The Phillies have signed 35-year old righty starter/reliever Scott Elarton to a minor league deal. He pitched in 16 games (0 starts) in AAA-ball for the White Sox and he was 1-2 with a 8.24 ERA and a 1.73 WHIP. Elarton last pitched in the majors back in 2008 with the Cleveland Indians. He has pitched in 232 games (170 starts) in his major league career so far and he is 56-61 with 3 saves, a 5.29 ERA and a 1.43 WHIP. Elarton is a big time longshot to help the Phillies at any point in 2012.

The Phillies have signed 33-year old righty reliever Brian Sanches to a minor league deal. Sanches pitched in 39 games (2 starts) for the Marlins last year and he was 4-1 with a 3.94 ERA and a 1.43 WHIP. He has now pitched in 189 games (2 starts) in his first six years in the majors and he is 13-6 with a 3.58 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP. This was a good signing for the Phillies as Sanches is a very solid reliever.

The Phillies have re-signed 35-year old lefty swinging outfielder Scott Podsednik to a minor league deal. He played in 34 games in Rookie+A+AAA-ball last year and he was 34 of 134 (.254 avg, .735 OPS) with 19 runs scored, 0 homers, 8 RBIs and 6 stolen bases. Podsednik has played in 1,016 games in his first 10 years in the majors and he is 1,036 of 3,707 (.279 avg, .721 OPS) with 544 runs scored, 41 homers, 300 RBIs and 301 stolen bases. If Podsednik is healthy this spring, he will have a solid shot of making the Phillies’ opening day roster.

The Phillies have released 27-year old righty reliever Scott Mathieson so that he could sign with the Yomiuri Giants of Japan. Mathieson pitched in 4 games (0 starts) for the Phillies last year and he was 0-0 with a 0.00 ERA and a 2.40 WHIP. He pitched in 15 games (8 starts) in his three years with the Phillies and he was 1-4 with a 6.75 ERA and a 1.89 WHIP. This isn’t much of a loss for the Phillies as they did Mathieson a favor by letting him go.

The Phillies have re-signed 29-year old righty swinging infielder Kevin Frandsen to a minor league deal. Frandsen played in 81 games in A+AA+AAA-ball for the Phillies last year and he was 92 for 298 (.309 avg, .791 OPS) with 34 runs scored, 5 homers, 43 RBIs and 10 stolen bases. Frandsen last played in the majors back in 2010 with the Angels. He has played in 228 games in his major league career so far this year and he is 138 of 568 (.243 avg, .636 OPS) with 65 runs scored, 7 homers, 53 RBIs and 6 stolen bases. Frandsen will likely be stashed in AAA in 2012 until he’s needed.