Offseason Phillies Transactions

Wait . . Jimmy Rollins isn't one of the best defensive SS in baseball?  r u serious?  He's a top 5 defender in MLB and the 2012 GG SS.  I agree with the rest of your assessments however I actually think Howard has turned himself into an average defensive 1B.

Howard was average pre-injury, but last year struggled. In fairness to the guy, I think you have to give him another year to get his legs back under him. And Rollins is still a good SS, one of the best defensively and was arguably the best in all of MLB last year.

Any upgrade Young gives on offense will have to outpace his big defensive downside. It could happen, but last year the guy really struggled. Could have been a speed bump or could be his age showing. We'll see soon enough.  

The Phillies signed Rodrigo Lopez to a minor league contract.  That should give the Ironpigs a veteran presence in their starting rotation and someone who can step up to the Phillies should they ever need an emergency starter with big league experience.  Lopez was 7-5 with the Ironpigs and 3-1 with the Phillies in 2009.  He started 33 games for Arizona in 2010 and 97+ innings for the Cubs in 2011.  He spent most of 2012 in AAA with the Iowa Cubs.  He is 37 years old.   He was 5-1 0.94 in the 2012/2013 Mexico Winter League.

Phillies sign pitcher Juan Cruz to a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training.  Cruz is 34 and was 1-1 2.78 with the Pirates last year.  In 655 career innings he has 659 strikeouts.  First reported by Jon Heyman. 

Phillies signed RHP Aaron Cook to a minor league contract.  He is 33 and was 4-11 5.65 with the Boston Red Sox last year and 3-0 2.41 at Pawtucket in AAA.  He pitched 10 years with the Colorado Rockies with his best year 2008 when he won 16 games.   

Cook would earn $1.625 million if he makes the Phillies.

does anyone know why the Pirates sent juan cruz to the minors last year? he had a sub 3 era

does anyone know why the Pirates sent juan cruz to the minors last year? he had a sub 3 era

You're gonna love this answer.

About the third week of July, Juan Cruz went on the DL with shoulder inflammation.  It was around that time that the Pirates started making lots of transactions, including acquiring Wandy Rodriguez from the Astros and getting Chad Qualls from the Yankees (who the Yankees got earlier from the Phillies).  Then, in August Qualls went on bereavement leave.  It was right around that time that Juan Cruz came off the DL.  When Qualls came back from bereavement leave on August 20th the Pirates designated Juan Cruz for assignment to make room for him.  On August 23rd, Cruz was released.  So basically, the guy the Phillies ran out of town replaced Juan Cruz on the Pirates roster.   

Current Phillies and/or former Phillies on WBC Team Canada:  Phillippe Aumont, Scott Mathieson, Pete Orr, Tyson Gillies.  Team USA has Jimmy Rollins & Shane Victorino plus Ryan Vogelsong who was with the Ironpigs a few years ago.

My WBC Prediction: Dominican Republic and Venezuela are loaded and both are in Pool C. 

Only 26 days until pitchers and catchers report.

Why is Jimmy Rollins in the WBC? The Phillies should come first

Delmon Young 1 yr $750,000

Last time Rollins was playing SS for USA in the WBC they Phillies went to the World Series . . they lost but hey they still were the NL Champs.

I was surprised to see Joe Mather's name on the list of non roster players the Phillies invited to spring training.   Mather was once a hot prospect in the Cardinals organization and hit 31 HR in 2007 between AA & AAA.  He can play a corner spot in the outfield or infield.  I'm guessing at age 30 he's likely to be a AAA insurance plan for the Phillies.

Non roster players invited to spring training:

Cody Asche, 3B
Justin Friend, RHP
Tommy Joseph, C
Joe Mather, OF, 3B
Adam Morgan, LHP
Kyle Simon, RHP

Looks like the Phillies also re-signed 2 pitchers to minor league deals who both previously pitched for the Ironpigs.  Brian Bass won 8 games for the Ironpigs in 2011 while LHP Tom Cochran was 9-5 last year.  Bass (31) has previous big league experience with Minnesota, Baltimore and Pittsburgh while Cochran (30) has never pitched in the major leagues but has a career 17-9 record in AAA.  These veterans should be a nice compliment to some of the young prospects expected to pitch in AAA this year.

Here is the full updated list of non-roster players invited to Phillies spring training camp (courtesy Mandy Housenick, Phillies writer for the Allentown Morning Call)

Pitchers (8): RHP Aaron Cook, RHP Juan Cruz, RHP Justin Friend, LHP Cesar Jimenez, RHP Rodrigo Lopez, RHP Zach Miner, LHP Adam Morgan, RHP Kyle Simon

Catchers (3): Tommy Joseph, Steven Lerud, Humberto Quintero

Infielders (6): Cody Asche, Andres Blanco, Josh Fields, Cesar Jimenez, Michael Martinez, Pete Orr

Outfielders (2): Joe Mather, Jermaine Mitchell

 

Yuniesky Betancourt was signed to a minor league contract.  He'll turn 31 in a few days and hit .228 with 7 HR for the Royals last year.  In 2010 he hit .259 with 16 HR for the Royals and in 2011 he hit .252 with 13 HR for the Brewers.  He is primarily a shortstop but has also played second and third base.  He went from the Royals to the Brewers as part of the Zack Greinke deal and then signed back with the Royals as a free agent after the 2011 season.  Betancourt defected from Cuba in December, 2003. 

Chad Durbin was also signed to a 1 year contract for $1.1 million plus incentives. 

Yadi's big brother Bengie Molina named Cardinals assistant hitting coach.  He'll be working with hitting coach John Mabry.

Sorry guys, that last post was supposed to go on the Cardinals board.

In order to make room for Chad Durbin on the 40 man roster, pitcher J.C. Ramirez was designated for assignment. 

Brian Schneider announced his retirement today after 13 years in the major leagues.  The 36 year old catcher was a graduate of Northampton High School in the Lehigh Valley, just 10 minutes north of Coca-Cola Park, home of the Ironpigs.