Once a highly touted prospect and the centerpiece of a mega-trade, Tommy Joseph has found himself on the outside looking into the Phillies 25-man roster. The former catcher battled back from concussions to replace Ryan Howard at first base, but his power hasn’t been enough to maintain an everyday job in Philly.
Rhys Hoskins replaced Joseph as the everyday starter last season and the organization added free agent Carlos Santana to stabilize a young lineup.
At the age of 26, Joseph still hasn’t reached his first year of arbitration. An extremely cheap option for any club, Joseph made just $543,000 last year and has two more seasons of team control before ever seeing an arbiters table.