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Phils add three veteran arms

The Phillies may be a little slim on the corner outfield spots as spring training nears, but they should have plenty of pitching depth.

The Phillies may be a little slim on the corner outfield spots as spring training nears, but they should have plenty of pitching depth.

The front office, which has been mostly quiet since the holidays, added to the pitching staff's inventory in the last week by reining in three veterans.

The Phils have reached deals with right-handers Juan Cruz, Aaron Cook and Rodrigo Lopez. All three will be in camp as non-roster invitees on minor league contracts.

Cruz, 34, is 38-36 with a 4.05 ERA in 447 major league games in 12 seasons. He went 1-1 with a 2.78 ERA in 43 games with Pittsburgh last season, striking out 33 while walking 19 in 35 2/3 innings.

The 33-year-old Cook, who has spent the majority of his career with Colorado, went 4-11 with a 5.65 ERA in 19 games (all starts) with Boston in 2012. According to a foxports.com report, Cook will earn $1.625 if he's on the Phillies major league roster.

Over the weekend, the Phils also added Lopez.

The 37-year-old Lopez went 3-1 with a 3.62 ERA in five starts for the Phillies in 2009. He made just four appearances with the Cubs last season, spending the majority of the year at Triple-A Iowa (2-5 with a 5.28 ERA in 18 games, 15 starts).

This is business as usual for the Phillies. In recent years they've added the likes of Dontrelle Willis, Joel Pineiro, Brian Sanches, Gary Majewski, Raul Valdes, Dave Bush, Kris Benson and Scott Elarton before spring training.

Some were released before the end of camp, some stuck around to help Triple-A Lehigh Valley and some have even managed to make the big league club at some point during the year.

Of course, some have also been Ryan Vogelsong and Jason Grilli, two former Camp Clearwater attendees who didn't get the chance to graduate to the big league with the Phillies but went on to have a great deal of success elsewhere.