Within the past hour the Phillies announced they were inviting the following 9 players to Sprint Training in 2013:
- Andres Blanco, Infielder (presumably in the hope that once all of the Green(e)'s in the system are called up we can field an entirely Green, White and Brown lineup)
- Josh Fields, Infielder/OF
- Cesar Jiminez, LHP
-
Steven Lerud, C
- Jermaine Mitchell, OF
- Michael Martinez, Dead Weight/OF/Infielder
-
Zach Miner, RHP
- Pete Orr, Infielder
- Humberto Quintero, C
Don't pay too much attention to Lerud and Quintero, MLB teams invite damned near every catcher who owns a glove to ST, so that Pitchers can get max reps and they can cover all of the split squad games.
Fields is the quintessential AAAA player who can hit like mad in AAA, but hasn't had much success in his MLB stints. He was in the Dodgers system last year. Still, he was a first round pick, he can effectively stand in multiple locations on the field (the fielding quality varies by position), so he may be looked at as a possible call-up in the event of injuries to an already thing defense in the corners.
Jiminez is a former Mariners farmhand and is probably part ST game fodder to fill out split squads and part the 2013 version of Valdes.
Mitchell is a former A's farmhand who's a bit of a AAAA guy, but at 28 perhaps the Phils hope for some Mayberry type 5th OF ceiling. He can play all 3 spots in the OF, so could be an injury call up as well given the positional flexibility.
Orr, Martinez and Blanco are in a deathmatch to see who can, at least, attempt to fill holes in the Infield when injuries inevitably crop up. Blanco's pretty much limited to Shortstop, so I think this is possibly a favor/reward for performing fairly well in Lehigh.
Miner's a career minor leaguer who's had some cups o' coffee with the Tigers. Still, he isn't half bad for bullpen depth. Somebody's got to throw in Lehigh and maybe he gets hot and helps the big club.