Eflin no longer appears to be in contention for the fifth spot in the Philadelphia rotation after the team signed Jake Arrieta to a three-year, $75 million contract Sunday, Todd Zolecki of MLB.com reports.
Eflin had been competing with Ben Lively, Mark Leiter, Jake Thompson and non-roster invitee Drew Hutchison for the No. 5 role, but the Phillies now appear set to proceed with a rotation of Aaron Nola, Arrieta, Vince Velasquez, Nick Pivetta and Jerad Eickhoff to open the season. Considering that Thompson and Leiter worked in long relief at times last season, both would seem to have a leg up on Eflin for bullpen gigs as well. With that in mind, expect Eflin to settle into a rotation spot for Triple-A Lehigh Valley when spring training ends.