The Maltese Falcons made their second addition to their Keeper Roster Wednesday, announcing the acquisition of first baseman/outfielder Kyle Schwarber (3/$6) from the Burlingame Blue Ducks. In exchange for Schwarber, the Ducks will acquire prospects Heliot Ramos (Minors) and Jeter Downs (Minors) along with a 2022 8th Round Pick (107th Overall).
The Philadelphia Phillies and Schwarber agreed to a four-year contract on Wednesday. According to Jayson Stark of The Athletic, it's a four-year deal worth up to $20 million annually. The 29-year-old will join a loaded Philadelphia Phillies lineup, including Bryce Harper, J.T. Realmuto, and Rhys Hoskins. Schwaber slashed .266/.374/.554 slash line with 32 home runs, 76 runs, and 71 RBI across 471 plate appearances for the Red Sox/Nationals in 2021.
The new Phillies slugger consistently mashes 30 home runs, and his power bat should fit in nicely playing half of his games in hitter-friendly Citizens Bank Park making him a strong value at $6 in his final season of control.
Schwarber's addition could push utilityman Josh Rojas (2FA/$5) off the Falcons Keeper Roster, but additional moves still could be in the works.
Ramos and Downs might play different positions, but share very similar ETAs and trajectories. Both saw dents to their values in 2021, but remain solid bets as future everyday players in the big leagues.
Downs jumped two levels to Triple-A Worcester last year, and it didn’t take, as he hit .191/.272/.333 in 99 games. He made less contact than before and did less on contact — he’d been a doubles machine in 2019, but last year couldn’t even do that, with his hits going for doubles at half the rate of the previous year. He wasn’t making the same kind of contact, even against the more hitter-friendly major-league ball. It’s not a swing issue, and he showed signs of life when he went to the AFL in October, taking good at-bats and hitting several balls hard. He played mostly shortstop, but there’s broad consensus he can’t play there in the majors, while he’s shown 55 defense at second.
Ramos was young for Double A last year at 21, and didn’t hit well for Richmond, but the Giants bumped him up to Triple A and got similar results from him. The 19th overall pick in 2017, Ramos has filled out physically and looks like he should be able to overpower the ball and make hard contact even with some swing and miss. He shows plus raw power in BP and occasionally in games, while pitchers at the higher levels saw some vulnerability to soft stuff and he didn’t make a counter-adjustment. He’s a solid-average runner who has mostly played center so far, but his body is going to push him to right field, where his plus arm will help him become an above-average defender. He may be a 150-strikeouts-a-year kind of hitter, but who hits .280 with 20-25 homers and a fringy OBP, making him a solid regular who would have to improve his pitch recognition to become more.
The Ducks have hopes both are ready for Opening Day activations in 2023.
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