Newswire

[kimchi_chigae]

Jays sign veteran C Phillips

TSN.ca Staff

1/3/2006 1:21:29 PM

The Toronto Blue Jays have signed C Jason Phillips to a minor league contract with an invitation to attend spring training with the major league club.

Phillips, 29, spent last season with the Los Angeles Dodgers batting .238 with 20 doubles, 10 home runs and 55 RBI in 121 games. The La Mesa, California native caught 93 games registering a .992 fielding percentage.

The 6'1", 220 lbs., right-handed hitter has played parts of five seasons in the majors. He is a career .254 hitter with 29 home runs and 150 RBI in 385 games.

Phillips spent the first four years of his career with the New York Mets (2001-2004) before being traded to the Dodgers on March 20, 2005. He was originally selected by the Mets in the 24th round of the 1997 First Year Player Draft.

me thinks this is a pretty good signing. quiroz can't seem to stay healthy and when he is playing, he isn't showing much.

[go_jays_go]

Solid signing. Phillips will probably be a solid backup.

[mweir145]

Eric Hinske will see time in left field this spring, GM J.P. Ricciardi said yesterday.
Even if Corey Koskie is traded, playing the outfield would still be the best way for Hinske to get at-bats. He could start in left field against some righties, with Frank Catalanotto moving to right and Alex Rios getting benched. He'd have to hit, though, because that would be a substantial downgrade on defense.

Looks like Hinske will be moving to the outfield, and the Jays will have a platoon in both RF and LF.

[go_jays_go]

Jays trade Koskie

The TORONTO BLUE JAYS have acquired minor league RHP Brian Wolfe from the Milwaukee Brewers in exchange for 3B COREY KOSKIE.
WOLFE, 25, posted a 5-2 record with eight saves in 2005 while pitching for Brevard County of the Florida State League (A), New Britain of the Eastern League (AA) and Huntsville of the Southern League(AA). In 39 games, the 6-2, 200lb. native of Fulton, California recorded 23 walks and 45 strikeouts in 51 1/3 innings, allowing just one home run. Since his sixth round selection by the Minnesota Twins in the 1999 First Year Player Draft, WOLFE has a career record of 41-37 with 11 saves and an ERA of 4.08 in 176 games, 86 starts.

KOSKIE, 32, appeared in 97 games for Toronto last season and batted .249 with 20 doubles, 11 home runs and 36 RBI. The 6-3, 225lb. left-handed hitter from Anola, Manitoba was on the disabled list from May 20 to July 26 after suffering a fractured right thumb. In eight Major League seasons, KOSKIE has appeared in 913 games and collected 200 doubles, 112 home runs and 473 RBI while batting .277.

[mweir145]

Here's a star article on the trade with a few Koskie quotes, it certainly will be sad to see him go, I felt they should have given him another chance. He definitely played with a lot of heart last year, and made a few memorable catches (one in particular at Yankee Stadium):

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/Conten ... 0081593064

There is also a source within the article that claims the Brewers will be paying more than half of Koskie's remaining 11 M salary. Ricciardi wasn't willing to pay more than 3 million of Koskie's contract in the Twins' talks, so I doubt he would send more than 3 million to the Brewers.

[mweir145]

I hadn't seen this yet, but it looks like J.P is interested in Molina for the right price. I don't really see any other suitors (other than possibly San Diego), so he might be able to milk this situation.

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/Conten ... 0081593064

[sportsguy80]

I hadn't seen this yet, but it looks like J.P is interested in Molina for the right price. I don't really see any other suitors (other than possibly San Diego), so he might be able to milk this situation.

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/Conten ... 0081593064

Molina i dont know about this one i kind of like Zaun better

[mweir145]

Here's an update on the Molina talks from Blair's blog:

Alan Nero, the agent for free-agent catcher Bengie Molina, has told some teams that his client will likely decide by the weekend where he'll be going. The Toronto Blue Jays are one of the teams in the running for Molina's services, with what Nero said was a "very good, very fair," offer;

Looks like he's going to make a decision very soon, the Jays' offer is rumoured to be around 4 million. The Yankees or Dodgers could easily decide to top it, though.

[Mookie4ever]

Didn't we just sign Hillenbrand to a $4 million contract? How much money do we have left?

[mweir145]

Didn't we just sign Hillenbrand to a $4 million contract? How much money do we have left?

All the arbitration-eligible players were included into that 70 million dollar estimate from Ricciardi when the Glaus deal went down. Those contracts won't raise our payroll past that point.

And I think you mean Lilly, he's the one who signed the $4M contract yesterday. Hillenbrand reportedly asked for 6.7M, and the Jays counted offered with 5. That situation may have to go to a hearing.