Philadephia Sportscene Philadelphia's Best Sports News Source
By Sam Dykstra | March 2, 2018 12:07 PM ET
Philadelphia Phillies’ Jorge Alfaro runs the bases after hitting a grand slam during the second inning of a baseball spring exhibition game against the Baltimore Orioles, Saturday, Feb. 24, 2018, in Clearwater, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
Out of options — it’s a scary-sounding phrase, in baseball and elsewhere, as if there are no alternatives and nowhere else to turn. For players, it’s something they’d prefer not to hear, but it can also represent an opportunity.
First, let’s establish what options are in baseball terms. Players on a 40-man roster technically are “optioned” went sent back to the Minors, unless it’s a rehab assignment. They have three option years after being added to a 40-man, so “he has two options remaining” means he has two years left in which he can be optioned, not that he can only be sent down two more times. Once those three option years are over, a player is deemed “out of options.” To send the player back to the Minors, a club must first place him on waivers, opening him up to all 29 other organizations.
The system represents an opportunity for players because, instead of constantly yo-yoing between the Majors and Minors, this allows them to be opened up to clubs that could find him a Major League spot. As a result, Major League teams tend to give out-of-options players more rope to prove themselves at the game’s highest level.
Below are several notable prospects who entered Spring Training out of options and are using Grapefruit and Cactus League play to prove they should be kept by their organization and not be placed on waivers:
Jorge Alfaro, C, Phillies: Prospect fatigue seems to apply to the 24-year-old backstop, who was first added to a 40-man roster in November 2014. But with 123 at-bats in the Majors, Alfaro is still seven short of losing prospect status. Those seven at-bats shouldn’t take long to accrue, however. The Phillies’ No. 7 prospect impressed with a .318/.360/.514 line and five homers in 29 games with the Phils last season following an Aug. 4 promotion, and he certainly needed that after hitting .241/.291/.358 in 84 games at Triple-A Lehigh Valley before that. There are still questions about his bat-to-ball skills as Alfaro struck out in 31.5 percent of all his plate appearances in 2017, and he’s got some defensive issues when it comes to framing. But Alfaro’s power potential and lightning arm should be enough to ensure he’ll be on Philadelphia’s Major League roster come Opening Day, and his performance at the end of last summer likely pushes him into the starting role at least to begin 2018.