Minor League

Without fanfare or ceremony, the Phillies broke the news with a bloodless release. Outfielder Dale Murphy and pitcher Ken Howell have signed Triple A minor league contracts (Scranton/Wilkes-Barre roster), but will be invited to spring training with the major league club. This is what it has come to for Murphy, twice the National League's Most Valuable Player, a possible future Hall of Famer. Murphy, who will play at age 37 next season, was limited to 18 games for the Phillies last season by a series of procedures on his left knee.

HERE'S AN update of the Phillies' minor league affiliates and where they stand in playoff possibilities: The Triple A Lehigh Valley IronPigs are 76-60 with eight games remaining. They trail Pawtucket (76-58) by a game for the North Division lead and lead Gwinnett (74-61) by 1 games for the wild-card spot. The Double A Reading Phillies are 68-66 with eight games remaining. They trail New Hampshire (71-63) by three games and New Britain (68-65) by a half-game in the Eastern Division.

The Phillies signed outfielder Cory Sullivan to a minor league contract, according to the team's website. Sullivan will participate in minor league camp. He hit .188 in 64 at-bats with the Astros last season, and has played 260 games in centerfield in his career.

The Flyers announced Thursday that they have entered into a minor league affiliation agreement with the Trenton Titans of the ECHL for the 2011-12 season. The agreement also includes cross-promotional opportunities to help the Titans sell tickets through the Flyers fan base. Trenton will serve as the Flyers' secondary affiliate for the upcoming season. Under the agreement, players under contract to the Flyers or to their American Hockey League affiliate, the Adirondack Phantoms, can be assigned to the Titans.

Much-traveled outfielder Karim Garcia, who has played for seven other major-league teams, signed a minor-league contract with the Phillies yesterday. The three-time minor-league all-star has been invited to spring training. The 31-year-old spent the last two seasons with the Orix Buffaloes in Japan's Pacific League, hitting a combined .281 with 34 home runs. Garcia has played almost 500 major-league games with Los Angeles, Arizona, Detroit, Baltimore, Cleveland and both New York clubs.

Former Phillies outfielder Pete Incaviglia, 37, who hasn't played in the major leagues since 1998, agreed to a minor league contract with the San Diego Padres yesterday. His deal does not include an invitation to training camp with the big-league club. Incaviglia played for Newark, of the independent Atlantic League, last year, batting .353 with nine home runs and 43 RBI in 50 games. In other baseball news: Infielder Mike Lansing, who played for Boston last season, agreed to a minor league contract with Cleveland.

Phillies general manager Lee Thomas has been looking for a director of player development since he reassigned Lance Nichols to the scouting department July 18. He considered people from around baseball. And yesterday he found his man right in the Phillies organization. The new farm director is Del Unser, former Phillies player, hitting coach and, most recently, minor league hitting instructor. Thomas said he had briefly considered Unser last year before hiring Nichols.

Durham Bulls outfielder Del-mon Young threw a bat into the chest of the home-plate umpire after being called out on strikes in the first inning of last night's game at Pawtucket, R.I. Young argued with the umpire after taking a third strike on a 1-2 pitch. The umpire ejected Young, who then threw his bat and hit the umpire in the chest. Replacement umpires have been working all minor league games this season because the regular umpires are on strike. Bill Wanless, a spokesman for the Pawtucket Red Sox, said minor league teams are not releasing the names of umpires while the regulars are on strike.

Baseball has banned players with minor league contracts from taking ephedra, the substance linked to the death of Baltimore Orioles pitcher Steve Bechler. The decision was made Monday by commissioner Bud Selig and transmitted to the teams in a memorandum by Jennifer Gefsky, a lawyer in the labor relations department of the commissioner's office. Players on 40-man major league rosters, including those on option to minor league teams, are not covered by the decision because they are members of the Major League Baseball Players Association.

Pamela Davis, with fans chanting her name and forcing her to take a curtain call, pitched one inning of scoreless relief last night and got the win in a minor league exhibition game in Jacksonville, Fla. She is believed to be the first woman to pitch for a major league farm club under the current structure of the minor league system. Davis, a 21-year-old starter with the Colorado Silver Bullets women's baseball team, pitched for the Jacksonville Suns, a Double A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers, against the Australian Olympic team.

READING - Truth be told, the conversion of Jiwan James began in the spring of 2008. Drafted in the 22nd-round as a pitcher the previous June, the lanky righthander was attempting to battle through a forearm injury that had relegated him to the sidelines during extended spring training. Dusty Wathan, who at the time was a first-year minor league coach, felt bad for the kid and offered to throw him some pitches in the cage. "You could tell he had a good swing," Wathan said.

TONIGHT, Pat Burrell will throw out the first pitch in San Francisco. On May 19, he will sign a 1-day minor league contract so he can retire a Phillie. For years, Burrell's influence on the organization will be felt. Around Burrell, the Phillies constructed a ballclub that won the last five National League East titles; a club that won the World Series in 2008 and went to another Series in 2009, after Burrell left for Tampa Bay. He was not the best player on any of his Phillies teams.

If this season is anything like Ruben Amaro Jr.'s first three as Phillies general manager, there is going to come a time in July when he starts looking for help from another organization. You may not like the fact that the Phillies have failed to win a World Series since Amaro succeeded Hall of Famer Pat Gillick as the team's GM, but that does not change the reality that the current GM has significantly strengthened the team at the trade deadline every year since he took control.

THIS IS how it usually happens for Pete Orr. His career in the major leagues is filled with instances of him being in the right place to take advantage of twists of fate that created opportunities. It happened again Tuesday night when the Phillies announced that Orr was one of the 13 position players to make their Opening Day roster. "Peter Orr had a very good spring for us," general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said. "He just needs to relax and play to his ability. He can run and he's got some versatility.

LAKEWOOD BLUECLAWS Level: Class A League: South Atlantic League Location: Lakewood, N.J. Website: lakewoodblueclaws.com Ballpark: FirstEnergy Park Directions from Philadelphia: Take Ben Franklin Bridge, merge onto Route 30 E. Merge onto Route 38 E and follow to Route 73 S. Follow 73 S to N.J. Turnpike. Take turnpike N to I-195 E. Merge onto US-9 S (Exit 28A) toward Lakewood. Turn left onto Hurley Avenue. Turn right onto CR-528/S Clifton Avenue.

FORT MYERS, Fla. - When the fourth inning mercifully ended Wednesday, so too did Vance Worley's final Grapefruit League start. "I got the pitch count up, just not quite as many innings as we were hoping," Worley said after an 11-7 Phillies loss to Minnesota. "It happens. " No, but Worley fulfilled his cardio for the day with all the times he had to back up home plate. Minnesota scored 11 times off Worley in four innings. Only five of those runs were earned (two unearned runs were because of a Worley throwing error)

ICHIRO SUZUKI GAVE his fans in Japan a performance to cheer about. Suzuki had four hits in his return home, Dustin Ackley homered and singled in the go-ahead run in the 11th inning, and the Seattle Mariners beat the Oakland Athletics, 3-1, Wednesday in baseball's season opener. "It was very special to open in Japan," said Suzuki, who spent nine seasons in Osaka with the Orix Blue Wave. "I wanted to have fun and give the fans something at this special time and wanted to share a special moment with them.

DETROIT TIGERS third baseman Miguel Cabrera will rest for a week after being struck in the right eye Monday by a one-hop smash hit by the Phillies' Hunter Pence. Cabrera has a non-displaced fracture under the eye and received eight stitches, but Tigers president and general manager Dave Dombrowski said yesterday that Cabrera's vision is "perfect" and he won't go on the disabled list. "Thank God, I had my sunglasses on," Cabrera said. "It just took a bad hop and I was unlucky.

CLEARWATER, Fla. - Two 40-somethings will invade Phillies minor-league camp Monday. Jose Contreras is scheduled to pitch in a minor-league game, marking his first game action of the spring. And Jim Thome will play four or five innings at first base for the first time this spring. Contreras is recovering from elbow surgery last September, and Phillies officials believe the 40-year-old Cuban can be ready for opening day. Exactly how ready will be the imperative question. The Phillies have padded his throwing schedule with extra days.

CLEARWATER, Fla. - Turns out, everybody is rooting for Tuffy Gosewisch. Colin Curtis, a non-roster invitee in Yankees camp? Team Tuffy. Roy Halladay, a two-time Cy Young winner? Team Tuffy. And if you believe that a catcher's value cannot be measured by batting lines and stolen base percentages, then you will end up on Team Tuffy, too. "Honestly, I would take him any day of the week," Halladay said. "I really would. " You might know the name. Born James Benjamin Gosewisch, his parents decided on a more appropriate moniker during a toddler-hood in which he rained destruction upon everything he touched.