ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) - The Baltimore Orioles acquired starting pitcher Jeremy Hellickson in a trade late Friday night, a move made in hopes of boosting a struggling rotation and maybe keeping them in the chase for a wild card spot.
Hellickson’s acquisition from the Philadelphia Phillies was announced after Baltimore’s 8-2 loss at Texas. That dropped the Orioles 6½ games back for the AL’s second wild card, with five teams between them and that spot.
Outfielder Hyun Soo Kim and Double-A left-hander Garrett Cleavinger were deal to the Phillies, who also will get international amateur signing bonus pool allocation. Philadelphia will send $4,617,486 to Baltimore to cover most of the $6,109,290 remaining of Hellickson’s $17.2 million salary.
“Jeremy Hellickson is a solid, dependable veteran major league starter who knows how to win in the American League,” said Dan Duquette, the Orioles’ executive vice president for baseball operations.
Hellickson started his big league career with a 3.78 ERA for Tampa Bay from 2010-14, then spent 2015 with Arizona before going 18-15 in 52 starts for Philadelphia the past two seasons. He was 6-5 with a 4.73 ERA in 20 starts this year for the Phillies, whose 36-64 record is the worst in the majors.
“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 in this deal magnificently. I told him how much we all appreciated that,” Phillies general manager Matt Klentak said. “He did his job as well as we could’ve possibly expected. We’re going to miss him, but we’re happy for him to join a playoff chase.”
Because of inclement weather and trade speculation, Hellickson was scratched earlier Friday night from his scheduled start at home against Atlanta. Hellickson was pulled about an hour before a game the Phillies won 10-3.
Kim, a native of South Korea, hit .232 with one homer and 10 RBIs in 56 games for the Orioles, and had been relegated to the bench behind rookie Trey Mancini. The 29-year-old outfielder hit .302 last year in his major league debut after signing with Baltimore.
Cleavinger has 42 strikeouts over 38 2-3 innings in 27 appearances for Double-A Bowie. The Orioles selected him in the third round of the 2015 amateur draft.
Klentak said Philadelphia has increased its 2017-18 signing bonus allocation from $4.75 million to nearly $6 million. A hard cap took effect with the signing period that started July 2.
The Phillies also traded infielder/outfielder Howie Kendrick to the Washington Nationals for minor league pitcher McKenzie Mills. Kendrick has a $10 million salary, of which $5 million is deferred, and Philadelphia will send Washington $1,585,929. That leaves the Nationals’ net cost at $190,027 - the difference between a prorated share of the $535,000 minimum and the $1,775,956 Kendrick is owed for the rest of the season. The Phillies remain responsible for Kendrick’s deferred payments.
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