The Philadelphia Phillies, who are dealing with a shaky bullpen that needs reinforcements, announced last night that they were purchasing the contract of pitcher Mark Appel from AAA Lehigh Valley.
Obviously, we don’t normally do posts about minor roster moves by National League teams, but Appel is a special case. In 2012, Appel, the Friday night starter for Stanford University, was in the mix to go #1 overall in the MLB Draft. The Houston Astros took Carlos Correa there instead, Byron Buxton went second, and Appel ended up dropping to the Pittsburgh Pirates at #8. This was the first year of the draft pool bonuses, and while the Pirates attempted to squeeze out as much as possible to maximize what they could pay Appel, he opted to return to Stanford.