Phillies sign Blanco
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Phillies sign Blanco
Matt Gelb, Inquirer Staff Writer
CLEARWATER, Fla. — The Phillies and Nationals are trading castoffs all of a sudden.
Andres Blanco, a 27-year-old utility infielder, signed a minor-league deal with the Phillies on Saturday, two days after he was released by Washington.
Blanco will report to minor-league camp later Saturday, but he stands a chance to play in Philadelphia this season. In 32 Grapefruit League at-bats with the Nationals, Blanco had two hits and scored three runs.
Upon his release earlier in the week, Washington manager Davey Johnson remarked the Phillies would have interest in Blanco.
The Phillies are scouring the market for any bench upgrades, but it appears Pete Orr (a former National) could enter the season as the utility infielder. Michael Martinez, plucked from the Washington organization last winter in the Rule 5 draft, has a broken foot and will miss at least the first month of the season.
San Francisco released Mike Fontenot on Friday, but he is still owed approximately $700,000 from his $1.05 million deal. The Phillies, according to a baseball source, had talks with Cincinnati about Paul Janish, who is making $850,000 in 2012.
But the team is at or beyond the luxury tax threshold of $178 million, and could decide the utility infield job is best filled cheaply. If they're going to go over the limit, it could be for more important costs.
Blanco, a native Venezuelan, is a career .255 hitter in 235 major-league games over six seasons. He hit .224/.263/.342 for Texas in 82 at-bats last season while playing shortstop, third base, second base and right field. He's known as a slick fielder.
Former Phillies Jayson Werth and Brad Lidge will make the Nationals. Chad Durbin, a nonroster player, has a chance to be in the bullpen. Washington also cut Jason Michaels earlier in the week.
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Comments (36)
My lord, yet another Phils story followed by comments about how lost the organization now is because our savior Valdez is gone. He was a backup, and not an incredibly awesome one offensively OR defensively. Yes, he is a solid professional who can help out on an interim basis, but we all know that if Valdez were thrust into an everyday starter role, his stat line would look no different than last years, which in case anyone was wondering was .249/.294/.341— Momjeanz- Valdez, Valdez, Valdez..Damn, can't you Valdez idiots see that this season isn't in trouble because of the P's utility infielder but they have no hitting or power without Howard Or Utley. They need 2 hitters not a .230 hitting infielder.— chucke9
I was sad when Valdez was traded, and I rue the decision even more now, but it is done. So hopefully Amaro will find a good fill-in at a reasonable price, even if it is Pete Orr who may be enough if everyone else plays to their potentials.- hopefully anybody they play to replace the great valdez doesn't hit into so many dp's! if they field a slighty bit worse it's still a plus! i think the fact that he led the team in best ave with runners in scoring position was more luck than skill! and some of you morons here that think the phils season is gonna sink or swim without wilson valdez is almost laughable! no in fact it is laughable! they have deeper conserns than wilson valdez! i liked wilson but he's not the superstar some people make him out to be. he's very replacable.— Ryne Duren
- A guy who went 2-32 is the best that is available? Really?— MrPhillie
- Amaro admitted that he made a mistake letting go of Valdez. It is probably true that the true seriousness of Utley's knee problems weren't known at the time. Still, considering Polanco's age and his recent history off injuries, counting on both Polanco and Utley to be regulars was tempting fate. In any case, some of the responders just don't get it. No one is claiming that Valdez was an all-star. However, he is an accomplished utility man who is able to play 3 infield positions well and his hitting is typical of good utility players. No matter how good a starting lineup is, a teamneeds a good and reliable bench player when the inevitable injuries occur. So, it's not that those people who were upset at Amaro discarding Valdez see him as a MVP. They rightly saw Valdez as an excellent fielder and great insurance for a team that is getting so old and has so may players with questionable health.— Drumgoole
- i would write something pithy here but the gestapo who censures my posts probably thinkth pithy ith naughty and hith mom would be offended.— bubba church & granny hamner
- Valdez stinks.— mwcnabb
- Not sure when Valdez became the second coming of Rogers Hornsby. Regardless of who they plug into 2b it won't be that much of a drop off compared to Valdez.— Patriot72
- If anyone saw that game with NY yesterday...the pitching was terrible!
It was Qualls, Papelbon, Kendrick and then minor leaguers. It was a joke.Couldn't find home-plate. If that was a measure of our BP, then
it means we are in trouble. Nuf said..— Lynnwood - Chris "Wheels" Wheeler says this guy can "really, really field" and "is a great guy in the clubhouse."— Wilhelm Von Humboldt
- Amaro cna't an no GM can plan for injuries. Yes, they happen and yes they thought they Chase for the full year and they thought they had someone (MM) to take care of it should the need arise. Youcan't have 14 infielder's on call in case everyone gets hurt. Sometimes you're just screwed, but few ever see it coming. Blanco is just another MM but with a slightly better bat, and I mean slight.— Mark1npt
- We certainly do not need hitters when we can pick up cheap slick fielding defensive players.— tulsaphil
- He's got Bowker-esque type numbers. I like it!— Penfold18
- Appropriate signing of Blanco, since the Phillies offense figures to get blanked often this season.— dasher
- Amaro signed a latin/hispanic player? Shocker.— scootch
- If I knew anything about Blanco, anything at all, I would comment about him.— PhightinPhil
- I think people's beef with trading Valdez is that he was their best utility infielder on a team with oft injured infielders. I don't think it's wrong to second guess that move. Even Amaro admitted it was a dumb move.— AvoidSundanceVacations
- oakmontleo:you can't be more wrong, especially with the history of infield injuries that the Phillies have had in recent years..Valdez was more than a steady freddy in the field...RAJ himself admits it was a mistake...Next best bet would have been Josh Barfield, but he also is out of the organization. He was a much better player than MM as well, and got hosed last year.— bearsfriend
- I also like Barfield. He signed with the Orioles 5 days before MM got hurt. He's probably a little less versatile than Valdez but he had a few good years in the majors where he showed he could hit (2006-2007). — s
- If Amaro knew Martinez was going to break a bone in his foot he probably would not have traded Valdez and would have been as smart as some of the people commenting here who obviously knew about Martinez's injury before it happened.— RichG
- Pray that nothing happens to Chooch, I'll find it difficult watching Schneider hitting a robust .150 all season.— younged
- Too many comments on the trade of Valdez. If the Phillies had to rely on him to be a key player we would be chasing the Mets for 6th place.— oakmontleo
What was with that comment at the end "Former Phillies Jayson Werth and Brad Lidge will make the Nationals." I mean was there any chance Werth wasn't going to make the team? The guy is owed 126 million.
— KINGOFZED- Amaros trades lean way in favor of great moves. You can't win every one. Sheesh...Does your boss micro-manage you like that?— Hatfield_ham
- amaro's trade of valdez was moronic.— psualum
- Fontenot would be nice but I guess he's out because he only plays second base.— AvoidSundanceVacations
- The Wilson Valdez move looks worse every day!— BEMiller
- I would have preferred Fontenot. Better player than Valdez. Galvis looks good at 2nd. Problem is Phills lineup for 40 or so games will have Schneider, Galvis and pitcher at bottom.— Don w
- I won't be upset about paying the minimum for bench depth if Cole is signed to a long term deal. They have a lot of good players under a lot of big contracts (and some mediocre and/or hurt but the contracts are still big). I know they print money at the Bank but there has to be some limit to the payroll.— TongueWagger
- Would love to know the details behind the speculation that the Phils are at the luxury tax threshold which is a good story in itself. In particular, it would be interesting to know when a team is compliant with the luxury tax -- when the first pitch is thrown (some teams have already started their season) or when.— Claudio Vernight
- Blanco = Zippo— shawnmac
- Should have kept Wilson Valdez but he was making much more than minimum wage so out the door he went. They figured reserve infielders were interchangeable and all minimum wagers. Now they're finding that's not the case. This will cost them another 4-6 games in the standings come October. Idiots.— Richie Allen
- Surely, sir, you are not suggesting that the loss of Wilson Valdez will mean a reduction of 4-6 wins for the Phillies. The man is a utility infielder for a reason. He has been with seven teams in seven seasons for a reason. I always attempt to look beyond statistics when evaluating a player, but in this case it seems necessary (I also urge you to view his career statistics). Valdez is the absolute walking definition of "non-factor". It would be futile to argue otherwise. Just a little too much hoopla for the 24th man on the roster. Many people like to argue that he did the "little things", but "little things" also don't show up in box scores for a reason. — CornerPretzelGuy
- I love soft pretzels...career stats for part time players are virtually meaningless. And Valdez was the BEST hitter on the team last year with runners in scoring position. And his fielding is second to none. That's what the Phillies are going to miss this year. Get ready for our worst-fielding infield in the last 20 years in 2012. It's hard to win championships with that going against you.
- With your logic, Valdez should bebatting 3rd or 4th...not 8th. Valdez only played a lot because of injuries. — mwcnabb
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About this blog
The Phillies Zone is the place for up-to-the-minute Phillies coverage from the Inquirer.
Matt Gelb
Inquirer Staff Writer
Bob Brookover
Inquirer Baseball Columnist
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