The Phillies have signed 29-year old righty swinging outfielder Terry Evans to a minor league deal. Evans played in 39 games in AAA-ball earlier this year for the Giants and he was 22 for 95 (.232 avg, .648 OPS) with 9 runs scored, 1 homer, 11 RBIs and 8 stolen bases. Evans last played in the majors last year for the Angels. Evans has played in 20 games in parts of three years in the majors and he is 3 for 19 (.158 avg, .554 OPS) with 5 runs scored, 1 homer and 3 RBIs. The Phillies will use Evans as depth in AAA, but if he gets off to a good start, they might call him up and give him a chance off the bench.

The Phillies have lost 25-year old righty starting pitcher Drew Naylor for the season as he underwent Tommy John Surgery last Tuesday. Naylor hasn’t pitched at all this year. He pitched in 27 games (26 starts) in AA-ball last year and he was 12-10 with a 4.63 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP. Naylor has pitched in 106 games (94 starts) in his first five years in the minors and he is 38-40 with 1 save, a 4.12 ERA and a 1.26 WHIP. This is a bad break for Naylor who was getting closer to Philly before this major injury.

UPDATE: (9/17/2011) - The Phillies have designated Drew Naylor for assignment.

UPDATE: (9/26/2011) - The Phillies have released Drew Naylor.

The Phillies have released 31-year old lefty swinging outfielder Cory Sullivan. Sullivan played in 36 games in AAA-ball for the Phillies this year and he was 21 for 100 (.210 avg, .586 OPS) with 15 runs scored, 0 homers, 14 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. He has played in 476 games in six years in the majors and he is 305 for 1,127 (.271 avg, .708 OPS) with 156 runs scored, 10 homers, 97 RBIs and 32 stolen bases. The Phillies needed room for Scott Podsednik which led to Sullivan’s release.

32-year old lefty swinging 2B Chase Utley is off to a good start in A-ball for the Philadelphia Phillies. He is rehabbing a bum knee that caused him to miss a lot of time last year. He has played in 3 games for the Clearwater Threshers so far this year and he is 4 for 10 (.400 avg, 1.255 OPS) with 2 runs scored, 1 homer and 1 RBI. The Phillies are going to take their good ole sweet time with Utley as they have until the end of the month to activate him from the D.L. Utley has played in 1,006 games in his first 8 years with the Phillies and he is 1,095 for 3,735 (.293 avg, .894 OPS) with 677 runs scored, 177 homers, 650 RBIs and 96 stolen bases. The Phillies have been winning without Utley, but they are a much better all-around team with him. They can’t wait to get him back.

32-year old lefty reliever Juan Perez is off to a solid start in AAA-ball for the Phillies so far this year. He has pitched in 13 games (0 starts) in AAA-ball so far this year and he is 0-0 with 4 saves, a 1.93 ERA and a 1.29 WHIP. He has only given up 7 hits while whiffing 20 batters in his first 14 innings of the year, but, he has also walked 11 batters and that’s way too many. He has now pitched in 406 games (45 starts) in his first 11 years in the minors and he is 38-40 with 35 saves, a 3.49 ERA and a 1.34 WHIP. He has whiffed 713 batters in the minors in only 708 2/3 innings which shows what kind of stuff he has. Perez last pitched in the majors back in 2007 with the Pirates. He has now pitched in 24 games (0 starts) in his major league career and he is 0-1 with a 5.17 ERA and a 1.79 WHIP. If something happens to either J.C. Romero or Antonio Bastardo while Perez is still pitching well, he might get another shot at the show in 2011.

28-year old righty swinging infielder Kevin Frandsen has been suspended to 50 games for violating baseball’s drug policy due to unprescibed ritalin. Frandsen has played in 30 games in AAA-ball so far this year and he is 35 for 109 (.321 avg, .873 OPS) with 15 runs scored, 3 homers, 18 RBIs and 6 stolen bases. Frandsen has played in 228 games in his first five years in the majors and he is 138 for 568 (.243 avg, .636 OPS) with 46 runs scored, 5 homers, 38 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. I’m thinking he won’t get a chance to play for the Phillies this year.

19-year old lefty swinging 1B/OF Jonathan Singleton came into this year as the Phillies’ #2 prospect coming into this year according to Baseball America. Singleton has played in 18 games in A-ball so far this year and he is 18 for 58 (.310 avg, .817 OPS) with 5 runs scored, 1 homer, 9 RBIs and 1 stolen base. He has now played in 153 games in his first three years in the minors and he is 156 of 534 (.292 avg, .859 OPS) with 81 runs scored, 17 homers, 98 RBIs and 11 stolen bases. Singleton would be best served to learn a corner outfield position because I don’t see him bumping Ryan Howard out of a job.

The Phillies have released 30-year old lefty swinging outfielder Chris Duffy. Duffy played in 91 games in AAA-ball this season and he was 84 of 346 (.243 avg, .668 OPS) with 47 runs scored, 5 homers, 34 RBIs and 12 stolen bases. The Phillies just didn’t see any way that Duffy would play for them at some point in 2010 so they did the right thing in cutting him loose.

27-year old lefty starting pitcher J.A. Happ has been mostly forgotten about by the Phillies. He has been on quite an extended rehab assignment in the minors. Happ has pitched in 9 games (8 starts) in A+AA+AAA-ball this year and he is 1-2 with a 5.97 ERA and a 1.75 WHIP. He pitched in 2 games (both starts) for the Phillies before getting injured and he was 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA and a 1.65 WHIP. Happ has pitched in 46 games (30 starts) in parts of four years with the Phillies and he is 14-5 with a 3.06 ERA and a 1.29 WHIP. The Phillies hope that Happ pitches well in Jamie Moyer’s old spot in the rotation because they need the help if they are going to make a run at the Braves in the N.L. East.

22-year old lefty swinging outfielder Dominic Brown is the one player the Phillies just refuse to trade. He was the Phillies’ #1 prospect heading into this season according to Baseball America. Brown has played in 84 games in AA+AAA-ball this year and he is 100 of 306 (.327 avg, .984 OPS) with 60 runs scored, 19 homers, 63 RBIs and 14 stolen bases. If Raul Ibanez doesn’t start hitting soon don’t be surprised to see the Phillies replace him with Brown.