Asche DFA’d to make room for another Rollins
Phillies general manager Matt Klentak continued his offseason tour of major league yard sales Friday, picking up left-handed pitcher David Rollins off baseball’s waiver wire. To squeeze him into the club’s 40-man roster mix, Cody Asche was designated for assignment.
Yet another promising prospect turned mediocre player, Asche, a career .240 hitter, can either sign a free agent deal elsewhere or subsequently choose to accept a minor league assignment. A fourth-round draft pick in 2011, Asche hit .213 in 71 games last season, spending the bulk of the summer in the minors.
Rollins, who turns 27 on Dec. 21, had been waived by the Texas Rangers ... some 10 days after they’d claimed him. He had spent last season with Triple-A Tacoma and the Seattle Mariners.
Rollins went 5-0 with two saves and posted a 3.77 ERA in 37 relief appearances in Tacoma. With the Mariners, he went 1-0 with a 7.71 ERA in 11 appearances. Since being waived by the Mariners, Rollins had been claimed Nov. 18 by the Cubs, then went back on the wire and claimed again Nov. 22 by Texas.
At least the Phillies waited until the calendar turned another page.
Rollins was originally selected in the 24th round of the 2011 draft by Toronto. He is 28-16 record with a 3.35 ERA in 132 career minor league games (64 starts). He has pitched in 31 major league games, all with Seattle.
*** In other news, the Phillies settled on a minor league managerial and coaching mix. At Class AAA Lehigh Valley, former Reading manager Dusty Wathan will step up and oversee the IronPigs. That spot at DoubleA Reading will be filled by Greg Legg, who managed there for three seasons in the early 2000s.
John Mizerock, once a manager of the Wilmington Blue Rocks, will move from Williamsport to Reading to coach under Legg. Steve Schrenk will be a pitching coach there, his 14th season in that role in the Phillies’ or- ganization.
In other moves, Shawn Williams steps up from Lakewood to manage the high-A Clearwater Threshers and former major leaguer Marty Malloy will serve as manager in Lakewood.
Pat Borders will return in Williamsport as manager. And for the Gulf Coast League Phillies, former Phils third baseman Charlie Hayes has taken a job as a coach.
*** The Phillies and broadcaster Scott Franzke have agreed to a five-year contract extension. The announcement was made by David Buck, the Phillies’ Senior Vice President of Marketing and Advertising Sales.
The 2017 season will mark Franzke’s 12th year with the Phillies and his 11th as the club’s main play-by-play radio commentator, having worked the entire time alongside his broadcast partner, Larry Andersen. Franzke is a two-time winner of the Pennsylvania Sportscaster of the Year Award (2010 & 2015), given by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association.
“We couldn’t be happier to extend our relationship with Scott,” said Buck. “He and Larry Andersen have been entertaining Phillies fans for over a decade and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.”
Franzke, 44, made his Phillies debut in 2006, when he was named the pre- and post-game host for Phillies radio broadcasts and did radio play-by-play in the middle innings. In 2007, he took over as the main play-by-play commentator for Phillies radio broadcasts. He and Andersen were honored at the Philadelphia A.I.R. (Achievement in Radio) Awards, winning for Best Live Sports Event Coverage in 2007 and 2008.
“My family and I are very excited and I just can’t imagine doing this job anywhere else at this stage of my career,” said Franzke. “I’m humbled and thankful to the Phillies for wanting this relationship to continue for another five years.”
Phillies fans can listen to Franzke, Andersen and Jim Jackson on SportsRadio 94WIP and the Phillies Radio Network throughout the entire Major League Baseball season.