Phillies Officially Sign Garcia

The Phillies officially signed Karim Garcia to a minor league deal. Garcia will compete for one of the two remaining spots of the Phillies bench with Greg Dobbs, Chris Roberson, Chris Coste, and Michael Bourn. Three bench spots already belong to Abraham Nunez, Jason Werth, and Carlos Ruiz.

Garcia has been on hiatus from Major League Baseball playing for the Orix Buffaloes in Japan. He played well hitting .281 and 34 homers in two seasons for the Buffaloes. He spent this off-season playing in Mexico for the Culiacan hitting .294 with 11 bombs. Garcia also played for his native Mexico in the World Baseball Classic going 3-7.

Garcia would provide Charlie Manuel with a left-handed power bat off the bench filling the void left by the departure of David Dellucci. Garcia is the front runner but will still need to have a strong spring training to beat out Chris Roberson who has been swinging a hot back in the Mexican Winter League.

Sources:
Phils sign Garcia to Minor League deal
by Ken Mandel / MLB.com

First picture of Karim Garcia