The Phillies also traded Howie Kendrick to the Washington Nationals in exchange for single-A pitching prospect McKenzie Mills.

[Phillies trade Howie Kendrick to Washington Nationals in exchange for single-A pitching prospect]

The Phillies will need to replace Hellickson in the rotation. Jake Thompson, after throwing five scoreless innings on Friday after filling in for Hellickson, seems to have earned another look. The team's former top pitching prospect had a rough season until about five weeks ago when he found confidence in his change-up. He used the pitch for three of his five strikeouts.

It will be easy to judge the trades the Phillies make before Monday by looking at the minor leaguers they receive in return. But just as important is the opportunity granted to the team's prospects who fill the void left by the ones who are traded. That was the case for Thompson, who took his opportunity and ran with it.