Phillies Decide They Don’t Want Nate Schierholtz After All

Nate Shieholtz complained that the Giants didn’t give him a fair shake before being traded to the Phillies. It looks like he’ll have the same gripe with the Phillies brass, as Jerry Crasnick is reporting that he will be DFA’d.

Shierholtz was arbitration eligible, meaning that he was likely to see a bump from his 1.3 million dollar salary from a season ago. It may not sound like much money, but Ruben decided he wasn’t in the Phillies plans and decided to give him the boot. The decision to let Nate go was triggered by tonight’s midnight deadline to tender all arbitration eligible players contracts.

He was never the focal point of the deal that sent Hunter Pence to the Giants, but some people viewed him as a complimentary part that could help the Phillies in their attempt to put a cheap yet productive outfield together. Now all that remains from the trade are catching prospect Tommy Joseph and young righty Seth Rosin.

His 73 plate appearances seems like a small sample size to judge him on, but his numbers were nearly dead on with his career averages. He’ll hit about .270, with moderate power and average defense. To put it simply, with Brown, Ruff and Laynce Nix in the fold Shierholtz was expendable. But what will the fans think?!? A few have already weighed in.

Shierholtz was never a piece, just filler. “@jnisula: The Hunter Pence trade is making me more and more upset every day”

Fret not Phillies fans, Nate Shierholtz was never a part of the big picture. Apologies to the lone fan with the #22 Shierholtz jersey, but maybe it wasn’t the best investment.