Phillies sign Matt Tolbert to minor-league deal

The Philadelphia Phillies have made a small addition to their organization, signing infielder Matt Tolbert to a minor-league contract, according to Matt Eddy of Baseball America:

Middle INF Matt Tolbert & OF Joe Mather jump from #Cubs to #Phillies organization as minor league free agents.

— Matt Eddy (@eddymk) February 6, 2013

Tolbert's deal does not include an invite to big-league camp next week, so he will not be vying for a spot on the Phillies' Opening Day roster.

The 30-year-old received considerable playing time with the Minnesota Twins as a back-up infielder from 2008-2011, but did not make it up to Wrigley Field last season as part of the Cubs' organization. The punchy switch-hitter batted .240/.313/.304 with just one home run in 113 games at Triple-A Iowa, getting most of his playing time at shortstop.

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Tolbert is a career .230/.288/.319 hitter in 680 big-league plate appearances -- not much worse than Yuniesky Betancourt, who does have an invitation to spring training from the Phillies -- and has much better defensive numbers than Betancourt.

The Phillies had announced outfielder Joe Mather as a non-roster invitee to spring camp two weeks ago. The journeyman outfielder appeared in 103 games for the Cubs last year.

This story was originally published at MLB Daily Dish.