Phillies Sign Jeff Francoeur And Seven Others To Minor League Contracts
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) --- The Phillies have signed eight players to minor league contracts with invitations to attend major league spring training as non-roster invitees.
Former 2002 first-round draft of the Atlanta Braves, outfielder Jeff Francoeur, highlights the group.
Here is a full list and short bio of the eight players, per the Phillies.
- Andres Blanco, INF – Blanco batted .277 in 25 games for the Phillies last season, playing 10 games at third base, six at shortstop and five at second base. The 30-year-old has spent the last three years in the Phillies organization.
- Brian Bogusevic, OF – Bogusevic, 30, hit .260 with six home runs and 33 RBI in 79 games for triple-A New Orleans last season, missing nearly two months due to two separate fractures in his right leg. He played in 299 major league games over four seasons (2010-13) with the Houston Astros and Chicago Cubs and hit .236 with 17 home runs, 62 RBI and 22 stolen bases.
- Russ Canzler, INF/OF – Canzler split the 2014 season between triple-A Lehigh Valley and triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and hit a combined .276 with 32 doubles, 13 home runs and 58 RBI in 112 games. The 28-year-old batted .320 against left-handed pitching. Canzler has played in 29 major league games between the Tampa Bay Rays (2011) and Cleveland Indians (2012), hitting .271 with three home runs and 12 RBI.
- Chase d'Arnaud, INF/OF – A versatile defensive player, d'Arnaud played second base, third base and all three outfield positions this past season for triple-A Indianapolis. In 118 games, the 27-year-old batted .250 with 16 doubles, nine triples, two home runs and 23 RBI. He stole 30 bases for his fifth professional season with at least 30 steals. Originally selected by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the fourth round of the 2008 draft, d'Arnaud has appeared in 64 career major league games, all with Pittsburgh.
- Jeff Francoeur, OF – In 1,237 career major league games, Francoeur, 30, has a .262 batting average, 250 doubles, 140 home runs and 619 RBI. Last season, he appeared in 10 games for the San Diego Padres and played in 115 games for triple-A El Paso where he batted .289 with 22 doubles, 15 home runs and 69 RBI. In the major leagues, Francoeur has played for the Atlanta Braves (2005-09), New York Mets (2009-10), Texas Rangers (2010), Kansas City Royals (2011-13), San Francisco Giants (2013) and Padres (2014).
- John Hester, C – In 71 games for triple-A Salt Lake in 2014, Hester batted .261 with six home runs, 29 RBI and a .338 on-base percentage. The 31-year-old has appeared in a combined 93 major league games for the Arizona Diamondbacks (2009-10) and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (2012-13).
- Darin Mastroianni, OF – Mastroianni split the 2014 season between the Minnesota Twins and Toronto Blue Jays organizations. He played 92 triple-A games between Rochester and Buffalo and batted a combined .277 with 20 doubles, one triple, five home runs, 23 RBI and 20 stolen bases. At the major league level, Mastroianni, 29, appeared in 21 games.
- Xavier Paul, OF – A six-year major league veteran, Paul appeared in 14 games for the Diamondbacks last season. In 81 games for triple-A Norfolk, the 29-year-old hit .254 with 12 home runs and 56 RBI, including a .299 batting average with runners in scoring position. In 349 career major league games, Paul, a left-handed hitter, has batted .250 with 12 home runs and 71 RBI. Five of his 12 career home runs have come as a pinch-hitter.
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