Scintillating: Six(6) of the Phillies’ major MLB Winter Meetings moves, number 4 is Groundbreaking
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We compiled a list of the most important Winter Meetings transactions in Philadelphia Phillies team history.
The MLB Winter Meetings are typically a whirlwind of activity across the league. There’s no shortage of excitement when the top team executives gather with players and their representatives for four days of wheeling and dealing, from little transactions to massive franchise-altering agreements.
It’s difficult to predict what the Phillies’ front office will do at this year’s Winter Meetings. Because the organization has some holes to fill, president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski and general manager Sam Fuld should be in town. It’s improbable that they’ll make a game-changing move this time. However, you never know.
The Philadelphia Phillies have had their fair share of significant Winter Meetings over the years, although not all moves are completed at the December convention. Sometimes it’s just the groundwork that’s laid for future signings and trades.
The Phillies have worked on some big deals at the Winter Meetings that didn’t come to fruition until later. Think of the famous Roy Halladay trade in 2009, when they finalized the deal with the Toronto Blue Jays about a week after the Winter Meetings concluded. And then there was Bryce Harper’s February 2019 free agent signing, which was kick-started the preceding December when the Phillies emerged as one of the frontrunners in the Harper sweepstakes.
That being said, here are six of the franchise’s biggest deals to happen during the Winter Meetings.
First up, an 11-year contract that may yet prove to be one of the biggest Winter Meetings signings in franchise history.
No. 6: Phillies sign Trea Turner to an 11-year deal on Dec 5 , 2022
The Phillies’ most recent big Winter Meetings signing was only a year ago. Although for Trea Turner, his first season in Philadelphia might have felt more like a decade with the ups and downs he went through.
Fresh off their World Series defeat at the hands of the Houston Astros, the Phillies landed one of the biggest free agents on the market when they inked Turner to an 11-year, $300 million contract. It’s a deal that will see him in red pinstripes through the 2033 season, in theory.
At the time, the move was deemed a massive success for Dombrowski and Fuld. About halfway through the 2023 season, however, the tide had turned as the two-time All-Star shortstop struggled through the worst season of his illustrious career with a paltry .247 batting average and .687 OPS at the All-Star break.
As it turned out, once Turner locked in, he helped catapult the Phillies to a 90-win season and the top Wild Card spot before helping guide them to within a couple of victories of the World Series. It wasn’t the outcome many had hoped for (or assumed) when he was first signed, as a second consecutive trip to the Fall Classic was on everyone’s minds.
No. 5: Phillies sign Mets’ free agent Zack Wheeler on Dec 9 , 2019
Another free agent signing from more recent memory is the 2019 deal with ace pitcher Zack Wheeler. On Dec. 9, Fuld’s predecessor Matthew Klentak inked the former New York Met to a five-year, $118 million contract, leading many to declare the Philadelphia Phillies as one of the winners of that year’s Winter Meetings.
While the Phillies didn’t make the postseason in his first two years in Philadelphia, it wasn’t for lack of anything Wheeler did.
After going 4-2 with a 2.92 ERA in 11 starts during the COVID-shortened 2020 season, he came through for his new team in a big way in 2021. He pitched to a 14-10 record with a 2.78 ERA, led the Majors with 213 1/3 innings, and led the National League with 247 strikeouts. The right-hander finished second in Cy Young Award voting, was named to his first All-Star team, and even received MVP votes.
Paired with Aaron Nola, Wheeler and his 2.82 ERA helped carry the 2022 Phillies into the postseason and all the way to the World Series. Unfortunately, after a great run through the Wild Card, NLDS, and NLCS, he fell apart in the World Series and lost both his starts against the Astros with a 5.23 ERA.
No. 4: Phillies trade for Johnny Callison on Dec. 9, 1959
In one of the shrewdest Winter Meetings trades in Phillies history, general manager John Quinn swiped Johnny Callison from the Chicago White Sox in 1959 for Gene Freese, who spent all of one season in Chicago. Callison went on to become a mainstay in right field for the Phillies for 10 seasons and ended up as one of the top outfielders in franchise history.
Initially very high on the 20-year-old, the White Sox gave up on Johnny Callison after just 67 games over two seasons and a .220 batting average. The Phillies, who had finished last in the National League in 1959 with a 64-90 record, were content to let the young outfielder figure it out.
And figure it out he did.
After a couple of years in Philadelphia, Callison put together an All-Star season in 1962. He hit .300 with an .854 OPS, hit 23 home runs, drove in 83, led the NL with 10 triples, and earned MVP votes. His breakout campaign coincided with the Phillies climbing out of the basement of the NL standings, back to a respectable 81-80 record.
Callison put together another pair of All-Star seasons in 1964 and 1965, and while he never hit for that kind of average again, he discovered his power stroke. In 1964, he hit 31 home runs, drove in 104, and scored 101 times. He was second in MVP voting and the Phillies challenged for the NL crown, finishing 1.0 game behind the first-place St. Louis Cardinals.
No. 3: Phillies take Shane Victorino in Rule 5 Draft on Dec. 13, 2004
In what seems like a story with a fairytale ending, the Phillies selected Shane Victorino from the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2004 Rule 5 Draft at the end of the 2004 Winter Meetings. This was his second trip through the Rule 5 process after the San Diego Padres tried the same thing a year earlier but returned him to Los Angeles.
The Phillies took a gamble on the 24-year-old outfielder and luckily had to keep him — even after he didn’t make the big club out of Spring Training in 2005 — when the Dodgers declined to take him back. That season, the Flyin’ Hawaiian won the Triple-A International League MVP Award and then made his Phillies debut, slashing .294/.263/.647 over 21 games.
Victorino became an integral part of the Phillies playoff teams from 2007 to 2011 and a vital piece of the 2008 World Series championship squad. He made two All-Star teams (2009 and 2011) while in Philadephia and won three consecutive Gold Gloves from 2008 to 2010.
The 2008 season was one of his best. He slashed .293/.352/.447 and scored 102 runs with 14 home runs and 36 steals in 146 games. In the postseason, he hit .269 with an .826 OPS, drove in 13 runs and hit two homers, including his grand slam in Game 2 of the NLDS.
No. 2: Phillies acquire Tug McGraw from Mets on Dec. 3, 1974
In another Winter Meetings move that saw the Phillies claim a division rival’s player, Philadelphia traded for Tug McGraw from the New York Mets on Dec. 3, 1974.
The left-handed reliever had spent nine seasons in New York before being acquired by the Phillies, along with Don Hahn and Dave Schneck. The Phillies sent Del Unser, John Stearns, and Mac Scarce back in what turned out to be a winning deal for general manager Paul Owens.
Known for his larger-than-life personality, McGraw and his screwball spent 10 seasons in Philadelphia, where he threw 722 innings of 3.10 ERA relief, finishing with a 49-37 record and 94 of his 180 career saves.
The “Ya Gotta Believe” mantra-toting southpaw made a big first impression with his new team, being named to his second-career All-Star game in his 1975 Phillies debut season. He threw a whopping 102 2/3 innings over 56 appearances, converted 14 saves, and kept a tidy 2.98 ERA and a 1.17 WHIP.
Already a World Series champion with the 1969 Mets, McGraw made playoff appearances in 1976, 1977, and 1978 with the Phillies before finally helping to secure the franchise’s first World Series in 1980. He also pitched in the 1981 postseason.
That 1980 championship season was McGraw’s best with the Phillies. He pitched 92 1/3 innings over 57 games, recorded 20 saves, and ran a 1.46 ERA and a 0.92 WHIP. He finished fifth in Cy Young Award voting and even earned MVP votes. In the World Series, he made four appearances with a 1.17 ERA and struck out 10 in 7 2/3 innings, registering two saves.
How big was this Winter Meetings trade? McGraw got the final out of the Fall Classic that year.
No. 1: Phillies sign Pete Rose on Dec. 5, 1978
Widely considered the team’s best Winter Meetings deal, the Phillies inked hitting legend Pete Rose to a four-year contract on Dec. 5, 1978. Beating out many suitors, the Phils made the 38-year-old the highest-paid player at $800,000 a year.
After the Phillies lost three consecutive NLCS games from 1976 to 1978, hiring Rose was a move aimed to help them get over the hump and ultimately win a World Series. And did it ever pay off. He played for Philadelphia for five seasons, helping the team win the 1980 Fall Classic.
The all-time hits leader had 826 of his 4,256 hits as a Phillie, including his record-breaking 3,631st hit in 1981, which allowed him to pass Stan Musial as the all-time NL hits leader. From 1979 to 1982, he was named to four All-Star games and won his only career Silver Slugger in 1981.
In his first season with the Phillies, he hit.331 with an.848 OPS and an NL-leading.418 on-base percentage.
His regular-season average in 1980 was.282, but he led the league in doubles with 42. However, in the postseason, he delivered on what the front management had hoped for from a seasoned playoff player. Rose hit.326 with a.780 OPS in 11 games to win his third World Series and, more crucially, the team’s first.
With the Phillies, he continued to perform on the grandest stages far into his forties. He hit.300/.364/.350 in the 1981 NLDS and.344/.382/.375 in the 1983 playoffs, helping the Phillies win the NL title and return to the World Series.
Rose concluded his 745-game Phillies career with a.291 batting average and.726 OPS, but his lasting legacy in the city is the franchise’s first World Series title.
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