Jeff Conine - Journeyman Role-player

Journeyman Role-player

Though he put up solid numbers through 114 games with the Orioles, at forty years old, Conine was clearly in the twilight of his career. Though the Philadelphia Phillies were 14.5 games back of the New York Mets in the NL East, they were in the thick of the NL's wild-card race. On August 27, 2006, they acquired Conine for cash for a player to be named later (infielder Ángel Chávez) to serve as a right-handed bat off the bench. Though Philadelphia failed to make the playoffs, Conine proved a solid addition, batted .280 with seventeen RBIs in 28 games.

When the Phillies signed free-agent Jayson Werth after the season, Conine became expendable, and was sent to the Cincinnati Reds for minor league prospects Bradley Key and Javon Moran. Platooning with Scott Hatteberg at first base, Conine batted .265 with six home runs and 32 RBIs over eighty games. More importantly, his .409 batting average and four RBIs in 22 pinch hit at-bats made him an attractive player to the New York Mets, who were looking to add depth to their bench. On August 20, 2007, Conine was traded to the Mets for minor leaguers Sean Henry and Jose Castro. Though he hit an RBI single in his first at-bat as a Met, he proved less successful in that role with the Mets, batting just .195 over 21 games with his new club. On September 20, Conine announced that he was considering retirement before his final series in South Florida. He played his final game on September 30 against the Marlins, replacing an injured Carlos Delgado at first base.