Philadelphia Phillies Sign Lou Collier from Ottawa Lynx, Among Others - Class AAA, International League

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MLN Newswire-www.mlntherawfeed.com-OTTAWA - Lou Collier, a big contributor to the 2002 Lynx squad that set the team record for wins in a season, headlines the newest list of players signed to a Minor League contract by the Lynx parent club, the Philadelphia Phillies.



The Phillies have also signed infielder Brent Abernathy, outfielder Evan Tartaglia  and pitchers Charlie Weatherby and Tom Gornati. Collier and Abernathy have been invited to the Phillies big-league camp this Spring.



Collier, 33, has a career .297 average in the Minor Leagues as well as 76 HR, 485 RBI and 170 stolen bases. Collier stood out with the Lynx in 2002 when he hit .316 with 6 HR and 52 RBI and a team-leading 6 triples in 89 games. His last season in the International League was with the Phillies' former Triple-A affiliate in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in 2004. That season, Collier hit .326 with 14 HR and 66 RBI. Collier has also played in the Major Leagues with Montreal and Philadelphia.



Abernathy, 29, is a career .301 hitter in the Minor Leagues and has played 232 Major League games with Tampa Bay (2001-2003), Kansas City (2003) and Minnesota (2005). He spent all of last season with Nashville of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League, hitting .287 with 5 HR and 42 RBI.



Tartaglia, 24, split his time between four teams last season. He led the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball in stolen bases (45) and runs (80), was second in triples (8), and eighth in batting average (.335) last season.



Weatherby, 27, was 4th in the independent Atlantic League last season in saves (15), 5th in relief points (45), 2nd in games pitched (63) and 3rd in games finished (37).



Gornati, 25, finished 15 games last season for Single-A Dunedin of the Florida State League last season, striking out 41 batters in 40 games.