Phillies trade Jake Cave, extend Matt Strahm

The Phillies traded Jake Cave to the Colorado Rockies on Sunday. Cave, 31, hit .212 with a .620 OPS in 65 games for the Phils in 2023.

Cave is having a solid spring, but the team faced an overcrowded outfield situation: Nick Castellanos is locked in at right field, and Brandon Marsh, Johan Rojas, Whit Merrifield, and Cristian Pache remain in the mix for significant playing time in left and center. From that group, only Rojas could be assigned to the minors without clearing waivers.

Separately on Sunday, Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski announced that the organization extended LHP Matt Strahm through the 2025 season with a club/vesting option for 2026.

Strahm, 32, proved to be a versatile weapon for the Phils in 2023, starting ten games, making 46 relief appearances, and posting a 3.29 ERA and 1.02 WHIP in 87.2 total regular season innings. He also made seven scoreless appearances in the 2023 postseason. Matt Gelb from The Athletic reports that the extension will pay Strahm $7.5 million in 2025, and that the 2026 option has a $4.5 million floor with escalating and vesting clauses based on the number of innings Strahm pitches in ’25.