Ex-Phillie David Robertson to sign with Rays; Jake Arrieta to sign with Padres

Two recent former Phillies pitchers latched on with new clubs Monday.

Jake Arrieta, released last week by the Cubs, is headed to the Padres, MLB Network reports. He is expected to start Wednesday, which would mean he’d miss this weekend’s series against the Phillies.

And David Robertson, who has not appeared in a major-league game since April 14, 2019 as a Phillie, is signing a major-league deal with the Rays, the Tampa Bay Times reports.

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Robertson is coming off of a successful stint pitching for Team USA in the Olympics, where he looked to reestablish value and prove to teams he was healthy enough to pitch. He lasted just seven appearances with the Phils in 2019 before suffering an elbow injury that eventually required Tommy John surgery. It was the first long-term injury of Robertson's career.

The Phillies had horrible luck with Robertson. They signed him to a two-year, $23 million contract after he’d averaged 63 appearances per year with a 2.76 ERA over 10 seasons, and they received almost no return on that investment.

Nor did they receive much of a return on the three-year, $75 million contract for Arrieta that expired after 2020. Arrieta returned to the Cubs this offseason on a one-year, $6 million contract and was one of the worst pitchers in baseball with a 6.88 ERA and .315 opponents’ batting average in 20 starts.

The Padres were desperate for starting pitching, though. Yu Darvish, Chris Paddack and Dinelson Lamet are on the injured list and Blake Snell has reached six innings four times in 22 starts. The Phils are in San Diego Friday through Sunday. The Padres also have four games left with the Braves in late September.