The Phillies and flawed ex-Twins outfielders.

Clete Thomas struck
out 92 times in
322 trips to the plate.

The Phillies seem to have a fascination with flawed outfielders with Twins backgrounds.

Last offseason they traded for Ben Revere and signed free agent Delmon Young.

Young did what he does: Swing at first pitches and play immobile defense. This went so well the Phillies released him in midseason.

Revere did what he does: He hit singles and ran around a lot. The weak throwing arm, the lack of power, the sometimes odd routes ... they're all still problems. He played in just 88 games before breaking his foot.

And now they's signed Clete Thomas, who spent much of the second half of the season in the Twins lineup, to a minor league deal

If one could somehow fuse the respective strengths of Revere and Thomas, the result would be a very good center fielder indeed. Thomas has some power but struggles to make contact; Revere is the opposite. Revere is much faster than Thomas; Thomas makes fewer false starts in the field and has a stronger throwing arm.

But they are who they are.