By Jim Callis
August 31, 2003

On Sunday, the last day to acquire players who will be eligible for the playoffs, the Phillies got some catching insurance. They picked up Kelly Stinnett and cash from the Reds for a player to be named later.

Stinnett, 33, is an offensive-minded catcher having his worst-ever season at the plate. In 60 games, he's hitting .229-3-19 with feeble on-base (.294) and slugging percentages (.386). He offsets his arm strength with a slow release, and as a result has thrown out just 25.9 percent of basestealers in 2003. A career .235-54-197 hitter in 581 games, Stinnett is making $1.3 million. His contract calls for a mutual option for $750,000 or a $250,000 buyout for next season.

Sept. 2 update: The Reds received outfielder Eric Valent to complete the deal. He was a supplemental first-round pick in 1998 out of UCLA, where he broke Troy Glaus' career home run record. Valent, 26, has spent most of the last three years at Triple-A Scranton Wilkes-Barre, with his performance dipping each season. In 2003, he hit .218-12-51 in 134 games. He's a good right fielder with a strong arm, but his defense prowess can't overcome his declining bat. In 29 big league games in 2001-02, Valent went 6-for-51 (.118).