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Phillies Sign Nicholas Padilla To Minor League Deal

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The Phillies have signed right-hander Nicholas Padilla to a minor league deal, according to the transactions tracker on Padilla’s MLB.com player profile page. Padilla has updated his personal Instagram page to reflect his new team.

Padilla, 27, was a 13th-round pick by the Rays back in 2015 but struggled somewhat in the lower minors as a starter before eventually converting to relief in 2019. He pitched well at Single-A in 2019, his first full season out of the bullpen, with a 3.48 ERA and a 26.3% strikeout rate in 62 innings of work. That wound up being his last work in the Rays organization, however, as Padilla did not pitch during the cancelled minor league season in 2020 and was selected by the Cubs during the minor league phase of that year’s Rule 5 draft.

The right-hander kicked off his Cubs career at the High-A level in 2021 but pitched just 1 2/3 innings that year before being sidelined by injury. Once he was healthy again in 2022, he rapidly rose through the minor leagues. After dominating the High-A and Double-A levels early in the season, Padilla found himself promoted to Triple-A and pitched excellent in ten appearances with the Iowa Cubs. In those 14 2/3 innings of work, Padilla struck out 28.8% of opponents while posting a sterling 1.23 ERA. That was enough for the Cubs to give him a taste of big league action, as he was selected to the roster and made the 27th man during a doubleheader against the Cardinals.

That big league cup of coffee lasted just one game, however. Padilla pitched 1 2/3 innings of work for Chicago, where he surrendered one run on two hits and two walks while notching a strikeout, but was designated for assignment just two weeks later. That brought an end to his Cubs career as he was claimed off waivers by the crosstown White Sox, though he did not make an appearance for them down the stretch after being optioned to Triple-A Charlotte.

Padilla eventually made his debut on the south side in May of 2023, but rode the shuttle between Triple-A and the majors that year to make just three appearances in the big leagues. His performance in both the majors and minors was somewhat lackluster, as he posted a 5.79 ERA in 4 2/3 big league innings and a 5.52 ERA across 44 Triple-A appearances that year. He was outrighted off the club’s roster last November but remained with the club throughout the 2024 season. He posted a 2.92 ERA with a 30.3% strikeout rate in 37 innings of work this year but did not make it to the big league level and elected free agency earlier this offseason.

Now Padilla will join the fourth organization of his career in hopes of catching on with Philadelphia. For the Phillies, Padilla offers a depth arm for the club’s bullpen who is capable of pitching multiple innings in relief, a role that could be useful for them to have depth for given the departure of Spencer Turnbull in free agency earlier this month. Of course, the club’s up-and-coming young pitchers such as Andrew Painter, Seth Johnson, and Mick Abel could all contribute in that role, or perhaps even bump veteran Taijuan Walker out of the rotation following a difficult 2024 campaign and into that long relief role. Given that, Padilla would likely need to impress in Spring Training to snag a 40-man roster spot out of camp or wait for injuries to create space in the club’s bullpen throughout the 2025 campaign.

Phillies Hire Mark Lowy As Assistant Pitching Coach

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The Phillies announced the hiring of Mark Lowy as assistant pitching coach. He assumes the position vacated when Brian Kaplan was tabbed as Diamondbacks pitching coach yesterday.

Lowy moves onto an MLB staff for the first time. The 32-year-old had spent the ’24 season as Philadelphia’s lead pitching development analyst. Lowy has worked in the Phils’ player development department since 2021. After pitching at Gettysburg College, he worked at the independent training facility Cressey Sports Performance before joining the Phils.

Caleb Cotham is entering his fifth season as Philadelphia’s pitching coach. Lowy joins Cotham and bullpen coach Cesár Ramos on the pitching side of Rob Thomson’s staff.

Diamondbacks Hire Brian Kaplan As Pitching Coach

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The Diamondbacks announced that they have hired Brian Kaplan to be their new pitching coach. He will replace Brent Strom, who had been in that role for the previous three seasons. It was reported last month that the club would not be bringing the 76-year-old Strom back.

Kaplan has been with the Phillies since 2019. He spent his first three years with that club as integrative baseball performance consultant. For the three most recent seasons, he’s been the assistant pitching coach and director of pitching.

It’s impossible to separate player performance from the contributions of an individual coach, but for what it’s worth, the Phils have pitched well lately. Over the past three years, Philadelphia pitchers had a collective 3.95 earned run average, putting them 12th of the 30 major league clubs. Their 3.82 FIP is far kinder, putting them third, trailing only Atlanta and San Francisco. For that same stretch of time, Arizona had a 4.46 ERA and 4.26 FIP, both of those numbers putting them in the bottom third.

The Arizona pitching staff could get a shakeup between now and next season, as their starting rotation is drawing trade interest from other clubs around the league. However that plays out, Kaplan will see if he can help the Snakes find another gear when it comes to their pitching staff.

Hal Steinbrenner To Meet With Boras/Soto

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Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner is scheduled to fly to Southern California for an in-person meeting with Juan Soto and agent Scott Boras, report Mark W. Sanchez and Jon Heyman of the New York Post. The Post reports that the sit-down will occur in about a week a half — a few days after Boras and Soto welcome Mets owner Steve Cohen.

Boras suggested at this week’s GM Meetings that Soto plans to meet with the ownership group of every team that is pursuing him. That made it an inevitability that he’d sit down with each of Cohen and Steinbrenner. The Yankees and Mets are the two most obvious suitors for the market’s top free agent.

Plenty of teams would love to bring Soto into the fold. Heyman reported last week that at least 11 teams had reached out to Boras to express interest — the Giants, Dodgers, Blue Jays and Red Sox among them. Still, there’s speculation throughout the industry that Soto is likeliest to land with one of the New York teams. Boras has publicly stated that Soto is willing to sign anywhere. Saying otherwise wouldn’t do his market any favors, of course.

Phillies owner John Middleton opined today that the bidding may come down to the Yankees and Mets. “I’m afraid Juan Soto wants to be in New York, and I don’t mind being a stalking horse,” Middleton told Conor Smith of the Philadelphia Inquirer. “At some point, if [president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski] and I get that feeling, we’ll probably say, ‘You know what, we’re not going to win this’ because we’ve both been the stalking horse before. And if I were an agent, I would do it too. It’s perfectly good strategy. I mean, it’s smart. But at the end of the day, I just think he likes New York.“

Phillies Promote Preston Mattingly To General Manager

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The Phillies announced today that vice president and general manager Sam Fuld is pursuing his MBA at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. He is slated to graduate in May of 2026, at which point he will take the title of president of business operations. Assistant general manager Preston Mattingly has been promoted to take the role of vice president and general manager.

Fuld, 42, played in the majors from 2007 to 2015. Given that he went to college at Stanford and majored in economics, he was viewed by many in the game as a future front office member. He got hired by the Phillies in 2017 with the title of major league player information coordinator. His name was then connected to various managerial openings over the years but he stuck with the Phils and was promoted to GM going into 2021. Dave Dombrowski had just been hired as the club’s president of baseball operations and Fuld would be second on the baseball decision-making pyramid.

The two sides have seemingly been happy with the relationship. In December of 2022, Fuld and the Phils signed an extension running through December 2025. In October of 2023, the Red Sox had some interest in Fuld replace chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom, though Fuld declined to be interviewed for the opening.

Since Dombrowski is 68 years old, many considered Fuld a sort of protege or a president-in-waiting, but now it seems he is planning a shift. His focus will be away from the club for the next couple of years and he will return to direct his attention to the business side, rather than the baseball side.

Mattingly, 37, will now take over as Dombrowski’s second-in-command. The son of Don Mattingly, Preston played in the minors for a while but never got higher than High-A. He pivoted to non-playing roles, working with the Padres in the scouting department. In the fall of 2021, he was plucked away by the Phils, who hired him as director of player development.

He has clearly impressed the Phils, as he got promoted to assistant general manager just two years later, in November of 2023. After a year with that title, he has gotten bumped up again. He is still second on the club’s front office hierarchy, but it’s an impressive rise in a short time and it’s possible that he could eventually replace Dombrowski, depending on how things go. For now, given that there’s more than 30 years’ difference in age between the two, Mattingly will presumably be absorbing everything he can about the role from Dombrowski as he takes on a larger piece of the club’s front office makeup.

Phillies Exploring Outfield, Right-Handed Relief Markets

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The Phillies head into the offseason with a star-studded roster and substantial payroll obligation, though owner John Middleton has already expressed confidence that the 2025 payroll will increase. President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski has at multiple points hinted at potential trades rather than free agent pursuits, speaking of a need to be “open-minded” as he looks to augment a roster that’s been a perennial playoff club but fallen shy of a World Series win (or even a World Series appearance). The Athletic’s Matt Gelb reports that the Phils have signaled a desire to add an outfielder and at least one right-handed reliever.

As laid out in our Phillies Offseason Outlook, adding in the outfield is one of the most logical pursuits for a Phillies club that has established contributors at catcher (J.T. Realmuto), first base (Bryce Harper), second base (Bryson Stott), shortstop (Trea Turner), third base (Alec Bohm), right field (Nick Castellanos) and designated hitter (Kyle Schwarber). Brandon Marsh and Johan Rojas offer options in the remaining two outfield spots, but the Phils aren’t likely to simply roll the same lineup back out in 2024 after another shorter-than-hoped season. Marsh and Rojas could form a platoon, as Marsh bats left-handed to the more defensively gifted Rojas’ right-handed bat. That’d open a path for one incoming outfielder, but Dombrowski’s repeated chorus of “open-minded” approaches to reshaping his offense have prompted natural speculation about trades.

From that standpoint, it’s hard to imagine deals involving Realmuto, Harper, Turner and Schwarber. All have been viewed as core pieces in Philadelphia. The Phillies would probably love to move on from the final two years and $40MM on Castellanos’ contract, but Castellanos is a poor defender who hasn’t hit nearly as well in Philadelphia as he did in his free-agent platform season with the Reds. The Phils would need to pay down a good portion of that contract and/or include a prospect to find a taker.

Bohm, Marsh, Stott and to a lesser extent Rojas are the big league position players who could more plausibly be flipped elsewhere as the Phillies try to reshape their identity. Gelb also lists lefty starter Ranger Suarez as a possibility. Their contractual statuses are as follows:

  • Suarez: Controlled through 2025 via arbitration, projected to earn $8.9MM in 2025 (via MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz)
  • Bohm: Controlled through 2026 via arbitration, projected to earn $8.1MM in 2025 (via Swartz)
  • Marsh: Controlled through 2027 via arbitration, projected to earn $3MM in 2025 (via Swartz)
  • Stott: Controlled through 2027 via arbitration, projected to earn $3.5MM in 2025 (via Swartz)
  • Rojas: Controlled through 2029, pre-arbitration in 2025

Obviously, the valuation on each player will vary. Suarez would be a one-year rental for a club and would require the Phils — already in need of a starter and likely hoping to dump the remaining two years and $36MM on Taijuan Walker’s contract this offseason — to replace him. He posted a 3.46 ERA with strong strikeout (23.2%) and walk (6.5%) rates in 150 2/3 innings this season but also missed a month with a back injury and struggled from July through September. Plenty of teams would still love to plug him into their rotation.

Bohm is the most consistently productive but has the highest salary and lowest amount of club control remaining of the position players. He also cooled off considerably after a blistering start to the season. He was one of the game’s most productive hitters through early March (.360/.430/.576 in 142 plate appearances) before reverting to his usual brand of roughly average offense for the remainder of the season (.256/.302/.410 over his next 464 plate appearances). Bohm improved his glovework this year and hit righties better than usual but was still notably more productive against left-handed pitching.

Marsh can handle all three outfield spots but is best suited for left field. He’s never hit lefties well but is well above-average versus righties. He runs well and could probably pop 20 homers with a full season of at-bats, though that’d mean lesser rate stats and more plate appearances versus lefties. He’s hit 28 homers in 948 plate appearances across the past two seasons. Marsh is a useful part-time player, but his 31% strikeout rate since 2023 (and 32.8% career mark) is rather concerning, especially since he’s been platooned so often.

Stott is a plus defender and strong baserunner with 15-homer pop. He makes plenty of contact but has really only had one average season at the plate (2023), in addition to a pair of below-average campaigns during which he’s still been a solid overall contributor because of his glove and speed. If a team with budget problems and no concrete option at shortstop would view him as an outside-the-box candidate at short, his market could expand. Stott hasn’t graded as well there in 770 big league innings but has more than 2000 professional innings at short.

Rojas is an even more extreme case of the speed-and-defense skill set. He’s a plus center fielder with excellent speed but turned in just a .243/.279/.322 slash in 2024 (68 wRC+) and is a career .261/.298/.355 hitter (81 wRC+) in 527 big league plate appearances.

Dombrowski has publicly suggested that he needs to be open to trading “good players” in order to get talent in return. Speculatively speaking, Bohm feels like the most plausible fit, as he’s set to earn the most money, has the least club control remaining and plays a position (third base) where the free-agent market is quite thin this offseason. There could be paths to flipping Bohm for a bullpen arm, a back-of-the-rotation starter or an outfielder, and shedding his payroll could also free the Phillies to pursue other options at the hot corner or give them more money to address needs elsewhere on the roster.

Former Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. and longtime Phils beat writers Todd Zolecki and Jim Salisbury took a deep dive into the possibilities on the latest episode of their podcast. All three acknowledged that Dombrowski’s repeated phrases this offseason have not-so-quietly signaled a trade is likely. In addition to repeating the “open-minded” line on several occasions, Dombrowski has at least twice suggested the Phillies have enough star players on the roster. At his end-of-season press conference, Dombrowski said his club has “as many star players as about anybody in baseball” before adding that sometimes “the supporting cast” is where the biggest need sits.

Gelb notes in the previously referenced piece that Dombrowski doubled down on that thinking at this week’s GM Meetings. Asked if the Phils would be “big-game hunting” this winter, the Phils’ president replied: “Our ownership allows us to do a lot of things. But sometimes that’s not what you want. We have a lot of good star players on our team. So, read that as you would.”

Jeff Hoffman Garnering Interest As Starter

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Jeff Hoffman’s breakout as an elite reliever in the Phillies’ bullpen over the past two seasons played a huge role in the team’s success, but now that he’s a free agent it’s possible he’ll sign in a completely different role. ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel reported within his ranking of the offseason’s top free agents that some clubs have considered pursuing Hoffman as a starting pitcher. The Athletic’s Matt Gelb backs that up in his own report, further pointing out that Hoffman is represented the same agency (CAA) that represented Reynaldo Lopez during his own switch from the bullpen to the rotation last winter.

Hoffman, 32 in January, has quietly been a dominant force in the Philadelphia bullpen since signing a minor league deal early in the 2023 season. Recency bias might conjure up the unflattering memory of the right-hander’s NLDS meltdown against the Mets, but from 2023-24, Hoffman compiled 118 2/3 innings of 2.28 ERA ball while punching out a gaudy 33.4% of his opponents against a 7.4% walk rate. This postseason’s pair of regrettable outings against the Mets isn’t an ideal final memory, but Hoffman also snapped off six shutout innings of relief with eight strikeouts and no walks during the 2023 NLCS.

Excellent as Hoffman has been in relief, there’s reason to believe he could succeed in a lengthier role. First and foremost, the former No. 8 overall draft pick was a starter in his college days at East Carolina University and began his pro career in a rotation role. He started 11 big league games as recently as 2021 with Cincinnati and didn’t move to a full-time relief role until his 2022 season with the Reds. Hoffman has appeared in 361 professional games (majors and minors combined); 145 of them (40%) have been starts.

Beyond his familiarity with the role, Hoffman still uses a four-pitch repertoire even when working out of the bullpen. Many relievers who were once starters narrow their arsenal down to two pitches when they move to a short relief role. Hoffman still threw four pitches at least 8% of the time in 2024: a four-seamer (39%), slider (40.8%), splitter (12%) and sinker (8.2%). He averaged a fiery 96.6 mph on that four-seamer and 96.7 mph on his sinker. Those numbers would surely go down were Hoffman to begin working five, six and seven innings at a time, but even with reduced life on his fastballs he could still have average or better velocity. The league-average starting pitcher in 2024 sat 94.2 mph with his four-seamer, per Statcast.

Among those four pitches, Statcast has ranked them all as plus offerings over the past two seasons. Hoffman’s slider has easily been the best of the bunch, producing a huge 20.6% swinging-strike rate and limiting opponents to a .160/.201/.215 batting line when finishing off a plate appearance with that offering (dating back to Opening Day 2023). Again, whether he could sustain that level of dominance when facing opponents a second and third time through the order isn’t certain, but Hoffman’s wipeout slider has played an enormous role in his breakout since signing with the Phillies.

There are health and performance risks when taking a reliever and stretching him out. Hoffman hasn’t reached even 100 innings (majors and minors combined) in a season since 2019. Even among the reliever-to-starter experiments that panned out nicely in 2024, no one from the bunch worked what could be considered a full workload.

Garrett Crochet came the closest, compiling 146 innings across 32 starts, but the White Sox didn’t allow him to pitch more than four innings in a start after the calendar flipped to July. The aforementioned Lopez reached 135 2/3 innings but had a pair of IL stints owing to forearm and shoulder inflammation. Angels righty Jose Soriano went from 65 1/3 innings in 2023 to 113 in 2024 but was shut down for the season on Aug. 17 due to arm fatigue. Giants righty Jordan Hicks thrived in the rotation through late May before stumbling to an ERA over 6.00 in the early summer and being dropped back to the ’pen in mid-July. He finished at 109 2/3 innings with a 4.10 ERA. Seth Lugo is perhaps the best recent example of success in this transition. He jumped from 65 innings with the 2022 Mets to 146 innings with the 2023 Padres and 206 innings with this past season’s Royals.

Notably, McDaniel opines that Hoffman is still likelier to sign as a reliever. It’s the role in which he’s dominated over the past two seasons, and while he’s not the No. 1 reliever in this offseason’s free agent class — most publications, including MLBTR, assigned that honor to lefty Tanner Scott — Hoffman has a case to be considered the No. 2 or No. 3 bullpen arm on the open market this winter.

Gelb suggests Hoffman may prefer the relief role, though logically speaking, one would imagine he’d simply take the best offer possible. This is Hoffman’s first real crack at a notable MLB contract. He took home a signing bonus of just over $3MM in the draft but was non-tendered throughout his arbitration years and earned a relatively modest $2.2MM this past season in his final arb season. Even with that draft bonus, Hoffman’s career earnings fall shy of $8MM. He’ll presumably prioritize top dollar, regardless of location or role.

Phillies Chairman John Middleton Expects Higher Payroll In 2025

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The Phillies are no strangers to big spending, as the last four seasons have seen the club post the four highest Opening Day payrolls in franchise history.  It looks as though the payroll ceiling will continue to rise heading into 2025, as team chairman John Middleton told Scott Lauber of the Philadelphia Inquirer earlier this week.

“Given where we are in contract cycles and minor league people coming up, I expect the player payroll to be higher [than this year] rather than lower,” Middleton said.  “I’d be surprised if it’s the same, and I’d be stunned, very stunned, if it’s lower.  I don’t see it being lower.”

According to projections from Cot’s Baseball Contracts and RosterResource, the Phillies have roughly somewhere between $259MM-$270MM already committed to their 2025 payroll in terms of pure dollars.  The luxury tax number is even higher, with Cot’s projecting an approximate tax number of $281.5MM, and RosterResource has a rough estimate of around $288.4MM.

In either case, the Phillies are already slightly or well beyond the third tax penalty tier of $281MM.  While the Phillies have paid the tax in each of the the last three seasons, the third tier has been something of an unofficial internal limit for the Phils during the Middleton era, though he has said in the past that it is by no means a hard cap.  Middleton reiterated as much to Lauber, saying that “for the right player, I have a high degree of confidence that [president of baseball ops Dave Dombrowski] and I would go over the third limit.”

As Middleton noted, a spending increase was already baked into the Phillies’ plans due to internal raises alone.  Zack Wheeler’s extension kicks in this winter, so he’ll go from a $23.5MM salary in 2024 to $42MM in each of the next three seasons.  Philadelphia also has a pretty large arbitration class, and might save only around $8.7MM if Austin Hays, Kolby Allard, and Garrett Stubbs are all non-tendered as expected.

Dombrowski could find some creative way to move some larger contracts (say, the money owed to Nick Castellanos and Taijuan Walker) off the books to give the Phils a little more breathing room on the payroll front, though such swaps are much easier said than done.  What Middleton didn’t address was whether or not the Phillies would be willing to top the fourth and final spending tier of $301MM in order to add another big-ticket talent on top of the Phils’ pre-existing core.

Phillies Acquire Devin Sweet, Claim John McMillon

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The Phillies announced they acquired reliever Devin Sweet from the Tigers and added him to the 40-man roster. Philadelphia also claimed reliever John McMillon off waivers from the Marlins and selected righty Alan Rangel onto the 40-man. The Phils dropped Kolby Allard, Yunior Marté, Freddy Tarnok, Luis Ortiz and Rodolfo Castro from the roster by running them through outright waivers.

Sweet had not been on Detroit’s 40-man roster. He was set to reach minor league free agency today. While Detroit evidently wasn’t going to select his contract, the Phils were intrigued enough to carry him on the roster. The 28-year-old righty posted big numbers for the Tigers’ top affiliate in Toledo. Sweet struck out almost 34% of Triple-A hitters and posted a 3.91 ERA through 76 innings. He has limited MLB experience, allowing 10 runs in 8 2/3 innings between two teams in 2023.

McMillon changes hands via waivers for the second time in a few months. Miami grabbed the 6’3″ righty from Kansas City in early August. McMillon pitched well over 10 appearances for the Fish but ended the year on the injured list with elbow tightness. The Texas Tech product has an earned run average approaching 5.00 over four seasons in the minors. He averages north of 95 MPH on his fastball, so it’s a low-risk flier on a pitcher with a decent arm and two minor league options remaining.

Rangel, 27, signed a minor league deal with Philadelphia in July. The Mexican-born righty tossed 29 1/3 innings of 4.30 ERA ball in a swing role in Triple-A. He didn’t miss many bats but showed solid control. Rangel, who has yet to make his big league debut, would have been eligible for minor league free agency again this winter.

Of the players coming off the roster, Allard and Marté had the biggest roles this year. The former worked as a depth starter and posted an even 5.00 earned run average through 27 innings. The latter was hit hard to the tune of a 6.92 ERA across 26 frames in a middle relief role. Ortiz made one appearance but missed the majority of the year to ankle and shoulder problems. Castro played in Triple-A, where he tore a thumb ligament in August. Tarnok didn’t pitch in the majors after the Phillies claimed him from the A’s in June.

Angels Acquire Scott Kingery From Phillies

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The Angels have acquired infielder Scott Kingery from the Phillies in exchange for cash considerations, according to announcements from both clubs. Kingery wasn’t on Philadelphia’s 40-man roster and won’t need to take a spot with the Angels.

Kingery, 31 in April, was once a highly-touted prospect. The Phils had enough confidence in his future that they signed him to a long-term extension before he had even made his major league debut. In March of 2018, the Phils gave Kingery a $24MM guarantee covering the 2018-2023 seasons, with three club options as well.

Unfortunately, Kingery wasn’t able to live up to his prospect billing or that contract. He can steal a few bases and and play defense all over the diamond but he simply hasn’t hit enough to be a useful big leaguer. He currently has a batting line of just .229/.280/.387 in 1,127 plate appearances in the majors.

The Phils outrighted him off their roster in both 2021 and 2022, with no club willing to grab the remainder of the contract off waivers. He had surpassed three years of service time and had the right to elect free agency instead of accepting those outright assignments. However, since he was under the five-year service mark, walking away would have involved leaving the remainder of his contract on the table. Naturally, he reported to the minors and continued playing out the rest of his deal. The Phils turned down his ’24 club option but he stayed in the organization at that point as well.

Though the contract was a bust, Kingery just wrapped up a solid season in the minors. He took 505 plate appearances for the IronPigs and hit 25 home runs. The offensive environment in the International League was quite strong this year, so his robust line of .268/.316/.488 was only marginally above league average, translating to a wRC+ of 104.

Kingery stole 25 bases and continued bouncing around the diamond this year, playing second base, shortstop and center field. He has past experience at third base and in the outfield corners.

With those traits, he could perhaps be a useful player even with some semi-competent offense. He hasn’t been able to do that in his major league career so far but it’s a low-risk move for the Angels as Kingery isn’t even taking up a roster spot for now.

The Angels have a few question marks in their position player mix. Luis Rengifo projects as the top second base option but his 2024 was ended by wrist surgery. Even if he comes back healthy, he might need to bounce to other positions. Third baseman Anthony Rendon has been extremely injury-prone in recent years and Rengifo has often had to cover the hot corner. Mike Trout has also missed significant time in center field recently and might get moved to a corner or into the designated hitter spot with more frequency going forward.

Kingery can give them some extra minor league depth all over the diamond. He will try to earn a roster spot and the opportunity for a post-hype breakout.

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