Does the name Phillippe Aumont ring a bell?
Of course it does. For all the wrong reasons.
He was part of the return in one of the most ill-fated trades in Phillies history — the deal that sent star pitcher and 2009 Philadelphia folk hero Cliff Lee to the Seattle Mariners.
After years of struggles and inconsistency, the hard-throwing righty decided to call it a career on Monday at age 27.
The Charlotte Knights, the Chicago White Sox's Triple A affiliate Aumont was playing for, announced the news on Twitter.
ROSTER MOVE: RHP Phillippe Aumont has retired.
We wish Phillippe good luck in his future endeavors. pic.twitter.com/um35QW0gRX— Charlotte Knights (@KnightsBaseball) June 6, 2016
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It marks the end of a tumultuous career that began when the Mariners made him the 11th overall pick in the 2007 draft.
He quickly shot up the Mariners' prospect rankings and became a Phillies target when the talks for Lee heated up during the 2009 offseason. He was eventually acquired along with outfielder Tyson Gillies and pitcher J.C. Ramirez.
But he never panned out as he struggled mightily with control. The Canadian made it to Philadelphia for parts of four seasons. He finished his major-league career with a 1-6 record, 7.01 ERA and 34 walks in 46 appearances. Aumont's last appearance in a Phillies uniform came last season when he made a spot start after being converted from a reliever. It did not go well as he walked seven batters and gave up six runs in four innings of work.
Perhaps his most famous moment in Philadelphia was when he criticized then-Phils pitching coach Rich Dubee for his handling of prospects.
"Baseball is a very confusing thing because you have so many people who have so many different perspectives on how to do things," he told the Easton Express-Times. "At the major- league level, [bullpen coach] Rod [Nichols] is telling me something, then I come down here and can hear different stuff. Which way do I go? Do I want to please the people while I'm down here right now or do I do the things the big-league team wants me to do, even if I'm not doing the stuff they want me to do here?"
The Phils cut ties with Aumont this past offseason. He was picked up by the White Sox but did not make the club out of camp and was sent to Triple A Charlotte.
In 10 games with Charlotte this season, Aumont was 0-2 with a 12.27 ERA.
With Aumont's retirement, two of the players the Phillies acquired in the Lee deal are now out of major-league systems. Gillies now plays for an independent league team in Sugar Land, Texas. Ramirez has bounced around major-league organizations for the last few seasons. He's now in the Reds' bullpen and is sporting a 5.82 ERA.
