Phils sign Pierre to minor league deal

The Phillies have signed free agent outfielder Juan Pierre to a minor league deal, reported Jim Salisbury.

The one-year deal will give the Phillies an extra option for filling out their Opening Day roster. The move could also solidify Domonic Brown’s spot on the Lehigh Valley IronPigs roster to start the season, depending on his spring of course.

Last season, Pierre hit .279 with two homers and 50 RBIs with the Chicago White Sox. His 50 RBIs were the highest total he drove in since 2001.

In 2010, Pierre led all major leaguers with 68 stolen bases. But last season, he swiped only 27 bags.

Pierre, 34, has been a major leaguer since 2000 and has played for five previous teams: the Rockies, Marlins, Cubs, Dodgers and White Sox.

The Perfect Season: Lidge will always be defined by 2008

Brad Lidge, who like Tugger, will be remembered for his iconic celebration to close the final game of only the 2nd championship in 130 years of Phillies baseball. (mlb.com/Mary Schwalm)

The phrase “what have you done for me lately” has become somewhat of an anthem for Philadelphia fans.

And rightfully so it may seem, the sense of nostalgia and gratitude come to mind when referencing some of Philadelphia’s most notable athletes.

A little over three years ago, though recent, hardly counts under “lately” but in the case of Brad Lidge, it doesn’t really matter.

What Lidge did during the 2008 season, especially in the closing month of October, will always define his four-year tenure in Philadelphia, regardless how the final three years here played out.

Phils, Pence in a tug-of-war; Lidge close to signing with Nats

Arbitration is one of the most frustrating parts of the off season. And the Phillies and right fielder Hunter Pence are both finding this out the hard way.

According to Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer, both parties are $2.8 million off their amounts for arbitration.

Pence filed for $11.8 million while the Phillies put in for $9 million. He made $6.6 million in 2011.

This isn’t something new for Pence’s agent, who took Pence and the Houston Astros to arbitration last off season.

Phils trade Valdez to Reds; get reliever Horst

Photo courtesy of RedReporter.com

The Phillies made a trade today, sending utility infielder – and one time reliever – Wilson Valdez to the Cincinnati Reds for left-hander Jeremy Horst, according to Matt Gelb.

Horst, 26, had an ERA of 2.93 in 12 games of relief for the Reds last season. Those were the first 12 games of Horst’s career with the Reds.

Horst was drafted in the 21st round of the 2007 amateur draft by the Reds.

Mayberry’s time has come

(Photo by Len Redkoles/Getty Images)

2009 was just an introduction. 2010 was a step back.

But for John Mayberry Jr, 2011 was the year the 28-year old let the Phillies know that he is here to stay. Now all he has left to prove to the Phillies that he shouldn’t just be splitting time with newly signed Laynce Nix, and instead be the every day starter in left field.

Mayberry first put his foot in the door in 2009 when he debuted against the Yankees in New York. He doubled and homered in that game, showing off to the Phillies the raw power he has at the plate.

But Mayberry also showed the Phillies in his ensuing games that he lacked a lot of discipline at the plate and it continued into 2010. 2011 was a different story for Mayberry and it is the reason he will share a lot of time on the field with Nix.

Mayberry is tired of sharing though and the 2012 season will be Mayberry’s chance to show the Phillies that he deserves the lion’s share of playing time.

Former Phillies announcer Musser dies

Photo courtesy of Bella Online.

Longtime Phillies broadcaster Andy Musser has died at the age of 74, reported Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Musser spent 26 years in the Phillies broadcast booth, sitting along side legendary deceased announcers Harry Kalas and Richie Ashburn between 1976 and 2001.

Musser was believed to have missed only two games of announcing in that span, both due to laryngitis. Musser also announced Philadelphia Eagles and 76ers games in his career.

Musser retired from broadcasting in 2001.

According to Phillies Nation, they posted a video in 2009 with Musser, who had begun working for Anchor Brewing in San Francisco. It was well known by then that Musser had a love for beer.

Here is another nice article on Musser and his love for beer and working with Anchor Brewing.

Thome: “Dreaming of celebrating on Broad Street”

There has been something missing in Jim Thome’s career.

And those who haven’t followed his career as closely as the people in Cleveland, Philadelphia, Chicago, LA and Minnesota would ask, “what could possibly be missing in the future Hall of Famer’s career.

Sure Thome became the sixth player to slug 600 home runs and is eighth on the list all-time. Sure he’s reached the playoffs a few times in his career.

But what he’s really lacking is a World Series ring.

That could be the number one reason Thome decided to come back to Philadelphia.

TTB is against censorship

Today, TTB will join the active protest against the new SOPA/PIPA laws to censor the internet.

Blogs will be one of the biggest groups effected if the new bill is passed, pretty much ending our right to write, blog or post about the things we love. And in our case, it’s the Phillies and Philadelphia sports.

For the day, we will have a huge “CENSORED” sign up as our header.

Since I’m terrible with HTML, CSS and all that fancy stuff, I won’t be “shutting the down the site” like many other blogs are actively doing. Though I’d like for Team to Beat to be unaccessible for the day much like Wikipedia and a boatload of other sites are, I’ll just make this the only post of the day, regardless if any major Phillies news comes out.

Spread the word and actively protest against SOPA/PIPA. Keep our internet free.

Phils, Hamels avoid arbitration

The Phillies have reached an agreement with left-hander Cole Hamels on a one-year contract worth $15 million.

Hamels is coming off his best year in the majors as he went 14-9 with a 2.79 ERA and 194 strikeouts. He finished fifth in the Cy Young vote.

He is set to become a free agent after this season and the two sides have expressed interest in reaching a long-term deal. Hamels made $9.5 million this past season.

Hamels is one of the few homegrown products that have come up throughout the Phillies minor league system.

The two-time All-Star is coming off of a three-year, $20.5 million contract in which he pitched at a very high level.

The Phillies also agreed to terms with utility infielder Wilson Valdez.

Valdez has seen significant playing time over the past two seasons as he has filled in for Jimmy Rollins and Placido Polanco.

Having Valdez signed is huge for a much-improved Phillies bench that already includes Jim Thome, Ty Wigginton, and Laynce Nix/John Mayberry Jr.

Of course Valdez’s biggest moment last season was pitching a scoreless inning against the Cincinnati Reds in that entertaining 19-inning game.

Phils add depth with Pineiro signing

(Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

In a move to add competition for the fifth starter, the Phils signed veteran right-hander Joel Pineiro to a minor league contract and an invitation to Spring Training.

It was first reported by Jayson Stark of ESPN.

Pineiro, 33, pitched the last two years with the Los Angeles Angels. Last season, he was 7-7 with a 5.13 ERA in 27 games (24 starts).

Pineiro can be a bull pen option. But despite the belief he was a fallback plan to Kerry Wood (signed with the Cubs), Stark believes he was night signed to pitch in the pen.