Jeremy Hellickson traded to the Philadelphia Phillies

Jeremy Hellickson was shipped to Philadelphia today by the Arizona Diamondbacks, as the Hot Stove action continues to percolate in the early going this offseason.  The Phillies sent Sam McWilliams, a 6'7", 20 year old RHP who was selected in the 8th round of the 2014 draft, to Arizona for Hellickson.

The righthanded Hellickson was acquired by the D-Backs from the Tampa Bay Rays last offseason in exchange for minor leaguers Andrew Velazquez and Justin Williams.  The Rangers were, at the time, among the teams that were supposedly sniffing around on Hellickson, and I think its fair to believe that, had they landed Hellickson, Ross Detwiler probably wouldn't have been acquired, as Detwiler was brought in to fill the same sort of back-end starter role that Hellickson fills.

The former A.L. Rookie of the Year has struggled the past few seasons, and put up a 4.62 ERA in 146 IP over 27 starts for Arizona in 2015.  The Phillies are presumably grabbing him to help fill out their rotation in a rebuilding year, with the hope that a solid first half of the year would allow them to flip him at the deadline for a better return than what they gave up.