Contrary to a prior report, Camargo has not signed a minor-league deal with the Twins, Aaron Gleeman of The Athletic reports.
The Twins listed the wrong J. Camargo on their transaction page, when in fact they just re-upped on a minor-league deal with catcher Jair Camargo. Johan Camargo is a free agent.
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Phillies' Bryce Harper: Undergoes Tommy John surgery
Rotowire
Harper (elbow) underwent Tommy John and ulnar nerve transposition surgery Wednesday, Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia reports. He's expected to be sidelined for most of the first half of the 2023 season before returning to action as a designated hitter shortly before the All-Star break.
Harper was always expected to require some sort of procedure to address the injury to his throwing elbow injury that first cropped up in April, but it wasn't clear whether he would require Tommy John surgery. Now that he's had the surgery, Harper will face a shorter recovery timetable than pitchers who undergo the procedure, but he's still expected to be sidelined for the start of the 2023 season. Since the lefty-hitting Harper will be available to hit before he completes a throwing program, the Phillies will bring him back as a DH, but the team is hopeful that he'll be ready to play right field late in the regular season.
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Phillies' John Hicks: Inks minor-league deal with Philly
Rotowire
Hicks signed a minor-league contract with the Phillies on Friday.
The 33-year-old backstop hasn't seen extended action in the majors since 2019 with the Tigers, though he was able to put together a solid season for Triple-A Iowa last season with an .823 OPS. That being said, as long as J.T. Realmuto and Garrett Stubbs remain on the Phillies' big-league roster, it's hard to imagine HIcks getting any significant playing time in Philly.
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Phillies' Sam Coonrod: Agrees to deal with Phillies
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Coonrod avoided arbitration by signing a one-year, $775,000 deal with the Phillies on Friday, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reports.
Coonrod turned in a 7.82 ERA and 1.50 WHIP through 12.2 innings last season upon returning from a stint on the IL in mid-August. It's possible the 30-year-old righty could find his way back into the Phillies' bullpen after the team ranked 23rd in bullpen ERA last season (4.27), but he would likely need to show significant signs of improvement in order to do so.
Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said Wednesday that Harper is scheduled to undergo elbow surgery Nov. 23 in Los Angeles, Alex Coffey of The Philadelphia Inquirer reports.
Dombrowski said he's still unsure whether Harper will require Tommy John surgery or another type of procedure to repair the torn UCL in his right elbow, as a determination on that front won't be known until Harper's orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Neal ElAttrache, has a chance to evaluate the injury and provide a recommendation. Regardless of what kind of surgery Harper requires, Dombrowski said he doesn't expect it to "slow him down" whenever the 30-year-old is deemed ready to make his 2023 debut. Even if that's the case, Harper could still be limited strictly to designated-hitter duties to begin the upcoming season, and a potential Tommy John surgery would likely prevent the 30-year-old from playing the outfield until 2024. A more precise timeline for Harper's return to baseball activities won't be known until the surgery is completed next week.
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Phillies' Johan Rojas: Contract selected by Phillies
Rotowire
Rojas' contract was selected by the Phillies on Tuesday.
The move means Rojas can't be selected in the Rule 5 draft. The speedy outfielder may have a big-league future, and his wheels will give him added fantasy value if and when he eventually arrives, but his bat doesn't yet appear ready to push for a big-league spot. He struggled to a 68 wRC+ in 70 games for High-A Jersey Shore, though he at least improved to a respectable 100 wRC+ (the result of a .260/.333/.387 slash line) in 60 games for Double-A Reading. A strong start for Triple-A Lehigh Valley this year could earn him a big-league look, at which point the speed which helped him steal 62 bases last year could send fantasy players scrambling to pick him up.
Munoz was outrighted to Triple-A Lehigh Valley on Wednesday.
Munoz was optioned to Lehigh Valley in late September and will now lose his spot on the 40-man roster. It's possible that he serves as a non-roster invitee this spring.
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Phillies' Damon Jones: Sent to Lehigh Valley
Rotowire
Jones (shoulder) was outrighted to Triple-A Lehigh Valley on Wednesday.
Jones dealt with a left shoulder impingement for most of the 2022 season and will be outrighted to the minors as a procedural move to remove him from the 60-day injured list for now. It's unclear what his status will be for the start of spring training in 2023.
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Phillies' Kent Emanuel: Outrighted to Triple-A
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Emanuel (shoulder) was outrighted to Triple-A Lehigh Valley on Wednesday.
Emanuel dealt with a shoulder injury for most of the 2022 season and will be outrighted to the minors now that the offseason is underway. It's unclear whether he's expected to be healthy for spring training in 2023.
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Phillies' Hans Crouse: Sent to minors
Rotowire
Crouse (biceps) was outrighted to Triple-A Lehigh Valley on Wednesday.
Crouse spent most of the 2022 campaign sidelined due to right biceps tendinitis, but he began a rehab assignment in September. Although he'll lose his spot on the 40-man roster, it's possible he'll be ready for spring training in 2023.
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Phillies' Mark Appel: Outrighted to minors
Rotowire
Appel (elbow) was outrighted to Triple-A Lehigh Valley on Wednesday.
Appel spent the end of the 2022 season on the injured list due to right elbow inflammation, and it's not yet clear whether he'll be ready for spring training in 2023. If he's healthy this spring, he'll likely compete for a spot on the major-league roster.
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Phillies' Andrew Vasquez: Claimed off waivers
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Vasquez was claimed off waivers by the Phillies on Wednesday.
Vasquez made a career-high 10 appearances in the majors between the Blue Jays and Giants last year and posted a 6.23 ERA and 1.15 WHIP in 8.2 innings. He'll likely compete for a big-league roster spot during spring training in 2023.
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Phillies' Luis Ortiz: Claimed by Phillies
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Ortiz was claimed off waivers by the Phillies on Wednesday.
Ortiz made six relief appearances for the Giants in 2022 and posted a 1.04 ERA and 0.92 WHIP in 8.2 innings. He'll likely have the opportunity to compete for a big-league roster spot with the Phillies this spring.
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Phillies' Aaron Nola: Option for '23 picked up
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The Phillies exercised Nola's $16 million team option for 2023 on Monday, Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports.
Nola has held up to his end of the bargain and then some since signing a four-year, $45 million extension with the Phillies in March 2019, with the 16.1 WAR he's accumulated over that four-season stretch placing him sixth among all MLB pitchers. The 29-year-old right-hander will once again be back with the Phillies at a team-friendly rate in 2023 before he hits free agency for the first time next winter. The Phillies could look to negotiate with Nola on a long-term deal in the months to come to ensure he doesn't make it to the open market next offseason.
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Phillies' Bryce Harper: Weighing offseason elbow surgery
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Harper is expected to undergo an MRI later this week that will determine whether or not he'll require offseason surgery to address the torn UCL in his right elbow that he played through for most of the 2022 season, Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia reports.
The torn UCL first cropped up in mid-April and limited the lefty-hitting Harper to serving exclusively as a designated hitter the rest of the season, after the injury to his throwing elbow didn't respond well enough to platelet-rich plasma injections to allow the 30-year-old to resume duties in the outfield. Harper also missed considerable time after undergoing surgery in late June to repair a fractured thumb and struggled down the stretch in the regular season when he was activated from the injured list in late August, but the reigning National League MVP finally appeared to return to elite form at the plate during the Phillies' run to the World Series. At this point, neither the elbow or thumb injuries look to be anything that will affect the Harper at the dish heading into 2023, but the Phillies would ideally like to have him available to play in the outfield on a more frequent basis during the upcoming season while deploying either Kyle Schwarber or Nick Castellanos more frequently at DH. Harper's upcoming evaluation should help guide those plans, though it could influence his readiness for spring training depending on what kind of surgery he requires, if any. In a worst-case scenario, Harper may need Tommy John surgery to fully repair the ligament, but even then, he would still likely be able to play on an everyday basis as a DH before potentially gaining clearance to play the outfield late in the 2023 campaign.
