1/12/15

What is With the Phillies?

Every off season, every Major League Baseball team makes various player transactions in an attempt to make their team better for the upcoming season. Many teams will try to take the cheap way of adding players by signing them to minor league contracts with invitations to spring training. The Philadelphia Phillies have been signing many players to these contracts this off season, but the strange thing is that a lot of them have been in the Pirates' organization before. I reported earlier today that the Phillies signed Jeanmar Gomez. He spent the 2013 and 2014 seasons with the Pirates after a trade with the Cleveland Indians in January, 2013. He pitched in 78 games for the Pirates where he compiled a record of (5-2) with a 3.28 ERA and one save. The Phillies have also signed outfielder Xavier Paul, first baseman Chris McGuiness, and infielders Chase d'Arnaud and Russ Canzler. Xavier Paul spent a majority of the 2011 season with the Pirates after he was claimed off waivers from the Los Angeles Dodgers in April of that year. In 121 games with the Pirates, he hit .254 with two home runs and 20 runs batted in. Chase d'Arnaud spent parts of the 2011, 2012, and 2014 seasons with the Pirates. In 64 career games with the Pirates, he hit .208 with no home runs and seven runs batted in. Russ Canzler and Chris McGuiness both spent time with the Indianapolis Indians. It is very interesting that the Phillies keep signing former Pirates.