Despite signing Andres Blanco earlier today, Phillies GM Ruben Amaro said they "still have our eyes and ears open" for infield help according to ESPN's Jayson Stark (on Twitter). Chase Utley is having knee problems and Placido Polanco is just coming back from a finger issue.
The Giants recently released Mike Fontenot, though the Phillies seem to be targeting infielders on minor league contracts. Freddy Galvis will take over second base full-time while Ty Wigginton provides emergency infield depth.
Inge is available.
It might be easier to move Abreu and his 8m contract than Inge and his 5m deal. Abreu at least can hit and play corner OF in dire emergency. Inge’s *career* OBP is .305, but was well south of that last season.. Like .265. Nobody could tolerate even a decent glove absorbing a fraction of that salary.
Inges value has always come from his power and elite fielding. Both of which have completely eroded. Also I think he has 5 and 10 rights and I don’t think he would approve a trade
yeah.. I remember when he was an offensive power threat and a decent glove at 3b..Like after he moved from catcher and he wasn’t too bad at that even, but when he got hurt a couple years back and played through it.. Forget what it was?? His back maybe?? He just hasn’t been much ever since.
Then the Tigers gave him that 2/10-11m deal 2 years back and it was really a bad one also, should have let him walk, about the same time they allowed Mag’s option year to vest.
Magglios vesting option was a sticky situation. They were in a playoff chase and he was hitting really really well at the time. They shouldn’t have given him a few hundred PA’s when he was struggling at he beginning of the season. Oh well
It says the Phillies are looking for an infielder on a minor league contract, not a minor league infielder on a budget busting contract.
A trade or waiver claim for Valbuena makes sense.
I think I know what the Phillies problem is, I think Dan Duqette is secretly running the Phillies in some sort of covert operation and Joe Jordan is helping on the inside.
Seriously, though how are the Phillies going to help themselves with regards to the infield? They have nothing to trade in order to get something of value to help them in the infield. Galvis from what I have seen so far will be fine. J Roll however has lost a step and he never had the mentality to be a good lead off hitter. Polanco might be washed up. The thing though that really caught my eye in this article was the use of Ty Wiggington. If he’s going to only be used as emergency infield depth and nothing else I don’t understand why the Phillies signed him. As a side note they have coveted him for years. Anyway, back to the emergency comment. As far as I am concerned Wiggington is the best healthy fielding first baseman they currently have on the roster. I saw Lance Nix playing there the other day and he was dreadful! Jim Thome has no business playing on the field anymore and yet he will get some time there. However, to place Wiggington on the bench while running out players like Thome and Nix is an unmitigated disaster. I don’t think the Phillies have any idea as to what they are doing top to bottom. They will only do well because of their pitching.
Last season, Phillies had an operational loss of about $10 mil. It probably explains the current state of their bench.
I think their bench is a lot better than it was last year. Thome is an upgrade over Gload, Wigginton although worse defensively is way better offensively than Valdez, Nix is better than Francisco. I think the way this ends up playing out is Pierre seeing the majority of time in LF, with Mayberry playing 1B. Wigginton will spell Galvis and Polanco, Nix and Thome will probably see a start a week against righties.
i hear they are going to make a play for taylor green.
With the way Amarista has played this spring, i think Callaspo and/or Izturis are available
I think Amarista needs to show he can do it over a full season. I fully support carrying Alexi to begin the year IF we get rid of Abreu, but another season in the minors won’t necessarily hurt. That being said, with Cantu’s performance thus far, maybe we could still get something nice in return for Maicer. Kyle Kendrick, maybe?
Tsuyoshi Nishioka is on a minor league deal and the Phillies could have him for a Ty Wigginton baseball card, the card can even be a little dinged up. PLEASE take him!
Maybe they want another go with Luis Castillo?
come again?
The Phillies & Reds hooked up in the offseason in a deal for Wilson Valdez. Now the Reds have too many backup infielders and need a reliever. Phillies need an infielder back and outrighted the lh reliever they received from Reds (Jeremy Horst) back to AAA.
Sounds like a possibility of talking trade again. Doesn’t have to be either of those players, but the Reds have Valdez, Cairo, Janish, Francisco, and Frazier and can only keep 2-3 of them on the 25-man roster. Cairo, Valdez, and Francisco are out of options.
Please take inge off our hands…He has the potential to be a 300 hitter with power in your small ball park, so please philly i beg you to take inge.
Would it take to move Dominic Brown? Izturis and a Prospect? Abreu and the full 9m? Trumbo for Dom straight? Seems like the kid could use a change of scenery.
lol, not even close
I’d like to see Dom Brown come west.
Not sure if srs
Abreu would not be welcomed back into this town. Rube knows that, this town hates Abreu
The title of this should be “Phillies Still Looking For GM Help”.
Blake DeWitt, Alfredo Amezaga, Adrian Cardenas or Jeff Baker… Make the Cubs an offer from the farm…
Make an offer for Jason Bartlett, the Padres will listen. He’s still a pretty slick fielder and would probably bounce back offensively in another ballpark.
Mike fontenot will most likely sign with the phillies