Josh Fields is first minor-league signing
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Josh Fields is first minor-league signing
Matt Gelb
Six seasons ago, Josh Fields was a 24-year-old rookie third baseman who mashed 23 home runs in 100 games and a future cornerstone of the Chicago White Sox. You know, the kind of guy the Phillies currently dream of to fill a gaping hole.
He has played in 103 major-league games since 2007, been labeled as a first-round bust, and is now property of the Phillies as he attempts to revive a career that has taken him from Arkansas to Japan to Albuquerque.
Fields is the Phillies' first minor-league free agent signing, as reported by Baseball America. He'll come to spring training looking to win a bench job but is probably ticketed for triple-A Lehigh Valley for depth.
It's depth, though, at a position of need.
Fields, who turns 30 in two weeks, has not appeared in a major-league game since 2010 with Kansas City. Before that charmed 2007 season, he was rated the 45th best prospect in baseball by Baseball America. He was a two-sport star at Oklahoma State and set all sorts of passing records since broken by Brandon Weeden.
Fields spent all of last season at the Dodgers' triple-A affiliate and raked in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League to the tune of .322/.392/.488. He played at third base a majority of the time.
The Phillies think they hit on Kevin Frandsen, a player with a similar trajectory. Maybe Fields can emulate that success. Maybe not.
And that was 236 words on Josh Fields. Happy Black Friday.
Have a question? Send it to Matt Gelb's Mailbag.
Comments (35)
Fields was signed to a minor league contract. If he develops into something great. At this point there is no downside. Well there is one upside a chance for some to complain.— Don w- What a smarmy article on a guy trying to make it work.— ngfs66
- filled with thanksgiving dinner, the moronic posts return with renewed energy.
yes, its just crazy for the phils to sign guys who can play in AAA, and maybe get a shot in the majors if there is an injury or frandsden/galvis or whoever else you have in the third base mix.— jim715 - Lets just say the Phillies have better options at third now than last year with Mike Martinez and Ty Wigginton.— zeke128
- "old guys without talent." Like bloggers?— 2smart4philly
- This Phillies shill gets paid to write a column of at least 235 words a week, no matter how bad. And this one stinks.— Wilhelm Von Humboldt
- You never know about guys like this. Werth was 29 when the Phils signed him and the Cards signed Ludwick at 29 and at 30 he hit 37 hrs. Not saying Fields will do the same but can't hurt to sign him.— T Schick
- I've thought for awhile that Josh Fields was just what the Phillies needed to put themselves over the top....here we go!!!— Bobphxville
- Fact: This is what GM's who win World Series do. It is the Pete Incavigilia's, Eisenreich, Werth types that come into their own(or fiond a past bat) that put a team over the top. They don;t have to have a ten year ceiling, they could just have a good solid three months and be worth it. This is what Gillick did as well as the Cardinals for the last thirty years.— UncleStosh
- This is simply depth in case Frandsen gets hurt and Galvis doesn't hit. We need players like this to step up when given the opportunity, hungry, yearning and something to prove. Look how it worked out for Frandsen! I'm gonna say for the 1,256,333rd time....you don't need an All Star player at every single position to win a WS.— Mark1npt
- There are NO available 3rd basemen available, except those on their last leg, which we don't need so why not fill in and maybe we;ll have a liitle luck like we did with Victorino & Werth, both cast offs, nobody wanted. Our big need is in CF— quakercityguy
- Another 30 year old at AAA to stall the progress of younger players. Phil's prospects - Utley, Howard, Ruf, etc. - usually don't get to the SHOW until they are 25 or 26. Then, if they are good enough they get to sign a long term, big money deal when they are 30 or so.— Konstanty
- 1Repub and RRinVA it's obama's fault— ihatenewyorkers
- why worry about third base lets use the second baseman if it is a right hand batter. if its a left hand batter you don't need one.save the money.— Bernard Washabaugh
- Bench fodder what can you expect it's November and Rube is doing his usual...nothing.— d1955h
- Per 600 at bats, he averages 21 home runs in the minors and 28 in the majors. His 713 MLB ab's are a small sample, so both the home run and batting average totals probably have a large margin of error. His career AAA average (1709 abs) is .302. A good portion of that was racked up in the PCL which as Gelb points out is a hitter's paradise. I'd knock about 25 points off that.
I think it's realistic that he could hit .275 with 20-25 home runs at the major league level. Most hitters are not in decline at 30, but given his age he's not a solution beyond 2-3 years.
It's a reasonably good signing considering there aren't any very good free agent options at 3B. There's some cheap scrap available for a team like the Phillies that thinks it could be competitive.
Obviously, it would be ideal to bring in a young prospect who they can develop. At any rate I think Fields is a better option than Frandsen, and probably equal to Wigginton but at a fraction of the price.— comin4ya23 - Thanks Matt for Phillies news. The White Sox had HIGH hopes on this guy! He had/has potential. Who knows. Why not! No problem in giving it a try.— MooseBreathMints
- OMG, posters, chill! They signed a minor league 3B to play at AAA. This is a non story that was only written because Matt Gelb had nothing else to write about. Relax.
— syddan26 - The Phillies seem to avoid signing young guys with talent. They prefer old guys without.— 4thand10
- This is what Amaro is doing, worrying about has beens? Yawns!!!— twpman
- Hey, Ed- it is organizational depth. Not like they signed this guy to a 5 year 120 Million deal. Take some Pepto and lighten up.— Nigel#1
- Hey, Victorino came from the Dodgers as a cast off. I like the signing. I'm also glad they're not jumping out and opening the vault for the big names out there now.— cupajoe
- OK, then Werth. — commenter1111
- another 30 year old player, a pick from scap pile, nice work amaro— Ed Hartwell
- Looks like Cody Asche will have to spend another year in the minor league camp and then at AA. Only 22 years old; way too young to play for this Major league team. Yet other teams like the O's, the Rangers, the Nationals and the Tigers start players younger than Asche in the post season. But not the Phillies. Can't wait for the next free agent signings. LOL!— Dull
- Right again. Asche will be here around 28 or so. — dmn
- world series here we come!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!— Bernard Washabaugh
- Nice signing for the organization. Will be an excellent addition for LV or if he has an impressive spring training could turn some heads. Have to be concerned that the LAD didnt re-sign him with their lack of depth at 3B.— argonne
- Dear friend: after the Andrew Bynum damaged goods trade for our Sixers, would you ever trust again any player from a Los Angeles sports organization??? — TEDcGEGI
- I can see why you call yourself "#1" - I only wish you hadn't attached it to the word republican. Matt - I thank you for ANY words.— dwp66
- Aa opposed to what, 1FraudulentVoter? — RRinVA
- Pathetic phoned in faux article of zero content, acknowledged by the writer himself, as if this was some type of contrition or confession, exacted by his bosses.
I want to know what ownership, you know, our "phantom ownership" with their front man Montgomery, will do with the megabucks they earned for years of being cheap, non-spenders, before CBP, built on taxpayer money made them all very rich. Lets see them spend real money, scoff at the luxury tax, and also learn to trust the homegrown talent you haven't even seen yet, like Asche or Gillies.
On a final note, the reason I post here is RRinVA, who should stay in his backward Republican world of Rush Limbaugh and Bill O'Reilly, and that empty echo chamber of conservatism. This was one of the largest wins in popular voting, and the true scary and pathetic part is that these fools actually believe what they write. I practice in a world which demands proofs and evidence, professionally that is. Try imposing that standard on these zealots and "true believers". Their defenses are downright frightening. Hey RR, if you want a conspiracy, try looking at Bush morphing 9/11 to the neocon objectives of starting a war in Iraq, and the outright lie of WMD. Wake up you neocon frauds. - Slow news day?— 1republican
- Understand Mikael Franco said he was told he was going to Reading in 2013, jumping CLW. Then have to assume Asche heads for LHV. So Josh Fields does some DH/1B and 3rd?????? — Romus
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