Tomas

This is from Marcus Hayes in yesterday's Philadelphia Daily News:

Before David Bell's bad back flared 9 days ago, the Phillies were shopping utility infielder Tomas Perez, having signed Alex Gonzalez and Abraham Nunez in the offseason. Bell's injury ended that strategy.

"I wouldn't say we have a surplus of infielders, not until we know what's going to happen with David Bell," assistant general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said.

If Bell gets healthy before spring training ends, expect the Marlins to be very interested in Perez, one baseball source said. The Marlins released infielder Pokey Reese, who was slated to start at second base before he left spring training to deal with what his agent said were "personal issues."

Perez, a Phillie since 2000, recently told a Florida newspaper he would welcome a trade to the Marlins.

Sounds good to me. The only problem here is David Bell's bad back being a potential deal killer. I understand the logic - losing Bell to start the year leaves the team an infielder short so somebody on the current 40-man roster would need to serve as Bell's replacement. I don't understand the specifics - Tomas Perez is no better than either Matt Kata or Danny Sandoval or even Chris Coste for that matter. It does not matter how Bell's back injury plays out; assuming there is a team desperate enough to take him on, Tomas Perez should be dealt by the Phillies no matter what.