Ruben Amaro acquires Wigginton, Facepalms

Ruben Amaro continues to confuse me with the moves he makes. After signing Jonathan Papelbon, I though it meant that they'd spend what it takes to put the best team available on the field next season. This means bringing back Jimmy Rollins, trying to bring back Roy Oswalt, and getting a Michael Cuddyer type. I mean, why pay big money for a top shelf closer if you're not going all in? There's no reason to have a big name closer if you're not going to compete. Closers are a luxury, not a necessity. 

With Michael Cuddyer yet to sign, I was surprised to see the Phillies acquire Ty Wigginton this evening. Dave Cameron, from fangrpahs.com, said it pretty well on twitter, "If Michael Cuddyer couldn't hit or field, he'd be Ty Wigginton. Phillies bought the clearance version, I guess." Now, assuming that there wasn't a huge demand for the services of Mr. Wigginton, I'm not sure why the Phillies went after him without exhausting their efforts towards Cuddyer. That is, of course, unless they're trying to limit spending. In which case, they shouldn't have spent so much money on a closer. The Phillies organization doesn't seem to think before they act, and continue to perplex me. 

Wigginton will play a little in all four corner spots. He can come off the bench and pinch hit, but isn't particularly adept anywhere defensively. The move fills a need for the Phillies, as a super-sub type, but they could have done better, and come back to Wigginton as a secondary option. 

As for the Rockies, the move does a few good things for them. They'll save about $2 million. Since trading away Ubaldo, they appear to be trying to rebuild a little bit. The move clears an older player off of the roster, and make room for a younger player. Their corner infield will consist of Todd Helton at first base, with Ian Stewart and Jordan Pacheco splitting time at third. Pacheco is the only righty of the bunch, and should get starts at both first and third against lefties. He'll spell the older Helton, and hide Stewart, who posted a .336 OPS against lefties in 2010 while striking out 40% of the time. 

At the plate, Pacheco is an on base guy. In the minors his cumulative OBP was .377, but it came with just a .123 ISO. He's similar to current day Todd Helton, but has a little wrinkle. He's spent significant time at catcher during his minor league career, and will serve at the emergency catcher for the Rockies. He's not going to be someone you want behind the dish, but he'll be nice insurance in case the Rockies want to pinch hit their backup catcher, or they find themselves in some sort of pinch. 

I think from the Rockies perspective, they wanted to shed a little bit of payroll, but it also shows confidence in their young players. Especially Ian Stewart, who has a train wreck of a season in 2011. They will receive a player to be named later or cash as compensation for shedding the aging, overpaid, replacement level player to Philadelphia.