Phillies sign Roger Bernadina for some reason

There's a fine line between "outfield depth" and "warm body" and the Phillies enjoy treading on it.

On Monday, the Nationals released Roger Bernadina, an outfielder who can play all three positions. He was released to make room for David DeJesus, who they acquired from the Cubs. The Nationals then put DeJesus right back on waivers, because why not I guess, but that's a different story.

While Bernadina was released to make room for another player, he probably could have been released due to his actual playing. In 85 games, he has a .178/.274/.270 triple slash. He's been with the Nationals his entire career, and in that time he's hit .243/.310/.360.

So of course the Phillies have signed him. The good news is that Michael Martinez has been optioned to Lehigh Valley to make room for Bernadina on the 25-man roster. Martinez was brought back to the big club on July 24 and in the 15 games and 26 plate appearances since then, he's hit .192/.192/.192. That's right. That is an actual batting line, and it belongs to Michael Martinez.

You could say that this year is quite the comedown for Bernadina, who had an outstanding 2012. Or you could also say that Bernadina is falling back to earth after a 2012 in which he put up numbers that were far beyond anything he'd done in the majors before. Regardless, the Phillies may see some potential there. Also, he's better than Michael Martinez.