Phillies General Manager Ruben Amaro, Jr., has agreed to set relief pitcher Juan Cruz free.
Signed to a minor league contract with an invitation to major league camp, Cruz was apparently intimidating by the idea of competing for a job with Chad Durbin and his major league contract, according to Jim Salisbury.
More interesting than this announcement is the fact that the Phillies had actually signed Cruz to a contract. I mean, am I the only one who doesn't remember this? According Baseball Reference the deal happened on January 15th. I was recently back from vacation and jet-lagged out of my goddamn mind so maybe that's it.
Anyway, Cruz is 34 years old and somehow manager a 2.78 ERA last season with Pittsburgh despite allowing 39 hits and 19 walks in 36 innings pitched. For his career, he has 659 strikeouts in 655 innings, which is pretty good, to be honest.
Fly away, Mr. Cruz. Be free!