The Phillies made three roster moves today, parting ways with infielder Abraham Nunez, catcher Rod Barajas, and reliever Kane Davis. That's a mistake from two winters ago, a mistake from last winter, and, um, Kane Davis.
It was no surprise that the team declined their $5 million option for 2008 on Barajas, who signed with the expectation that he'd start most of the time but fell to fourth on the depth chart by September; when you can't beat Pete LaForrest for playing time, your star is seriously dimmed. They bought him out for $500,000. The decision on Nunez, who gets a $300,000 buyout rather than $2.5 million, was a bit less certain: much as watching him "hit" is painful, he has value as a plus defender at three positions. That value is a lot closer to the veteran minimum than seven figures, though.
In all, an encouraging start to the offseason. Though Gillick's made his share of mistakes, he's shown repeatedly that he isn't wedded to them.