gaudin |

“Snowblind, can’t live without you
So fine I just can’t get away
Won’t you throw me a lifeline
I’m going down for the third time
I’m snowblind, and I can’t get away”

–Styx

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As I pulled out of the garage to head out to work this morning, I pressed the button on my dashboard to link my phone and my car via Bluetooth. Then I activated my audio system. Before I had the chance to press more buttons, my iPhone picked a random song from among 1,200. You guessed it: Snowblind. Perfect for a day so blizzard-y that they had to postpone the Reading Phillies Banquet.

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News dropped this evening that Bobby Abreu–yes, THAT Bobby Abreu–had signed a minor league deal with the Phillies. It wasn’t a complete surprise to me. It had been rumored that the Phils were in search of a left-handed bat for the bench. I had been reading Tweets every morning from Jay Floyd (Phoulballz.com) detailing the exploits of Phillies prospects and related players currently playing in the Dominican, Venezuelan, and Mexican Winter Leagues. He had been Tweeting Bobby Abreu stats and the cat has been raking. For a while, he was hitting in the .400 to .500 range–now .322 over 180 AB. He’s getting on base at a .416 clip, with a .877 OPS.

Our old friend Reuben has taken his fare share of abuse over the past few hours for this signing, but it does make sense. The Phillies bench likely consists of five guys, right?

Back-Up Catcher: (Nieves)
Back-Up Infielder (who can play SS): (Galvis or Cedeno)
Right-Handed Bat: (Mayberry or maybe Ruf)
Left-Handed Bat: (open)
Man 25: Frandsen

So you see, there’s a spot. Abreu can likely supply the pop off the bench the Phillies want from a lefty–at minimum wage. He won’t get much time in the field, but might be able to back up Byrd or Brown if necessary. It seems like a win-win. Reminds me of the Thome deal from two years ago. If Abreu flames out, someone from the IronPigs should be ready to fill in or get a shot.

Is there a chance Abreu plays for the IronPigs? Not likely. At first I thought perhaps there was a scenario where that might happen, but as I look at the rosters now, I doubt it. In the mix for OF at LHV: Gillies, Castro, Sappelt, Gwynn Jr., Thomas, Ruf, Hernandez. That’s seven dudes for 4-5 spots. And I’m not even counting Hewitt or Collier, who will have to earn spots in Reading with the arrival of young bucks Altherr, Perkins and Dugan.

As with a lot of these Phillies signings, I say, “The more, the merrier.” More veterans for Philadelphia means more talent for the IronPigs.

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The Phillies also signed swing-man RHP Chad Gaudin who pitched in 30 games with 12 starts last year for San Francisco. He sported a 3.06 ERA. It’s a minor league deal, but I fully expect he’ll be with the big team as the long-man to start–filling in first in the case of injury given the starting rotation of Hamels-Lee-Kendrick-Hernandez-Pettibone. Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez is the wild card in this scenario. He could start in the minors, or injured, or push Pettibone back to the IronPigs to start the season. Gaudin’s had some trouble with the law which may have impacted his value on the free-agent market. From an IronPigs perspective, this should provide the opportunity for another quality arm in the IronPigs bull-pen.

See you in the snow,

@Kram209