Brewers Invite Abraham Nunez to Camp

[Jarjohm]

Brewers Invite Abraham Nunez to Camp

By Tom Haudricourt

Wednesday, Jan 23 2008, 09:55 AM

All winter, I've been wondering if the Brewers needed another utility infielder to go with Craig Counsell, particularly up the middle in the event something happens to shortstop J.J. Hardy or second baseman Rickie Weeks.

The Brewers apparently have been concerned about the same thing. Today, they signed veteran utility infielder Abraham Nunez to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training.

Nunez, 31, played for Philadelphia the past two seasons. Last year, he batted .234 with 16 RBI in 136 games.

Nunez played mostly at third base for the Phillies but also can play second base and shortstop. He played for Pittsburgh from 1997-2004 and was a member of the 2005 St. Louis club that won the NL pennant.

During his major league career, Nunez has played 293 games at third bae, 261 games at shortstop and 258 games at second base. He is a career .242 hitter.

At the start of last season, Craig Counsell and Tony Graffanino were the Brewers' backup infielders. But Graffanino blew out a knee early in the second half in a game in Colorado and missed the rest of the season. He had two surgeries on the knee and will not be ready to play at the outset of the 2008 season, the major reason the free agent remains unsigned.

The Brewers have another candidate as a backup infielder in Joe Dillon but he is a corner infielder. Along with Counsell, Nunez could give the team some coverage up the middle should Hardy or Weeks be sidelined for any reason.

It's not a major move in the grand scheme of things but one that makes a lot of sense considering the current composition of the Brewers' roster.

[trwi7]

Sweet now we have do/did have both players of that awesome Philadelphia third base platoon at some point. I'm guessing the Reds counter this move with Dusty Baker's all-time favorite, Neifi Perez.

[Mass Haas]

Thanks, we'll include discussion in the non-roster invite thread.