The Phillies signed Willy Taveras, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com (Twitter link). Yesterday, DeWayne Wise opted out of his contract with the Phillies, who restore some minor league outfield depth by signing Taveras. The Nationals signed Taveras in February, but released him unconditionally two weeks ago after an unproductive stint in Washington.
Taveras, 28, hit .200/.243/.257 in 37 plate appearances for the Nats this year. The former stolen base champ was successful in just one of three attempts. He has had trouble reaching base for the last three seasons, but he was an above-average defender (according to UZR) as recently as last year.
Taveras will report to Triple A, where Wise was playing before he opted out, according to Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer (via Twitter).
pinch runner?
Got to get on base before you think about using a pinch runner
i literally lol’d
Great, Ruben… let’s solve the offensive woes by signing a guy who couldn’t hit his own head if it wasn’t attached to his body.
The point to signing Taveras isn’t to fix the Phillies offensive woes. He’s reporting to Lehigh Valley, where he’s replacing DeWayne Wise, and it just gives Philly some depth in the outfield, should they have an injury to a current MLB outfielder, they’ll have Taveras available to call up to be an extra guy or spot starter along with Ben Francisco, who isn’t as good defensively as Taveras.
Hes going to triple A not the mlb…idk why people are assuming this is suppose to solve offensive woes…
I’m aware of that. But if Heaven forbid someone else gets injured, Taveras won’t be any help. Even off the bench he’d maybe pinch run or play a 9th inning occasionally but he’d be useless as a pinch hitter on account of he hits like a pitcher. I’d much rather have Francisco out there. He can hit for power and is a decent outfielder with decent speed. Yes, I know this signing isn’t a crisis or anything, I just don’t see much of a point to it.
Ouch, I was really hoping this Met killer would get out of the division