It wasn’t Archie, Peyton or little
brother Eli, but now the St. Louis Cardinals have acquired a Manning of their
very own.
Looking to fortify their
left-handed relief, the Cardinals announced Wednesday that they have claimed
lefty reliever Charlie Manning off outright waivers from the Washington Nationals and added
him to their 40-man Major League roster.
Manning, 29, made his Major League
debut this past season with the Nationals, appearing in 57 games while fanning
37 batters in 42.0 innings pitched. Manning was 1-3 with a 5.14 ERA on the
year, holding opposing batters to a .224 BA. The 6-2, 185-pound native of
Winter Haven, Fla. held opposing left-handed batters to a
.203 BA.
Manning was drafted by the New York Yankees in the ninth round of the 2001 draft out of the University of Tampa. He was traded to the
Cincinnati Reds at the 2003 deadline along with Brandon Claussen in exchange for Aaron Boone. Manning was reacquired by the Yankees in June, 2004 for ex-Cardinals reliever Gabe White before signing
a minor league free-agent contract with the Nationals last
December.
Before signing in 2001, Manning was previously drafted in four consecutive years, but did not come to terms. The Milwaukee Brewers (1997-22nd round), Arizona Diamondbacks (1998-30th), Boston Red Sox (1999-16th) and Seattle Mariners (2000-9th) each took a shot, but Manning instead finished out his college years at the University of Tampa.
Manning fanned 8.4 batters per
nine innings pitched and posted a .237 opponents BA over the course of his
professional career prior to this season, spending seven seasons in the
minors. He was named to the Eastern League (AA) All-Star team in 2006
while pitching for the Yankees’ Trenton affiliate.
To make room for Manning on their
roster, the Cardinals designated first baseman Josh Phelps for
assignment.
The 30-year-old, a veteran of
eight partial major league seasons, had just been added to the 40-man roster in
late August and saw limited action for the Cardinals in the final month, hitting .265 with
one RBI in 34 at-bats.
During a solid season with
Triple-A Memphis, the right-handed hitter batted 291 with 31 home runs and 97
RBI. At the time of his promotion, Phelps’ home run total was
tied for third-most in the Pacific Coast League and his 64 extra-base hits were
tied for second in the league.
Yet, with a set first baseman in
Albert Pujols and an abundance of outfielders both at the major league level and
at the highest rungs of the minor league system, there was no place for
Phelps.
Unless the unlikely occurs and
Phelps is claimed by another organization off waivers, his major league service
time enables him to become a free agent.
Brian Walton can be reached via
email at brwalton@earthlink.net
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