The Phillies announced that they designated infielder Mike Fontenot for assignment. The move creates roster space for utility player Michael Martinez, who has been recalled from Triple-A.
Fontenot, 32, has a .289/.343/.340 batting line in 105 plate appearances this year. He has split his time between second and third since signing a minor league deal with Philadelphia in April. Fontenot could interest teams seeking infield depth as a potential trade candidate.
If Minimart plays over Fransden I’ll be very upset.
The A’s should pick him up
Put weeks back at short? Oh gosh..
Oh look, a perfect fit for the Nationals lack of middle infield depth. Oh wait, they have Mark DeRosa. Rizzo doesn’t have to do anything….
This is why Charlie should be fired. He and his love for Martinez takes away a guy who has actually done decent at the plate this year.
Yeah fire Charlie for DFAing a guy who plays sparingly for a team that isn’t going to the playoffs. This one is definitely the straw that broke the camels back.
Yeah cause he’s mismanaged a team who should have been in playoff contention all year and now takes a guy off the MLB club for no reason at all. Fontenot was doing is job well so yeah I feel bad for him. Nice try though.
Sorry but with the injuries the Phils have had this season no way were they playoff bound. That missing thump of Howard Utley and losing Doc was a killer. The team other than Ruiz never could find the offensive chemistry needed to put them over the top. You cannot blame C< for that, only the injuries.
He also always left a pitcher in until he gave up enough runs that the team couldn’t come back. That’s why La Russa is a HOF manager and Charlie is just lucky he was in Philly at the right time.
I agree that his managing moves are questionable. But to blame him for the overall play is the issue I have. Like I said injuries hurt the Phils more than anything. I picked them second this year in the NL East behind Washington based primarily on the injuries to Howard and Utley. Sure he has made many a boneheaded move, all managers do including LaRussa in the past. I am no Phils fan but a fan of the game so this is just an observation from a fans point of view.
Charlie should have been fired after not beating the Cards last season with the team that he was given, they were beat because LaRussa out managed Charlie by a mile. In ’08 and ’09 the team was good enough that they won despite having him for a manager. Howard, Utley, and Doc did hurt the team. But the fact that they were still 10 games under .500 with Rollins, Victorino, Pence, Chooch (Hitting out of his mind), and having the pitching of Lee and Hamels is ridiculous. I’m tired of making up excuses for Charlie. Lee actually has been very good, his ERA is inflated because Charlie tosses him out there for another inning and he gives up a couple runs each time, the most recent being the game vs Milwaukee. I’m tired of hearing him babble in those post game interviews too. If we lose out on Sandberg being the Phillies manager because of Charlie I will be pissed. This year should have been a wake up call that when the Phillies actually have to be managed Charlie just isn’t up to the job. He’s the Mike Brown of the MLB, good when he has superstars preforming well on his team, terrible when he doesn’t.
Charlie is no bargain, but the guy to blame is Amaro. He did nothing constructive to help this year’s team. He also created the financial mess by overpaying and giving long contracts to a bunch of older players past their prime.
Well he did do his job for this year if all went according to plan. He built a solid bench in Thome, Wigginton, Pierre, Mayberry, Schneider, Nix. Sorry if I’m forgetting someone. He also tried to solidify an already decent bullpen by adding Papelbon and Qualls. Unfortunately Qualls was a disaster along with the rest of the bullpen, Wigginton never contributed enough, Nix got hurt, the starting rotation was good but not great, and the team just seemed to be out of sync. I can’t blame Amaro for that team he put out there, the guys just didn’t play up to their ability and other games were mismanaged. I don’t think the Phillies should be in first place, but last? That’s just ridiculous and I understand it’s not all Charlie’s fault but sometimes you just need to change it up a little. For some reason I have a feeling that these guys just forgot how they started this string of division titles; playing with passion, heart, and being smart.
Yes, because Charlie is the one who DFA’d Fontenot. This is Amaro’s move. GM’s make roster moves not Managers.
You think GMs just DFA guys without checking with the Manager first especially when the guy being called up won’t contribute at all? If this was because Polanco was coming back then no, it’s not Charlie’s fault but since it was just MM, Charlie had some say in this move and of course makes a terrible descision. You know that there’s always some communication between the GM and manager with moves like this right? Next time when you want to act smart or be funny at least understand the situation.
Fonty was doimg good, perfect reason for the phillies to DFA. Put him in an august trade and sell high on him. Get somethin for him now while they still can.
Sorry posted twice because the comment didn’t show up.
Sounds good if they can flip him for something somewhat valuable. I’m hoping Amaro can keep these deals going in August and somewhat build the farm back. I just hate the Charlie and MM love/love relationship.
He’s better than Brandon Hicks and he can be the emergency SS.
He honestly should only be a 2B. When you say “emergency” SS, it really should be in case of emergency, and not for longer than a day or two.
Second or third and emergency SS. Second is his position and he’s a better option than Hicks/Sogard/Pennington at short. Fontenot is a much better hitter than Weeks and Inge. So sick of Weeks batting at the top of the order with his sub-.300 OBP and swinging for the fences attitude. But, Beane wants him in there.
He *really* doesn’t have the arm for 3B.
Sounds like you’re about as thrilled with Weeks at the top of the order as most Giants fans are with Theriot at the top of theirs.
let’s go Oakland!
Should have sent him back to SF with Pence if the Phillies didn’t want him anymore. Lacking that, if the A’s want him, let them have him! He’d be a great addition.
I would like to see the Braves pick him up. Anything to keep Uggla from striking out all the time.
Pirates could use him
Maybe it’s why Drew Sutton was chosen as the player to be designated the other day as opposed to Tejeda or the Rule V guy who will never play in the majors for the Pirates.
Whitesox could use a bench infielder who can actually hit and get on base. Some thing they have not had all year
I think he’d be a great fit for the A’s. Their middle infield has not really gotten it done (granted I haven’t paid enough attention to Hicks to know how he’s doing and am too lazy to check bbref), and at the very least, he’d be a solid, veteran backup for their infield. He’s also a great energy player and would fit in well with that team.
I think nats should get him. he seems like a perfect fit right now.
Looking at his ISO, BABIP, BB% and K%, I think we might be better off without him.
So you’d rather see Mark DeRosa try to play second base anytime Lombardozzi or Espinosa need a day off?
I think Lombo goes to utility role once Desmond returns so no point in getting Fontenote for 15 days.
15 days is pretty optimistic considering most position players with the same injury miss around a month on average.
This love affair the Phillies have with Martinez is getting unnerving. They get rid of a guy batting .289 for somebody who’s good for may be half that. Not every Ruke 5 is going to turn out like Victorino did. It’s time they dumped Mini-Mart back into whatever hole they found him.
if you remember it took Victorino 1 full year of minor league ball and 2 years of part time play in the majors before he became a starter… now I don’t think Martinez will ever be as good as Vic, but I do think he could become a good backup infielder/utility guy… he’ll never kill them in the field, has good speed, and if he can figure out how to hit just a little, he’ll be worth keeping around
gonna see more moves just like this, as the Phils want to find out if guys can play or not. What good would it do to keep Fontenot around? They already know what he is and will most likely not be in their plans for next year. If they can get Martinez to hit just a little then he could be a valuable bench piece for next year. I don’t understand the love for Wilson Valdez and the hate for Martinez who is a younger faster version…. Schneider should be next to go, let Kratz get some more at bats
Martinez is probably the worst position player in the last 30 years in all of baseball. Have you ever watched him play? He’s brutally bad.
In Detroit, we have this fella named Ryan Raburn. I’d trade him to you for a cheese steak and the clubhouse spitoon!
The A’s newest shortstop?
PERFECT FIT for the Pirates. I said a few days ago on here that I wanted the Bucs to trade for him. Figure out some compensation and get Fontenot, he can play 2B/3B/SS and hit with some pop off the bench. As much as I like Josh Harrison, he needs to be off this roster till September.
Agreed. But send down Mercer instead of Harrison.
If you’re going to DFA a guy, why do it the day after the trade deadline? Fontenot makes next to nothing and should have been easily traded before the non-waiver deadline had passed. This one is a head-scratcher. If you couldn’t make a deal yesterday, what makes Amaro think he’ll put together something fair today?
Zero sense on this one! Font is flat out better then Martinez. Neither really make a huge difference but sometimes the little things take u a long way and this makes little sense.
Always been a fan of Fontenot, so I’m glad he’s off a team that has no chance at the playoffs. Maybe a contender can pick him up now; he’s a solid utility infielder.
the phils were high-end on the top and paper thin underneath, and when the injuries came, they were EXPOSED. irony is they could have used a couple more Fontenot types the last few years
Ron Santo used to call Fontenot “Little Babe Ruth”
🙁
I think this decision was made more as a defensive perspective. Yeah, you have Fontenot batting .289 but he wasn’t doing all that well in the field this year. Frandson is at 3b for now, but you’re not going to have Fontenot back him up there. Not Wigginton either, whose defense has been lackluster there. Now you have Martinez to back up Frandson and Wigginton to back up Utley. Makes sense to me. I just hope since Fontenot was batting so well and plays middle infield, that the Phils can trade him somewhere and get atleast something for him.
The tank-a-thon really has to be officially on. Yes Martinez has hit for the IronPigs, but in limited action in the majors, Martinez has been overmatched.
Come on Huntington, figure out a way to get “little Babe Ruth” in Pittsburgh. Send Mercer back down, or Presley now that Snider is here. Maybe it helps Indy win a title too. Fontenot can lay claim to the utility slot with Harrison, between the two they can play 2B/SS/3B and Jay-Hey can play all three OF spots. Pretty good combo off the bench.
Fontenot is also a great fit in Detroit. With Jhonny Peralta and Omar Infante they finally have a decent SS/2B combo, Fontenot would be a huge upgrade as pinch hitter-utility type guy. I’m sure he’ll get lots of interest not that teams give up nothing to get him
FonteNOOOOOOO!