Howard Smith-US PRESSWIRE

Wiggy was brought in as a right handed bat that could provide some pop off the bench. 11 home runs in 360 at bats seems to indicate that he did what he was brought in to do, but that would do an evaluation of Wigginton’s season a great injustice. Most of his starts came at third, first and the outfield, where he lacked any kind of range and quick glove needed from a major league defender.

Wigginton’s lack of defensive prowess was expected, but his lack of hitting was a real drag on the Phils. He sported a .235 batting average and .314, but worst of all was his -1.7 WAR. If WAR is an accurate measure of how a player compares to a “AAAA level” player then Wigginton was no better than any of the Vets down in Lehigh Valley.

This number shouldn’t be all that surprising as he had a negative WAR two of the previous three seasons before signing with the Phillies. But hey, these are the types of players Ruben loves giving guaranteed deals worth 4 million. In a roster full of players making 15 million a year and higher, 4 million might not seem like that much. Had Ruben saved that money and spent it on a say a bullpen arm, or a utility outfielder who could hit (Ryan Ludwick anyone?) maybe they could have stolen a couple more games.

Stewing over Ruben’s desire to overpay players isn’t good for your health, so I won’t dwell on it too long. The best thing you can say about the Ty Wigginton era is that Ruben didn’t double down on it.

As ESPN anchors reported through a curtain of tears, A-Rod was one of the casualties of Felix Hernandez’s misfires in a recent game in which the Seattle ace was hitting his spots pretty successfully, if his spots were players on the other team.

Darn it! Mandatory Credit: Howard Smith-US PRESSWIRE

The incident broke A-Rod’s hand, and has since sent the Yankees on a quest to find some sort of person to fill in where there used to be a future Hall-of-Famer.  When people say the phrase “Future Hall-of-Famer,” they naturally think of Wigginton, and that’s how we find ourselves where we are today.

Sure, it’d be great to get something for Wigginton, just like it would have been nice to get something for Polanco, the guy who’s supposed to be out there.  But, as with a Victorino trade, the question becomes, who will play the position in his absence?  Especially since Polanco just went to the DL?

Michael Martinez?  I guess?  Whoever it would be wouldn’t be much of an improvement on Wigginton, who’d be playing there now anyway.  Unless there’s like a… prospect… or a guy.  I don’t know.  The point is, sadly, even with interest in Wigginton, the timing isn’t great to let him go.  Which seems impossible.  The timing was fine yesterday when we were all booing the christ out of him and the rest of the infield wasn’t even letting him join the mound meeting.

But unfortunately, the Phillies front office does not make roster moves based on boos.

Yet.  We have no idea how Cole Hamels’ “I stayed for the fans” extension will affect future deals.

But not every city is blessed with 25 fiery upstarts and grizzled vets who gel together to form the perfect beast.  Most of us get dreadfully mediocre squads of variously motivated fellows, all claiming they want to go all the way when they know the furthest they’ll get is about late July when the wrong guy’s hammy will explode and start a chain reaction of injury and bad luck not seen since I tried to change a tire in Fishtown.

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