Phillies acquire Wigginton
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Phillies acquire Wigginton
Daily News Staff
The Phillies have acquired utility man Ty Wigginton from the Colorado Rockies for a player to be named later or cash.
The acquisition also seemingly means the Phillies have opted not to further pursue free agent Michael Cuddyer.
Wigginton, 34, hit .242 with 15 home runs and 47 RBI last season.
His versatility is what likely made him attractive to the Phillies. He played first base, third base and the corner outfield positions last year.
With the potential question about how quickly Ryan Howard recovers from his Achilles injury and Placido Polanco’s injury history, he could provide insurance in the infield. He also could be an option in left, although that seems less likely. He has played a total of 75 games in the outfield in his 10-year career.
He also could provide the Phillies another bat off the bench. He has a career .273 average as a pinch-hitter.
Wigginton is due to make $4 million in 2012, with a $4 million option or $500,00 buyout for 2013. According to the Denver Post, the Rockies will cover half of Wigginton's 2012 salary.
According to the Post, if the Phillies exercise Wigginton’s option, the Rockies will receive either $100,000 in cash or a player. If they don’t excercise the option, the Rockies will be have to pay part of Wigginton’s buyout.
For his career, he has a .265 average with 158 home runs and 548 RBI. He has played for the Mets, Pirates, Rays, Astros, Orioles and Rockies.
The Phillies are likely still on the lookout for a lefthanded bat who could play the outfield.
Comments (61)
Jack of all trades, master of none.— brio- Move BennyF & UncleStosh for a lefty bat. Dont even need a player, just a bat.— NewMick314
- Negadelphians are out in force today. Get Reyes ! Ha, Ha, Ha! Ruben can't print money like the federal government, or borrow from Freddie Mac. Only the idiots, or people in Occupy Wall Street would embrace that thinking.
— phineas - The youth movement continues.— dasher
- I don't think the Phillies need this kind of player. Wiggington isn't good at getting on base, but he is prolific at grounding into DPs. Imagine if Valdez, Wiggington, and Polanco were all in the same line up. If somebody gets on first, there would be a pretty good chance they'd be doubled up. It's just another step in the Phillies' quest to make life easy on the rest of the pitchers in the league. They can all smile and laugh like Carpenter did when they don't have to throw strikes, don't have to throw many pitches, and get double-play reprieves if guys get on.— jtj06
- Nice move. Replaces either Valdez or Martinez but with more pop. Wouldn't be surprised if they still signed Cuddyer but they'll probably be looking at cheaper part-time OF options as they'd like to give Mayberry more playing time in LF anyway.— JimG
- http://www.insidetherockies.com/2011/11/20/rockies-trade-wigginton-to-phillies-for-player-or-cash/ Duh, Rockies have a younger, cheaper option at this position next year. They are making the Phils look stupid with this move.— otown philly fan
- Where are the left-handed hitters?— T.Paine
- Not sure this is a great move. You may see Cuddyer sign with the NAT's now as his second choice.— Lil Ratman
- Horrible move. Career OBP worse than Rollins' and Polly's. I don't see how this strengthens the bench.— andrewfrombrooklyn
- I just got an e-mail from the Phillies. Wigginton jerseys will be on sale 9:00AM Monday morning.— Wilhelm Von Humboldt
- Shocking! The typical know-it -all whiners are out in force tonight whining about this trade. Seriously, the only move the Phillies could ever make that'd please them would be signing Pujols and even then they'd complain he cost too much or it was too many years. Are your lives so bad that all you can do is complain about some sports team in your city day in and day out?— SFPhillyphan
- Just what we need, another .240 hitting bench player.....did no one take notice of the Cards having 7-8 guys in their lineup hitting .285 or better?— Mark1npt
- GOOD POINT UncleStosh,,,,,— jtad
- GOOD POINT UncleStosh,,,,,— jtad
- GOOD POINT UncleStosh,,,,,— jtad
- GOOD POINT UncleStosh,,,,,— jtad
- GOOD POINT UncleStosh,,,,,— jtad
- GOOD POINT UncleStosh,,,,,— jtad
- GOOD POINT UncleStosh,,,,,— jtad
- GOOD POINT UncleStosh,,,,,— jtad
- Wow...never knew my uncle was so well liked... — stan the man too
- Solid bench upgrade and saves the Phillies a lot of money that would have otherwise been wasted on Sizemore or Cuddyer. This opens up so many better options for the Phillies right now including pursuing a SS and extending Hamels.— veritas1325
- Take a step back:
Jim Thome vs. Ross Gload - I take Thome everyday
Papelbon vs. Madson - Close but I will take Papelbon
Wigginton vs. Valdez - I will take Wigginton everyday
RAJ has saved some money and has made three upgrades on all three moves and now has the room to make his patented BIG moves. In RAJ I trust.— Earls World - My guess: Valdez will be on the bench for his ability to play the middle infield positions. Martinez will spend his time in AAA. — s
- i wonder if Amaro changed up in part because Madson is no longer a Type A free agent. Already lost a pick for papelbon..what would they have lost if they signed a second type A in Cuddyer? i wasnt thrilled with the idea of Cuddyer..then again, Colorado is dumping Wigginton for nothing and throwing in cash after 1 year and i dont see they have anyone there to play third, so lets not get too excited here..so scheider, wigginton, valdez, thome and francisco is your bench?— jim715
- I give up on Warbiscuit - poor sap has no clue! Ruben gets yet another "attaboy" for getting Wigginton. He is one of the better pinchhitters in baseball who can play all the spots the Phils have issues with.— dwp66
- "Posted 7:58 PM, 11/20/2011
If you are going to make the first comment, why not put some thought in it instead of just typing willy nilly.
— PresidentSpock"
oh, like you just did with this post? idiot.— ogplaya - I like this move- especially given Polly's durability adds power and some grit to this team.— Northcountry
- Nice move by RAJ for the bench, we don't need to be overpaying for parttimers. I don't want any part of Reyes- if JRoll won't sign for 3yrs., then say goodbye and get a 1 year replacement(who also would be a true leadoff hitter) and use that $$ elsewhere.— Phillyfan among the NYers
- Problem is, once you get past Reyes and Rollins the talent drops off. A guy like Furcal could maybe work for a year but he's been injured quite a bit in his career.
I know Reyes has a lot of potential downsides but if you want to go the opposite direction in lead-off approach, he's the way to do it.
— s - It certainly looks that this is a cheap insurance policy on both Howard and Polanco - the Phillies are really only obligated to one year and that gives them flexibility to trade Wiggington at the trade deadline if he is not needed. Not a bad move ! Are the Phillies saying Howard and Polanco are not going to be ready for the start of the season ?
Powder is still dry if they want to make a run for Reyes. It looks less likely every day that passes that Reyes is not going to be a Marlin. Is he waiting for a call from Amaro ?
Hoping Jimmy Rollins gets a multi year deal somewhere else.
Would like to see Hamels locked up for several years - I am afraid if he is not signed soon he will wait for megabucks at the end of 2012 and the Phillies will not have the flexibilty to match some of the offers that may come his way.
Still sick about the resigning of Schneider as the backup catcher. Worst dumb move of the year so far. A bunch of capable catchers out there were available for the the Phillies.— candidly - Upgrade over Michael Martinez at the plate. That has to be worth something— johnny eagle
- This is going to hurt their chances to resign Ibanez at $4M next year. Bookover must be po'd.— Sam Crow
- @PAPOOSE is probably correct that SS is the only line-up changing move left. Unless RAJ has some trade ideas. A guy like Wigginton doesn't do anything to change the hitting approach. If they re-sign JRoll and he's the lead-off guy I think we can assume the claim of changing approach was either all hot air or RAJ is naive enough to believe they'll change their approach with the same guys in the line-up. I'm still not seeing Reyes as a strong possibility but you never know. That's one way to change the lead-off approach.
— s - Old Wiggy doesn't hit much anymore but what else is new with this team. When a MLB player reaches his mid 30's it's what has he done lately and the answer with Wiggy is not much. He hit .285 in 08, .273 in 09, .248 in 10 and .242 last year. The trend line is what it is.— Dull
- Right handed Greg Dobbs.— Philliesguy
- This move tells me Amaro is up to something he knows he has to change this lineup he can't bring the same lineup back so i'm thinking Jose Reyes might be coming here to hit leadoff.— PAPOOSE
- @warbuscuit - Career, Wigginton strikes out about 17.5% of the time. Howard is a good 10% higher. Cuddyer is also right around 17.5%.
I'm not saying I'm overly excited. Another mid-30's guy so we're still not getting any younger here, other than probably letting Ibanez walk. But there are things I like about Wigginton. He's played a lot of 3B and 1B, which are two areas he can be used. He's also a guy who has been good as a bench player and pinch hitter, with very little drop-off in his numbers compared to when he starts. That's something I personally look for and like in a guy who figures to be mostly a sub ... as opposed to signing a guy like Ibanez who's never shown he's much of a bench player. He's versatile but it's up to Charlie to make use of that and give some of our older guys a rest.— s - Depth is a valuable asset. I would like to see a few more of these affordable utility players in lieu of last years bench players.
The #1 priority going forward? LEADOFF HITTER!
No more JRoll trying to hit the ball to Pluto. Just get me a guy who is worried about putting the ball in play, steal some bases, set the table for the rest of the team.
I like J Roll love to have him back but hitting in the 6 or 7 hole where his offensive approach is more suited.
Go get me a leadoff hitter Rube.
— joe smith - Seems like the Rockies were trying hard to dump him.— Ssteve115
- Signing Cuddyer to a huge contract when he is barely better than Wiggington would have been settling.— UncleStosh
- I WOULD STILL RESIGN MADSON FOR 8TH INNING AND INS IF PAPOLNON GETS HURT OR SUCKS, SIGN FURCAL FOR 2-3 YEARS, LET J-ROLL WALK,THIS TRADE TODAY COULD MAKE THAT POSSIBLE— VANIMALS SWEATY GOGGLES
- He is 34 years old and for last 3 seasons his on base percentage was : .314, .312, and .315. It looks like he will fit right in with rest of the old junk that does not know how to get on base.— VitoCorleone
- On one hand, this is like a really cheap version of Cuddyer. A cheaper lesser offensive player, still not a great defender at all. Money saving move here....I guess it's better at 2million than Cuddyer at 10 million. Hopefully RAJ puts that savings to good use...— TeamAwesome
- And on the other hand? — PhightinPhil
- Great move. Should have known RAJ had something up his sleeve.— Llamaboy1375
- Nice move. He makes $4 million a year. That seems more reasonable than overpaying for Cuddyer.— AvoidSundanceVacations
- 84 strikeouts in 401 at bats— warbiscuit
- I think I detect just a faint hint of a smile there 'biscuit...come on now, it's OK to laugh at your own mistakes... — stan the man too
- good addition at very low cost. Gives them some flexibility and some pop— TheLon
- Stop Settling! I hate when people settle.— Ace-Philadelphia
- awesome --with his 84 strikeouts in 130 at bats, and inability to field, should be perfect replacement for Howard— warbiscuit
- Come on 'biscuit...smile and same something nice...please... — stan the man too
- Try 84 strikeouts in 401 at bats (not 130). Not a great player in ant sense of the word but a solid bench piece who can contribute at 1B, 3B and the OF. — byzeil
- Cuddyer'd have been nice, but this lad is a fine, less expensive option. I guess ...— waldo08
- I like the move although it signals that the Phils are out of the high end free agent market -- no Cuddyer, no Sizemore.
I think it leaves the Phils with signing Rollins (or a replacement), Oswalt (I hope), a low cost outfielder but presumably no left handed reliever. I don't Michael Martinez wearing the candy stripes much this year.— Claudio Vernight - first comment! solid move, he has some pop and versatility will be nice. depending on PTBNL of course, this seems like a good move— ogplaya
- If you are going to make the first comment, why not put some thought in it instead of just typing willy nilly. — PresidentSpock
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