The Phillies surprised many on Sunday when they outrighted utility player Kevin Frandsen off of the 40-man roster. Part of it was that the Phillies had other options who could perhaps could perform capably in a utility infielder role. Also, the Phillies appear to believe that Frandsen was no longer trustworthy at third base or shortstop. Regardless of their reason, the Phillies put themselves into a difficult situation by guaranteeing contract to both Kevin Frandsen and John Mayberry.
Eligible for arbitration, the Phillies had no obligation to offer Frandsen or Mayberry a guaranteed deal. In normal circumstances, the team could agree to a deal with an arbitration-eligible player. Then, that player would only be guaranteed 1/6 of that salary should the team decide to cut the player before Opening Day. Instead, upon agreeing to a deal, the Phillies guaranteed each player the full amounts of their contract.
Why would they do that? Well, as @joecatz from The Good Phight pointed out to me, they may have saved a few dollars by making them guaranteed. How many dollars? That certainly backfired the other day when they sent Kevin Frandsen's $900,000 salary to AAA Lehigh Valley. He will be the best-paid player on the team by many hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Frandsen was originally signed to play shortstop for the Iron Pigs. While his defensive skills have diminished, Frandsen led baseball last season with 14 pinch-hits. Even with that value, there was no urgent need to guarantee his contract. Spring Training appears to have shown that Frandsen's defense was too much of a concern without Freddy Galvis around.
As for John Mayberry, the Phillies have mostly made it clear that Mayberry is not viewed as an option in center field. Mayberry is right-handed, can play outfield and first base, and would be valuable to a team. But the Phillies need to use one of their two backup outfield slots on a center fielder. Cesar Hernandez was passable last year and Mayberry was a body in the outfield. But finding a true center fielder with some offensive skill was something the Phillies could do, and did easily enough with Tony Gywnn, Jr.
If the goal for the two outfield slots was a true center fielder and a bat with some power, Mayberry handicaps the Phillies because he is neither. Darin Ruf would have fit the bill fine (and still could after he recovers from an oblique injury). But the Phillies are stuck paying Mayberry $1.587 million no matter what.
Regardless of money guaranteed, at least the Phillies appear to be willing to do whats best for the team. Mayberry could face a similar choice with Mayberry: expose him to waivers, and if he clears, pay him handsomely to be stashed at AAA. But Mayberry could be clamed or traded by Opening Day.
I think, however, the Phillies bench will be:
- Catcher: Wil Nieves
- Infielders: Cesar Hernandez and Freddy Galvis (Ronny Cedeño for now)
- Outfielders: Tony Gywnn and Darin Ruf (Bobby Abreu or Mayberry for now)
Abreu could be cut simply because they don't want to end up eating Abreu AND Mayberry, since Abreu would have to be added to the roster by tomorrow. Something will happen today that will make things all clearer. The Phillies could have made it easier had they not guaranteed money to Frandsen and Mayberry.
