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Journeyman/cartoon ghost Casper Wells has been claimed off waivers by the Phillies, according to all the Phillies beat writers on the planet.
Since April, Casper Wells has been with the Mariners, Blue Jays, Athletics, White Sox and now Phillies.
— Corey Seidman (@CoreySeidman) August 8, 2013
That's an impressive number of teams in less than one season. That could be related to the fact that he has trouble hitting baseballs in places where there are no fielders. He's never played in more than 95 games in a season. Last year he played 93 games for the Mariners, and in 316 plate appearances (the most he's had in a season) he hit ("hit") into a .228/.302/.396 line, which is pretty representative of his career triple slash of .236/.305/.407 in 732 total plate appearances since 2010. The advantage to adding him is his ability to play center field, since the Phillies currently have John Mayberry out there. While Mayberry has been playing center, I wouldn't go as far as calling him a center fielder. I've seen some of his attempted catches, and woof.
Wells' addition of course means that the Phillies will have to make a corresponding roster move prior to the start of their series in Washington tomorrow. Who will it be? Well, they could cut Michael Martinez, who provides infield depth but couldn't hit the broadside of a barn if he was standing right next to it. They could also cut The Good Phight perennial non-favorite Delmon Young. To me, this seems more likely. With Wells able to play center, they could move Mayberry to right which means that Delmon is out of a job. In fact, he's been out of one lately with the Phillies putting Ruf in right field, a position that he's barely played. Think about that. The Phillies have chosen to put in right field a natural first baseman who has spent time playing left field. They've chosen to do this over putting Delmon Young out there.
Delmon. Mini-Mart. One will be cut. Who will survive? Who will hit the road? Right now, no one knows. What we do know is that whatever happens, your TGP blog lords will be doing a collective happy dance, because one of them will probably be leaving. Adios, whoever you are, and don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.