Phillies excited to get Sweeney

While Ruben Amaro Jr. announced that the Phillies had acquired veteran Mike Sweeney on Wednesday, Charlie Manuel sat in the dugout, a few feet away. When the general manager was done talking about why the Phils needed to make a move for a righthanded hitter who could play first, Manuel offered his opinion.

“He can hit,” the manager said. “He can help us right now.”

So much so that Manuel was willing to anoint Sweeney as the regular first baseman until Ryan Howard returns from the disabled list.

The move, however, reinforces the notion that Howard will likely miss more than the two weeks required on the DL.

Sweeney, acquired from the Seattle Mariners in a trade, will join the club today in Florida. The corresponding move on the 25-man roster will be decided today.

“Obviously, he’s not as productive as he used to be,” Amaro said of Sweeney. “But we still think in the limited playing time he might have that he has a chance to win some games for us.”

Sweeney, in his 16th season, was hitting .263 in 30 games for Seattle. He has been on the DL since June 25 with back spasms, but the Phillies said Sweeney is ready to play immediately after reviewing his medical records. Sweeney played 12 games in a rehab stint for triple-A Tacoma.

In his final rehab game Tuesday, he hit two home runs and played first base. But the 37-year-old Sweeney has started just 25 games at first base in the majors since the end of the 2005 season. His last full- time stint at first was 2002.

Still, the Phillies view him as an upgrade to the Ross Gload-Cody Ransom platoon now in place.

“I don’t know if we had to do anything,” Amaro said. “But I think this helps because it gives us a guy who is a bona fide major-league hitter and has had a ton of success.”

Ryan group wins bid for Rangers

Hall of Fame pitcher and Texas Rangers president Nolan Ryan has won the high-stakes bidding war for the team.

Officials in federal bankruptcy court in Fort Worth, Texas, announced early today that the group led by Ryan and Pittsburgh sports attorney Chuck Greenberg had made the best bid for the team. They staved off a fierce challenge from a group led by billionaire Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban.

The Greenberg-Ryan group’s final offer included $385 million in cash.

Clearing the bases

Dodgers catcher Russell Martin was placed on the 15-day DL because of a hip injury he sustained in Tuesday’s win over the Padres. … Tigers third baseman Brandon Inge was activated from the DL. To make room, the Tigers placed rookie infielder Danny Worth on the DL with a bruised heel. … The White Sox purchased the contract of reliever Chris Sale from Triple-A Charlotte. Sale was the 13th pick in June’s amateur draft.