The Phillies have released 32-year old lefty swinging 2B Joe Thurston. Thurston played in 11 games in AAA-ball for the Phillies this year and he was 6 for 29 (.207 avg, .723 OPS) with 5 runs scored, 1 homer, 2 RBIs and 1 stolen base. He did show a good eye as he walked 7 times while only whiffing 4 times in AAA for the Phillies. The handwriting was on the wall for Thurston when the Phillies signed infielder Mike Fontenot. The Phillies won’t miss Thurston too much going forward.

The Phillies have signed 31-year old lefty swinging 2B/SS/3B Mike Fontenot to a minor league deal. He played in 85 games for the Giants last year and he was 50 for 220 (.227 avg, .681 OPS) with 22 runs scored, 4 homers, 21 RBIs and 5 stolen bases. Fontenot has now played in 535 games in his first six years in the majors and he is 346 of 1,316 (.263 avg, .738 OPS) with 162 runs scored, 26 homers, 158 RBIs and 17 stolen bases. I don’t see Fontenot spending much time in the minors as the Phillies need infield help right now.

The Philadelphia Phillies have signed 35-year old righty swinging outfielder Pat Burrell to a 1-day minor league contract so that he could retire as a Phillie. Burrell played nine seasons for the Phillies, appearing in 1,306 games in which he was 1,166 of 4,535 (.257 avg, .852 OPS) with 655 runs scored, 251 homers, 827 RBIs and 5 stolen bases. He is currently #4 in career homers with the Phillies with 251 of them. He is also #8 in RBIs (827) and #5 in walks (785) in Phillies’ history. Burrell hit 30+ homers in a season four times in his nine years with the Phillies and he had more than 115 RBIs twice. Burrell isn’t one of the best players in Phillies’ history, but he was a very solid one.

The Phillies have signed 27-year old switch-hitting infielder Andres Blanco to a minor league deal. Blanco played in 36 games for the Rangers last year and he was 17 of 76 (.224 avg, .605 OPS) with 9 runs scored, 2 homers and 3 RBIs. Blanco has now played in 235 games in his first six years in the majors and he is 151 of 591 (.255 avg, .634 OPS) with 65 runs scored, 3 homers, 47 RBIs and 1 stolen base. The Phillies have been collecting middle infielders as of late due to Chase Utley’s injury situation. Blanco can handle 2B and SS defensively.

The Phillies have dealt 26-year old lefty swinging 1B Matt Rizzotti to the Minnesota Twins for cash considerations. Rizzotti played in 139 games in AA-ball last year and he was 147 of 499 (.295 avg, .903 OPS) with 73 runs scored, 24 homers, 84 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. He played in 534 games in his five years in the minors for the Phillies and he was 544 of 1,862 (.292 avg, .870 OPS) with 259 runs scored, 66 homers, 300 RBIs and 6 stolen bases. The Phillies are loaded at 1B in the organization, so they essentially did Rizzotti a favor by dealing him to Minnesota….where he might get a chance to play in the near future.