PHILADELPHIA– With the Winter Meetings on the horizon this weekend, the Phillies have continued to make moves to supplement their roster ahead of the expected heavy lifting in player acquisitions.
On Thursday night, the team acquired left-handed reliever Jose Alvarez from the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim for reliever Luis Garcia.
On the surface, the move is a bit puzzling when examining both pitchers numbers from last season.
Alvarez, 29, threw 63 innings of 2.71 ERA ball and dominated left-handed hitters to the tune of a .203 batting average against.
During Alvarez’s six year career, he has an ERA of 3.69.
On the other hand, you have Garcia, 32 on Opening Day, who struggled to a 6.07 ERA in 46 innings last season.
While it was by far Garcia’s worst performance out of his six years, and he had a 2.65 ERA as recently as 2017, but he has proven to be inconsistent throughout his career.
Garcia’s career era is 4.11, nearly a half run higher than Alvarez’s, and Garcia is almost three years older.
Both players are eligible to become free agents in 2021.
Alvarez becomes the second left-handed relief option the Phillies have picked up this week, as lefty James Pazos came over in a deal with the Mariners on Tuesday.
