This offseason we saw the value of having International bonus pool money.  As teams geared up to attempt to sign Shohei Ohtani, some teams never really had a chance to sign him since their bonus pool money had been used up.  The Phillies picked up money in July trades wtih the Colorado Rockies and the Baltimore Orioles and have picked up some more today from the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The Phillies announced that they sent Rule 5 selection Nick Burdi to the Pirates:

Burdi was a Phillie for about 45 minutes.

The Phillies 40-man roster will be full once they formally add relievers Pat Neshek and Tommy Hunter to the roster.  So, the Phillies took advantage of their high Rule 5 draft slot to simply increase financial flexibility to sign more prospects on the international market.

The flexibility allowed the Phillies to sign catcher Abrahan Gutierrez, who unexpectedly became a free agent after the Atlanta Braves were hit for sanctions for misconduct.

 

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