Phillies DFA Michael Saunders, Jeanmar Gomez; Call Up Cam Perkins, Hoby Milner

After giving the Michael Saunders experiment nearly three months, the Phillies on Tuesday designated the veteran outfielder for assignment.

They also DFA'd reliever Jeanmar Gomez. The Phils have 10 days to either trade them, release them, place them on waivers or outright them off the 40-man roster to the minor leagues, if they accept.

To replace Saunders and Gomez on the 25-man roster, the Phillies selected the contracts of outfielder Cam Perkins and left-handed reliever Hoby Milner.

The Phillies guaranteed Saunders $10 million in the form of $9 million this season and a $1 million buyout on his 2018 club option.

In 61 games, he hit .205/.257/.360 with six home runs, 20 RBIs and 51 strikeouts. Saunders' .257 OBP was the lowest among all 78 National Leaguers who qualify for the batting title.

Gomez, who saved 37 games last season, had a 7.25 ERA this year in 18 appearances.

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The right-handed hitting Perkins, 26, was the Phillies' sixth-round pick in 2012 out of Purdue. In six minor-league seasons, he's hit .283 with a .755 OPS. This season at Lehigh Valley, Perkins hit .298/.388/.476 with 17 doubles, six homers and 21 RBIs. 

Milner gave the IronPigs a 2.60 ERA in 22 appearances with 27 strikeouts and just four walks in 27⅔ innings. He'll give the Phillies a lefty specialist in the bullpen. Lefties were just 9 for 45 (.200) off Milner at Triple A with 14 K's.

Neither Perkins nor Milner has appeared in the majors.

If you're wondering why it was Perkins and not Nick Williams or Dylan Cozens who got the call Tuesday, the Phillies' rationale is likely that they wanted to continue to get both outfield prospects everyday playing time at Triple A, whereas they won't feel the need to start Perkins every day in the majors.

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