The Phillies have signed 31-year old lefty reliever Bill White to a minor league deal. White pitched in 51 games (0 starts) in A+AAA ball last season and he was 4-1 with 6 saves, a 3.48 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP. White has also pitched in 17 games (0 starts) in his major league career and he is 2-0 with a 9.45 ERA and a 2.48 WHIP. White doesn’t have a large upside but you can never have too many lefty relievers around and for that reason I like this signing for the Phillies.

The Phillies have signed 33-year old righty swinging infielder Cody Ransom to a minor league deal. Ransom played in 31 games for the Yankees last season and he was 15 for 79 (.190 avg, .585 OPS) with 11 runs scored, 10 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. He has now played in 197 games in his major league career and he is 61 for 262 (.233 avg, .722 OPS) with 52 runs scored, 7 homers, 34 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. This was a good signing for the Phillies as Ransom can play a lot of positions but he will likely start the season in AAA.

The Phillies have picked 24-year old righty reliever/starter David Herndon in the Rule 5 Draft off of the Angels’ roster. Herndon pitched in 50 games (0 starts) in AA-ball last year and he was 5-6 with 11 saves, a 3.03 ERA and a 1.29 WHIP. He has now pitched in 132 games (50 starts) in his four year minor league career and he is 26-23 with 28 saves, a 3.78 ERA and a 1.26 WHIP. The Phillies will get a good look at Herndon this spring with the idea of letting him compete for a job in the bullpen.

The Phillies have signed 33-year old 1B/OF Ross Gload to a 2-year deal. Gload played in 125 games for the Marlins last season and he was 60 for 230 (.261 avg, .729 OPS) with 33 runs scored, 6 homers and 30 RBIs. He has now played in 608 games in his 8 years in the majors and he is 405 for 1,432 (.283 avg, .736 OPS) with 176 runs scored, 28 homers, 192 RBIs and 11 stolen bases. This was a good move for the Phillies who needed a dependable stick off the bench and Gload is more than capable of providing that to them.

The Philadelphia Phillies have already added Placido Polanco and Brian Schneider in free agency and they don’t have a lot of serious issues heading into the Winter Meetings. There have been whispers that Joe Blanton is on the trading block but I wouldn’t trade him if I were running the Phillies as he is a solid and very dependable starting pitcher. But, if the Phillies do move Blanton I think it would be with the idea of making a strong push to add Roy Halladay of the Blue Jays in a big trade. The Phillies could also sign a free agent to work late in games as going with Brad Lidge at closer in 2010 is a scary proposition.