The Phillies signed Geoff Jenkins today, beating out the Padres, with a two year, $13 million deal, with an option for a third year. As I wrote a couple days ago, Jenkins will probably platoon with Jayson Werth in right field and spell Pat Burrell in left
. At 33-years-old, Jenkins is a bit past his prime (which wasn’t all that great anyway), but this seems like a solid move by the Phils, especially since they only committed for two years. Jenkins’s agent hinted that Citizens Bank Park was seen as a plus, saying that Jenkins is “looking forward to hitting in that park”. I’m sure he is. The move also solidifies Shane Victorino as the center fielder and ends any interest the team had in Mike Cameron.
The Phillies also signed free-agent pitcher Chad Durbin today. I know nothing about the guy but he had a 4.72 ERA in 36 games (19 starts) for the Tigers last year. I haven’t seen any mention about the terms of the deal but I’m assuming (hoping?) there wasn’t much money involved. The Phillies beat out Pittsburgh for Durbin, and you can always get excited when your team out-bids the Pirates for a free-agent. Durbin figures to be a back-end of the rotation/long relief guy, kind of like Adam Eaton but without the $24 million involved. There’s no word yet on whether or not Chad wants to challenge J.D.’s current title of “The Durbinator”.
Pat Gillick said yesterday that the Phillies are out of the running for Kyle Lohse. It looks like some team will have the pleasure of paying Lohse $10-11 million/year for the next four or five years. The Phillies weren’t interested, and I can’t blame them.
