Phils Sign Jeff Larish

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The Phillies have signed 1B/3B Jeff Larish to a minor league deal, with 3B at Lehigh Valley his likely landing spot.  Larish, 28, was a 5th round selection of the Tigers in the 2005 draft. After spending 5 years in the Tigers organization, Larish was claimed off of waivers late last season by Oakland.  He has 245 major league at bats, including 67 last year with a .224/.308/.380 line to go along with 8 HR and 32 RBI.

Last year in AAA, Larish hit .284/.377/.533 with 20 HR and 74 RBI.  Larish should be an upgrade over Cody Ransom, both offensively and defensively in Lehigh Valley.

Bump, Bozied, Thompson Re-Sign with Phils

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According to Jeff Schuler of The Morning Call, Pitcher Nate Bump, 1B/OF Tagg Bozied and OF Rich Thompson have re-signed with the Phils organization for the 2011 season.  Bump is expected to rejoin the rotation in Lehigh Valley in 2011 after a very good first half of 2010.  Bump struggled with his health in the seasons second half, but should be 100% healthy entering 2011.  Bump, 34, is a local guy from Towanda, PA who has 113 major league appearances to his credit in the Marlins organization.  In 2010 Bump went 8-4 with a 3.35 ERA in 20 starts and was named to the International League All Star Team.

Rich Thompson, a personal favorite of mine because of how he plays, returns to the Lehigh Valley outfield for a 4th season after resigning this week.  Last season Thompson hit .284/.339/.382 with 5 HR and 45 RBI’s in 476 AB’s.  Thompson, 31,  was very impressive on the base paths stealing 41 bases in 45 attempts. 

Bozied, 31, returns after having a phenomenal 2010 at the plate in Reading, hitting .315/.402/.631 in 355 AB’s with 27 HR and 92 RBI’s.

Topic of the day: First to the majors in 2011

Daily Discussion

Today’s topic is this. Which Phillies prospect that currently has zero days of MLB service time will be the first to reach the major leagues in 2011? Vote for your choice, then explain why you think that below. If you vote “OTHER”, make sure you put your choice in the comments section.

Ryne Sandberg Named Lehigh Valley Manager

7. Lehigh Valley

The Phillies have hired Hall of Fame Second Baseman Ryne Sandberg as the Manager of the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, their AAA affiliate.  Sandberg who decided not to return to the Cubs organization after losing out on the Cubs job managed AAA Iowa City to a 82-62 record last season and was named Manager of the Year in the Pacific Coast League.  Continue reading Ryne Sandberg Named Lehigh Valley Manager →

Winter League Update

9. Winter Leagues

The Arizona Fall League season comes to a close next week with the last games being played on Thursday, before the Championship Game next Saturday.  Look for the final report on the Fall League next weekend.

Matt Rizzotti played 1B on Thursday and Saturday and went a combined 2-4, with a run scored, an rbi, 5 walks, a strikeout and made his second error. Strange line for a cleanup hitter: .370/.521/.407 in 54 AB’s with 0HR 11 RBI and 2 extra base hits.  He has walked 18 times and struck out just 10.  Continue reading Winter League Update →

Phils Sign Erik Kratz, Eddie Bonine

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The Phillies announced the signing of catcher Erik Kratz late yesterday.  Kratz, 30, from Telford, PA, was a 2002 draft pick of the Toronto BlueJays and spent the last two seasons in the Pirates organization at AAA Indianapolis.  Kratz made his major league debut last season for the Pirates, seeing action in 9 games. For Indianapolis last season Kratz hit .274/.380/.496 with 9HR and 41 RBI and threw out 21% of baserunners attempting to steal on him. In his minor league career, he has thrown out 31% of baserunners.  Kratz should be an upgrade over Paul Hoover who struggled last season for Lehigh Valley. Continue reading Phils Sign Erik Kratz, Eddie Bonine →

Minor League (Re)Signings, AFL Update

8. Arizona Fall League, Transactions

Signings have begun trickling in with the news that the Phillies have resigned 2B Fidel Hernandez as well as Catcher Torre Langley.  In addition, the Phils have signed Free Agent Pete Orr, who has over 500 major league plate appearances and can play 2b, SS, 3B and the corner OF if necessary.  Orr spent last season in the Nationals organization playing for (AAA) Syracuse, where the 31 year old hit .264/.326/.436 with 12 HR and 35 RBI’s, to go along with 25 stolen bases.  Orr will almost assuredly open the season in Lehigh Valley as either their starting 2B or 3B. Continue reading Minor League (Re)Signings, AFL Update →

Minor League Free Agent List

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Baseball America came out with the list of the minor league free agents in each organization and the highlights of the Phils list are as follows:

1B: Andy Tracy; 2B: Melvin Dorta; SS: Ozzie Chavez, 3B: Neil Sellers, Cody Ransom; OF: Rich Thompson, Mike Spidale, Kevin Mahar, Timo Perez; C: Joel Naughton, Kevin Nelson, John Suomi; SP: Brandon Duckworth, Ty Taubenheim, Brian Mazone; RP: Jason Anderson, Alex Concepcion, Oscar Villarreal, Ehren Wasserman, Kyle Carr.

Some names that may interest the Phils organization to fill their holes that will be created who have major league experience: P Chuck James, OF Endy Chavez, P Yusmeiro Petit, P Tony Pena, Jr., P Dana Eveland, 3B Dallas McPherson, P Brett Tomko, P Jason Hirsch, C JR House, 3B Mike Cervenak, OF Jacque Jones, INF D’Angelo Jiminez, P CHarlie Haeger, P CLaudio Vargas, OF Brett Carroll, 1B Brad Eldred, 3B Andy Marte, P Jason Grilli,  C Clint Sammons.

Sandberg a Candidate for AAA job

7. Lehigh Valley

Both the Daily News and the Inquirer are reporting that Hall of Fame second baseman Ryne Sandberg has emerged as a candidate for the vacant Managerial position in Lehigh Valley. Sandberg, 51 was the manager of Iowa City, the AAA affiliate of the Cubs last year.  While an early candidate for the Cubs manager position, he decided not to return to the organization after the job was given to Mike Quade. Continue reading Sandberg a Candidate for AAA job →

11/9 Open discussion and a poll

Daily Discussion

I wanted to start a new discussion repository, so this is it. Talk about whatever you’d like. I’m currently working on my preliminary top 30, because I’m again putting together a Top 30 list for the Maple Street Press Phillies annual thing. Which got me to thinking. So we’ll have a poll, related to the Reader Top 30. Last year we started late and voted up through spring training. We can do that again this year, or we can start earlier, like after Thanksgiving, and then wrap things up after Christmas. I have no preference, I just run the thing, so its your call. Vote, and also express your opinion one way or another. I won’t necessarily just decide based on the vote totals (unless its completely lopsided), I want to hear rationale as well. Thanks.