New to the 40-Man Roster

2010 Topps Pro Debut #424, 2010 Bowman Prospects #BP19,
2010 Bowman Sterling Prospects #BSP-SV and 2011 Multi-Ad Reading Phillies #7

The Phillies added four players to their 40-man roster yesterday, protecting them from the upcoming Rule 5 draft, to be held next month - righty Phillippe Aumont, lefty Jake Diekman, catcher Sebastian Valle and outfielder Tyson Gillies.

Aumont and Gillies comprise two-thirds of the return on the ill-fated Cliff Lee deal with the Mariners.  The decision to trade away Lee, who would come back to the Phils as a free-agent, was made to free up cash and re-stock the farm system.  If either Aumont and Gillies end up playing a key role with the Phillies, maybe, just maybe, the Lee deal will be considered to have been somewhat worthwhile.

Aumont split 2011 between Double-A and Triple-A, pitching 43 games in relief with a 2.68 ERA.  He struck out 78 while walking only 25 and he allowed just 2 home runs over 53 2/3 innings pitched.  Aumont was recently ranked the 5th best prospect in the Phillies system by Baseball America and he's got a real shot at breaking camp with the Phils in March.  Gillies missed all but three games of the 2011 season with a combination hamstring/groin/hip injury.

Catcher Sebastian Valle, number three on the Baseball America list, has been in the Phillies system for five seasons, but he has yet to play above Single-A.  In just 91 games at Clearwater last year, he hit .284 with 5 home runs.

Left-hander Jake Diekman has emerged pretty much out of nowhere.  He spent 2011 with Double-A Reading, pitching to a 3.05 ERA over 53 relief appearances.  His strikeout to walk ratio was too high (83 to 44), but he's had a fairly successful campaign in the Arizona Fall League.  As of yesterday, Diekman had appeared in 11 games for the Scottsdale Scorpions where he has a 0.79 ERA and 2 saves.