There’s buzz that the Phillies are shopping Jean Segura, who has played second base, third base and shortstop for them the last two seasons and has two more years under contract.
What could the Phillies be looking to do with Segura in a trade? The likelihood is they’re looking to shed some salary in a deal that doesn’t bring back much in the way of players.
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Segura turns 31 in March. The Phillies owe him $29.5 million over the next two seasons. He’s due $14.25M in 2021, the same amount in 2022 and there is a $1M buyout of his $17M club option in 2023. He has a full no-trade clause, though there are ways around that. He waived it when he was dealt from Seattle to the Phillies two years ago. If the Phils find a suitor this winter, it likely won’t be a bad team that would have little appetite for that contract.
Trading Segura could allow the Phillies to free up more money to potentially re-sign J.T. Realmuto or Didi Gregorius. If a Segura trade does indeed facilitate the re-signing of one of those two popular players, the Phils would be wise to do it because both are more impactful than Segura.
In two seasons with the Phillies, Segura has not delivered as expected offensively, showing some signs of decline. He's hit .276 with a .750 OPS here compared to .308 with an .803 OPS the three years prior.
Segura has been a good teammate here, though, moving all over the infield to accommodate the Phillies’ roster shuffling. He’s played third base to make room for Didi Gregorius at shortstop and played second base to make room for Alec Bohm at third.
MLB
Gregorius, 30, thrived with the Phillies this summer, hitting .284/.339/.488 with 10 homers and 40 RBI in 237 plate appearances. His left-handed bat fit well into run-producing spots in the Phillies' lineup. He’s a free agent after signing a one-year, $14 million contract with the Phillies to re-establish his value.
Gregorius is in line for something like $15 million a year on a multi-year deal. Really, he’s in line for a contract similar to the one the Phillies acquired from Seattle with Segura.
The Phillies traded Carlos Santana and J.P. Crawford to the Mariners in December 2018 for Segura, who has been traded four times in his career and three times since 2016. Crawford won a Gold Glove this year but hasn’t improved much offensively. He’s a .231/.325/.359 hitter in 853 plate appearances.
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