Positioning for the playoff sprint, the Phillies claimed journeyman reliever Rick White off waivers from the Cincinnati Reds.
The 37-year-old right-hander is owed $325,000 on his contract and posted a 6.26 ERA in 27 1-3 innings for Cincinnati before he wore out his welcome. The move was reported on ESPN.com.
White pitched 75 innings for the Pirates last season to the tune of a 3.75 ERA, but posted ERAs over 5.00 the previous two seasons. A native of Ohio, White couldn't make it work in middle relief for his boyhood team and was designated for assignment on Monday.
White made his major league debut in 1994 with Pittsburgh. The Phillies are his 10th team.
Beerleaguer take
White fits the Phillies’ profile as an old, ineffective innings-eater, but the move smacks of impending roster reshuffling more.
At its simplest, Gillick could be adding depth to the lower tier of the bullpen, or preparing to move someone to the DL (I’ve been sniffing a Rhodes' injury for weeks). It could also signal a possible trade involving a veteran Phillies reliever, such as Rhodes or Rheal Cormier. A more substantial move, such as a trade involving a veteran starter like Cory Lidle, is also not out of the question. Ryan Franklin could either be released or moved into the starting rotation. Goofy, but true.
Stay tuned. This minor, minor move could be the springboard for something big, or more likely, it's just the Phillies being the Phillies. I started picturing White in a Phillies uni to moment I read he was designated. See picture above ... is it really that hard?
In other news, ESPN.com is reporting that pitching coach Rich Dubee received a new deal.
Boy, Gillick sure goes after the hot names. Anyone with an ERA under 5.00 is apparently off-limits for consideration.
That said, this *is* his first move since the Dellucci trade. Hallelujah.
Posted by: RickSchuBlues | Friday, June 23, 2006 at 04:16 PM
Exciting news indeed... Probably will be on the team for the next 3 years...
Posted by: Jon | Friday, June 23, 2006 at 04:19 PM
John Sickels has done an update of the Phillies top prospects here: http://www.minorleagueball.com./
Most of them are disappointments. (It's a great site, by the way.)
Posted by: clout | Friday, June 23, 2006 at 04:22 PM
You know your pitching is horrible when you pick up Rick White. If your a pitcher and you get waived by the Reds, you know you suck. This is the kind of move that GM Thomas you to make during the mid-to-late 90s. Hope we don't return to those glory days.
Posted by: MG | Friday, June 23, 2006 at 04:33 PM
Over 35......check
Career ERA over 4.50......check
At least 8 MLB teams.......check
Posted by: Tony | Friday, June 23, 2006 at 04:37 PM
My bad, his career ERA is 4.31...
Posted by: Tony | Friday, June 23, 2006 at 04:43 PM
Like wow man, I'm underwhelmed.
Typical Phils pickup.
Posted by: theragtopguy | Friday, June 23, 2006 at 05:37 PM
Why the need to give Dubee a new deal ? Is he is such demand ? By the way, I would hope that Gillick has enough connections to start getting rid of the some of the old guard and getting competent baseball people in the organization. I haven't seen much (or any) of this so far.
Posted by: Billy Mac | Friday, June 23, 2006 at 05:53 PM
Help me understand this minor, minor move. How is White an improvement over Condrey, Sanches, Yoel Hernandez, ... ? I just don't see the point.
Posted by: Billy Mac | Friday, June 23, 2006 at 08:47 PM
its the 4th inning. Are you ready for Wheels and Graham and the "Excuses Innings" as i call them. By the time the 4th hits in most games the phils are down just like this and the only thing they can do is make excuses for everyone's mistakes. Its terrible..oh by the way White is a Stooge!
Posted by: OH kill me now | Friday, June 23, 2006 at 09:05 PM
why the F do we have Bell on this team and don't have Youkilis? I know the Red Sox were trying to give him to the phillies last year at one point.
Posted by: Youkilis | Friday, June 23, 2006 at 09:08 PM
Funny someone mentioned the Wheels & Graham excuse innings because that's exactly what they did. On that play that David "Fairy Feet" Bell cutoff J-Roll and let the ball bounce off the side of the glove Wheels came up with 3 different excuses for him. It disgusts me! What disgusts me even more is that crap is ruled a hit. I'm pretty confident J-Roll would have thrown the runner out at first because he was set up perfectly to do so. Then a play later Bell lets one go through his legs...I hate him!
Posted by: Book | Saturday, June 24, 2006 at 07:42 AM
I think the ESPN report was referring to the Phillies signing Michael Dubee (Rich's son), their 18th round pick in this year's draft. It's a great sign for the Phillies as the younger Dubee is a highly thought of prospect heading into the draft who slid much further than expected due to doubts that he would sign.
Posted by: xxx | Saturday, June 24, 2006 at 09:48 AM
Any guy who beats his wife in public is not a man. Trade the bum. He ought to be worth two decent pitchers and, more importantly, decent men.
Posted by: Fred Stuart | Saturday, June 24, 2006 at 11:34 AM
When you're bad, you look to get younger. You only get older if you're sniffing the postseason. Even a bloodhound couldn't sniff the playoffs for this bunch.
Posted by: John Salmon | Saturday, June 24, 2006 at 04:13 PM