Minors notes: Sardinha re-signed
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Minors notes: Sardinha re-signed
Matt Gelb, Inquirer Staff Writer
Reserve catcher Paul Hoover chose free agency earlier in the off-season when the Phillies outrighted him, but one of the other catchers used in 2010 has decided to return.
Dane Sardinha re-signed a minor-league deal with the Phillies, according to Baseball America's fantastic minor-league transactions page.
In July, Sardinha started six straight games behind the plate for the Phillies. He wasn't knock-your-socks-off impressive, but for your fourth-string catcher, he was about all the Phillies could have asked for. In 39 at-bats, Sardinha hit .205/.225/.487. He had three home runs and eight RBIs.
Sardinha, who turns 32 in April, will almost certainly be back in big league camp this spring and could go to triple-A Lehigh Valley as the team's top catcher.
That position remains extraordinarily thin in the Phillies' organization.
The top prospect is Sebastian Valle, who turned 20 during the season at single-A Lakewood. Valle hit 16 home runs there with a .728 OPS but there are concerns about his defensive skills. Still, he has plenty of time and seasoning to go.
Valle is playing for Caneros de los Mochis in the Mexican Pacific League this winter and is hitting .310 with one home run and four RBIs in 42 at-bats.
Three catchers split time at double-A Reading in 2010. Two of them (Kevin Nelson and John Suomi) are minor-league free agents this off-season. The other, Tuffy Gosewisch, remains in the organization from what I can tell.
So there is work to be done there in filling out the minors.
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Domonic Brown will report to winter ball in the Dominican Republic beginning Monday. He'll play for Escogido, which is managed by Ken Oberkfell, who will be interviewing for the Mets managerial position in the coming days.
Brown will spend about a month in the Dominican. The regular season ends Dec. 21 and that's around when he'll return to the states.
The goal is simply more seasoning for Brown, who spent a great deal of time on the bench in August and September. There is also work to be done in the outfield, where Brown is a talented, but raw defender.
Charley Kerfeld, Ruben Amaro Jr.'s most trusted pair of eyes, typically makes a visit to the Dominican each winter. He will undoubtedly get a few looks at Brown while down there.
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By Dec. 2, the Phillies must make a few internal decisions before the Rule 5 draft takes place at the winter meetings.
Any player in the organization signed at age 19 or older and has been in the organization for four years is eligible for selection in the Rule 5 -- unless they are protected on the 40-man roster.
There are a few interesting names who fit this criteria and are still unprotected. They are: RHP Justin De Fratus, INF Harold Garcia, RHP Chris Kissock, 1B/DH Matt Rizzotti, RHP/DH/1B Joe Savery.
Of those, I'd say De Fratus is the only lock to be added to the 40-man roster. We wrote about him last week.
Rizzotti had a fantastic 2010 season and is carrying it over in the Arizona Fall League. He will probably be protected, but there is no guarantee. Simply, there is really no spot for him at the major-league level right now (or in the near future). Can he even play at the major-league level? Could he be a trade chip? Maybe.
Kissock, 25, was a ninth-round pick in 2007 and had a decent 2010 season split at Clearwater and Reading. He's having a solid Arizona Fall League, too. The Phillies need arms. He could be protected for that reason. Still doubtful.
Savery will be left unprotected. Garcia was eligible to be selected in the Rule 5 last off-season but was not. He hit .305 between single A and double A in 2010 and that has raised his stock within the organization. He just turned 24. Is that enough?
Last year, the Phillies picked up David Herndon in the Rule 5 draft and lost Carlos Monasterios to the Mets (who then traded him to the Dodgers).
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FoxSports.com reported Thursday the Phillies signed utility man Pete Orr to a minor-league deal. Orr was at triple-A Syracuse in the Washington organization during the 2010 season and hit .264 with 12 home runs while playing six different positions.
With the addition of Orr and Carlos Rivero off waivers, the Brian Bocock Era may have reached its end.
Nice job Gelb. Love to hear this stuff, especially in the doldrums of November before the winter meetings. If Savery has a good year at the plate this year, he'll need to be protected next year, I'd guess. No one's going to keep him around for a year with about 3 weeks of experience hitting at AAA.— B in DC- can we get the Phils and San Fran score off of these pages?— madecaro
- Glad to hear about Sardinha. He was a feel-good story from last year, when he really seemed to step in and play decent baseball while covering.
Gelb - do you see any other interesting targets (ala Herndon, Victorino) that the Phils could be looking at to add depth from other teams in the Rule 5?— Philth - Great stuff Gelby— Potus415
- I think they gotta protect De Fratus, Rizz, and Garcia. Rizz is going to have some trade value this year since he has kept up his hot streak. As for Garcia, we are extremely thin in IF prospects, and I know Garcia is 24, but it appears he is a late bloomer and could be a good Util guy off the bench in the future.— robm0202
- I like your dry sense of humor...the Brian Bocock era...
Keep this info coming.— WadeThroughTheIdiots 
Comment removed.- Does the Phil's 40 man roster stand at 40? If so, who do they remove to add De Fratus and others? BTW, the link says teams have to finalize the 40 by Nov 20, not Dec 2.— P Even
- Just curious what are the defensive shortcomings of Valle you refer to in your article? When I saw him in three of the games of the post season playoffs with Lakewood back in September all I saw was outstanding defensive catching. He threw out a runner at second in one game and shutdown the running game. In another game he blocked a ball in the dirt and then moved far to his right to save another potential wild pitch both times with the tieing run on third. The ERA of the Lakewood pitching staff in winning the SAL championship was well under two for the seven game post season. Valle caught every inning I seem to recall. To top it off in the last game he hit a line drive three run home about 400 ft.to left to clinch the series. To me Valle should be the starting catcher at AA come next April.— Dull
- Rizzotti has to be protected. It would be stupid to let him go without seeing him for another year. I don't think they can risk exposing Garcia to the draft either.— bp_
