Dave

Hollins

The Phillies didn’t want to free up any additional 40-man roster spots, hurting the chances of Hollins, Crowell and Telemaco. They’ll keep Chase Utley and Nick Punto as bench players initially. Utley is sure to go when either Jason Michaels or Brandon Duckworth comes off the disabled list. Punto also might fail to survive April.

This is one of the most pointless moves of the offseason, but as long as he doesn’t make the team, there’s no real harm in signing him.

With Tyler Houston set to be the backup at first and third, hauling in Hollins now is even more silly than the decision to bring him back last year. There’s no reason for him to get even one spring at-bat that could go to someone with a future.

Hollins finishes his career with a .260 average, 112 homers and 482 RBI in 12 seasons. He had played in just 43 major league games since 1998.

Hollins has hit .204 with two home runs and 12 RBI in 98 at-bats for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, so it’s not like he had much of a case to be chosen over Nick Punto.

This is the main reason the Phillies acquired Damon Minor. Hollins was placed on the temporarily inactive list and is unlikely to rejoin the team.