Phillies Drop Simon

The Phillies offered back Alfredo Simon to the Texas Rangers. Simon was one of three Rule 5 draft picks trying to make the Phillies roster. The Baltimore Orioles originally drafted Simon and then traded him to the Phillies during the winter meetings. The Phils paid $50,000 dollars for the rights to Simon and the Rangers will give half of that sum back.

Alfredo was a prototypical flamethrower with control issues. Speaking about Simon Charlie Manuel commented, "He wasn't going to make our big-league team. He has a good arm and a good breaking ball, but he has control problems."

Simon was in contention for making the Phillies major league roster. He will now spend more time developing his control at Triple-A Tucson for the Texas Rangers.

Sources:
Notes: Moyer gives back
By Ken Mandel / MLB.com

Picture of Alfredo Simon from MLB.com