February 16, 2021
With very little time to spare before pitchers and catchers will report to Clearwater for the start of Phillies spring training, the team announced on Tuesday, a day before the report date, 31 additional non-roster invitees who will be joining the rest of the team at their Florida facility.
Those listed by the club included Bryson Stott, Christian Bethancourt, Ronald Torreyes, Matt Joyce, Neftali Feliz, Ivan Nova and, among others, Odubel Herrera.
Phillies have invited 12 non-roster invitees to attend major league camp.
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) February 16, 2021
In addition, 19 players have been extended invitations to attend spring training mini-camp. pic.twitter.com/xlyuippf0g
It's also worth noting that guys like Herrera (and Stott for that matter) aren't actually taking part in big-league camp, but rather a mini-camp that will be full of minor leaguers and prospects.
Still, this would be the first natural step to the Phillies bringing back the former All-Star centerfielder — who was suspended 85 games back in 2019 after being charged with domestic assault (although those charges were later dropped) — if that's what they indeed intend on doing. Currently, he's under contract through the 2021 season and is on the books for $10 million this year either way.
If the team was fully committed to moving on from Herrera due to the past domestic violence allegations levied against him, they would simply just not invite him to camp. That's not what they did.
Instead, they decided to include him among the 31 names announced on Friday, and a cursory search of Twitter tells you all you need to know about the fan reaction to the decision — it ain't great. In fact, the Phillies clearly saw this negative reaction, as they acted quickly to correct any baseball writer that was making it seem as though Herrera would be in big-league camp with everyone else.
Clarification: Herrera will attend a mini-camp populated by minor leaguers. The other players mentioned in previous tweet will be in major-league camp. https://t.co/p8MJbxtqSN
— Scott Lauber (@ScottLauber) February 16, 2021
It's hardly surprising that the team would want to distance itself from Herrera given what unfolded back in 2019 and the organizational black-eye it caused, but by simply inviting him to Clearwater, it appears they're not yet willing to separate entirely.
The 29-year-old outfielder was charged with assaulting his girlfriend in an Atlantic City hotel back in May 2019, and although those charges were later dropped, Herrera was suspended without pay for the remainder of the season, a total of 85 games. His last game in a Phillies uniform — or any uniform for that matter — was on May 26, 2019.
Last January, the team removed Herrera from the 40-man roster and opted not to include him on their expanded 60-man roster last season, which may be the greatest indication yet that the Phillies don't really intend on having Herrera back this season in Philly. Still, he has remained with the organization.
Now, Herrera will try to work his way back on to the team's 40-man roster.
But if he doesn't, he could still remain within the organization like he did last year. That's because the Phillies can't just cut Herrera without being forced to pay him the remainder of his contract — and it counting against the luxury tax. In fact, the collectively-bargained joint policy on domestic violence forbids a team from voiding the contract of (or outright releasing) a player who violates it. If the Phillies are able to find a willing trade partner, however, they'd be able to get that salary off the books, but that likely requires other teams to get a look at Herrera and decide whether or not he's still worth it after nearly two years off.
There is a concern, however, that the Phillies could be doing this in a effort to ease a possible return to the roster for Herrera. After all, the Phillies haven't really been able to fix the hole he left in center field, and the position remains one of the team's biggest areas of need, if not the biggest.
In most cases, having a former All-Star just sitting there unused would be hard to justify. In this one, however, it may be harder for the Phillies to justify him being there at all.
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