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The Phillies pull off a minor trade, send reliever Edgar Garcia to the Tampa Bay Rays

The 23-year-old right-hander was designated for assignment last week.

Despite the struggles of the Phillies' bullpen, right-hander Edgar Garcia wasn't promoted from the satellite camp at Lehigh Valley and got traded Tuesday to the Tampa Bay Rays.
Despite the struggles of the Phillies' bullpen, right-hander Edgar Garcia wasn't promoted from the satellite camp at Lehigh Valley and got traded Tuesday to the Tampa Bay Rays.Read moreYONG KIM / Staff Photographer

Edgar Garcia got to the big leagues last season with a slider that the Phillies thought might make him a mainstay in the bullpen.

Now, having slid off the 40-man roster, the 23-year-old right-hander is moving out of the organization entirely.

The Phillies pulled off a minor trade Tuesday, shipping Garcia to the Tampa Bay Rays for a player to be named. The deal came together after the Phillies designated Garcia for assignment on Thursday to open a spot on the 40-man roster for top-prospect Alec Bohm.

Garcia didn’t make the Phillies’ opening-night roster out of training camp, even though the team began the season with 11 relievers, and he wasn’t viewed as a reinforcement for a bullpen that has an 8.77 ERA this season.

In 37 appearances last season, Garcia allowed 38 hits and 26 walks, struck out 45, and posted a 5.77 ERA in 39 innings.

MLB’s trade deadline is set for Aug. 31. Players who aren’t part of a team’s 60-man player pool must be identified as ”players to be named” in trades that are made in-season, so the Phillies and Rays might have agreed on the return for Garcia and will reveal the player after the season.

The Phillies, fresh off a weekend sweep of the New York Mets at home, will begin their first road trip of the season Tuesday night with the opener of a two-game series at Fenway Park against the Boston Red Sox, who have lost eight games in a row. The Red Sox haven’t dropped as many as nine consecutive games since 2014.