Questions surround Phillies’ infield
CLEARWATER, Fla. — The Phillies’ How The Infield Turns saga had a busy day Tuesday.
It started with a morning announcement that Ronny Cedeno, the light-hitting infielder welcomed to camp as a non-roster invitee, had been released on the day the Phillies had to decide if they wanted to commit to a $100,000 bonus to keep the veteran in the minorleague system for at least six weeks, or add him to the big-league roster.
In the end, they liked neither of those choices and cut him.
Later in the day Kevin Frandsen made a rather surprising and bold decision to refuse an assignment to Triple-A Lehigh Valley after the Phillies put him through waivers to take him off the 40-man roster. The veteran infielder, who led the majors in pinch hits last season, thus turned down the $900,000 he was guaranteed to make in 2014 if he had accepted the assignment.
Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. told Frandsen and the media Monday that the decision was about creating flexibility and that he wanted the 31-year-old to come back to camp and continue to compete for a spot on the Opening Day roster, which must be set by Sunday afternoon. Needless to say, he was a bit surprised that Frandsen had chosen to walk away from the guaranteed money.
“A little bit,” Amaro said. “It’s his right as the rules go … He had an opportunity to still make our club. We just wanted to try to give ourselves some flexibility. But that’s his choice, that’s his right and it’s part of the process.”
Manager Ryne Sandberg, who was Frandsen’s manager for Triple-A Lehigh Valley when he first joined the organization in 2011 and was part of Frandsen’s wedding party over the winter, was caught offguard by the choice.
“Yeah, that came as a surprise to me,” Sandberg said. “He was a guy who was still in the mix here … as a bench guy, as a righthanded bat. So I think that was very surprising to me. I hope something works out for him. I’ve been around him for four years now. I hope he has something and something works out.”
According to a source, as of Tuesday evening Frandsen did not, in fact, have another gig lined up. He reached out to followers on Twitter, saying, “Leaving an org. who gave me huge opp is as difficult a choice one could make! Ryno will lead the way and great things will happen!”
As far as options within the organization for someone who can back up Jimmy Rollins, the only person in camp with experience at shortstop is Reid Brignac, who has 156 big-league starts at the position. Prospect Cesar Hernandez, a second baseman in the minors, has been seeing time at third and shortstop this spring after playing some centerfield for the Phils late last season. Brignac is a left-handed hitter, Hernandez a switch-hitter. The options on the market at the moment are cringe-worthy, with veterans Cesar Izturis and Jamey Carroll released in recent days.
If the Phillies received any good news as far as their infield is concerned, it’s that Freddy Galvis might make a faster recovery from a MRSA infection on his left knee than initially feared. The young utility man was released from the hospital after a four-day stay Monday and was in the clubhouse Tuesday afternoon. Galvis had to have the wound on his leg cleaned out and stitched shut, and will be on oral antibiotics for another two weeks.