Philadelphia signed Joel Pineiro to a minor-league contract in January, but a three-week look at the veteran right-hander was all they needed to determine he wasn’t worth keeping around.
Today they released Pineiro, who made $8 million from the Angels in each of the past two seasons and would have gotten $1.5 million from the Phillies had he cracked the Opening Day roster.
Pineiro had the ability to opt out of the minor-league deal and become a free agent again if he wasn’t added to the 40-man roster by March 31, so the Phillies are basically just giving him a little extra time to latch on elsewhere.
He posted an ugly 5.13 ERA in 146 innings last season, managing just 3.8 strikeouts per nine innings, but Pineiro did have a 3.64 ERA in 366 innings between 2009 and 2010. At age 32 there’s a decent chance he makes it back to the majors, but the Phillies aren’t exactly hurting for rotation depth.
