Philadelphia signed OF-R Doug Glanville to a one-year, $550,000 contract on January 12th. Without a starting job on the table, Glanville chose to return to Philadelphia, where he makes his home and can enjoy playing in a new ballpark. He also wanted to find a place with a competitive team following the excitement of participating in the playoffs with the Cubs last season. While he was overpaid and undeserving of his starting job in his first stint in Philadelphia, he should be an asset to the team as a reserve outfielder at this salary. On a side note, I'd like to offer my support for Glanville's suggestion that the Phillies include a giant cheese steak in centerfield at Citizens Bank Park, though I believe construction has advanced too far on the new stadium to implement the plan.

RHP Vicente Padilla signed a one-year, $2.6M contract with Philadelphia in late January. The two sides exchanged salary numbers on January 20th in preparation for an arbitration hearing. Philadelphia offered $2.35M and Padilla requested $2.95M. However, the parties agreed to a compromise before a hearing was necessary.

Padilla's second season starting in the majors didn't vary substantially from his first. The only cause for any concern was a small drop in his G-F, which led to a minor uptick in his HR/9. He reportedly wasn't seriously injured when involved in a car accident early in the off-season, so Philadelphia can expect another similar performance from the 26-year-old in 2004.

SS-S Jimmy Rollins signed a one-year, $2.4M contract with the Phillies in mid-January. While Rollins' follow-up performances to his rookie season haven't met expectations, he just turned 25 in November and still has time to improve. Not negotiating a multi-year deal this off-season may cost Philadelphia in the future, particularly since they lack a respectable alternative in the system.

Elsewhere in the division, the Expos signed a number of position players to minor league deals, including OF-L Juan Camilo, IF-S Brian Harris, 3B-R Luis Lopez, SS-R Julius Matos, C-R Paul Hoover, and C-S Gregg Zaun.

Oakland signed Juan Camilo as a non-drafted free agent out of the Dominican Republic in 1995, but Detroit snatched him from the A's in the minor league portion of the 1999 Rule 5 draft. As a minor league free agent last season, Camilo signed with the Phillies, who left him at A+ Clearwater for most of the season. The 27-year-old has displayed solid plate discipline, promising power, and useful speed throughout his minor league career. However, he's spent little time above AA, and I wouldn't trust him with a major league position until we've seen him perform at AAA, which hopefully he'll have an opportunity to do in the Montreal organization.

Philadelphia drafted Brian Harris out of Indiana University with an 8th round pick in the 1997 draft and then dealt him to Kansas City for Kiko Calero in 2002. Unfortunately, the trade didn't free Harris from the AA purgatory of his previous three seasons. However, after another half season at AA in 2003, the Royals allowed the 28-year-old to escape to AAA Omaha, where he hit .259 with a .352 OBP and .374 SLG on 63 H, 11 2B, 4 3B, and 3 HR with a 32:38 BB:K and 2/4 SB% in 243 AB. Without substantial speed or power skills, Harris offers little to tempt teams into giving him a starting job, but a switch-hitter with decent plate discipline and the position flexibility to back-up the non-first base portion of the infield should be a candidate for a bench slot.

Luis Lopez spent last season with AAA Sacramento, Oakland's affiliate in the Pacific Coast League. The 30-year-old possesses sound plate discipline and solid power. Montreal isn't happy with the composition of their bench, so while I don't expect Lopez to claim a spot on the team out of spring training, he may receive an opportunity to replace an ineffective player during the season if he performs well at AAA.

After making his major league debut with San Diego in 2002, Julius Matos signed with the Royals last off-season. He spent a little time on the major league roster but played at AAA Omaha for most of 2003. While the 29-year-old usually posts a decent batting average, Matos possesses poor plate discipline with mediocre speed and power. He should play at AAA Edmonton for most of 2004.

Hoover spent last season with Florida's AAA affiliate at Albuquerque in the Pacific Coast League, where he hit .270 with a .321 OBP and .430 SLG on 69 H, 22 2B, 2 3B, and 5 HR in 256 AB. The 27-year-old will compete with Zaun and C-R Randy Knorr for the job of backing up C-L Brian Schneider, the Expos' starter. Zaun's major league service time makes him the favorite to make the team as the Expos' back-up catcher even though the 32-year-old has offered little offensively the last few years.

RHP Pat Mahomes also agreed to a minor league contract with Montreal. The 33-year-old is a flyball pitcher who walks too many batters and strikes out too few. However, I expect his veteran status to earn him at least a brief call-up when the Expos need an extra arm in the pen at some point during the season.