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.
Lmao
So the Angels want to be a salary dumpster this offseason? Got it…
he got paid 1mil last year so not really a salary dump
Just found out that the extension he originally got from Philly isn’t lingering anymore. Still…. The Angels seem to be taking on guys that aren’t worth what they’ve been paid throughout their careers. Is that a surprise? Not really.
The Angels are paying them nothing and they are minor league depth, so why the angst?
Bc it’s 2024 and people suck
He is not on the 40 man roster and the Phillies bought out the final year of his contract in 2024, so he will be paid on a minor league deal, less than the major league minimum.
Anyone want to explain this to me. Team option 2025 for 14 million.
He’s not worth the league minimum.
This still doesn’t explain why they’d want him, but there may still be a year or two of team control even if they decline the option.
Infield depth they can stash in AAA.
He’s not even on the 40 man roster. No way they are picking up any more than 1 mil of his salary. He’s at a good age with a high prospect pedigree. So I like the move.
Great low pressure spot for soler too ! He could be a great trade candidate for a contender down the road while getting prospect value by eating his salary
Buy 50 lotto tix and you’ll get a few winners
There is no issue with a move like this for Scott Kingery. The issue will be if Scott Kingery play 150 games for the Angels next year.
He just might. Did you see the scrubs they were running out there at the end of last season?
@Halo11Fan He got paid before his debut a couple years ago
There is no reason in the head of Minasian.
@halosheaven is money coming back. Says cash considerations doesn’t say which way.
If nothing else we can finally stop hearing idiots in Philadelphia calling for the Phillies to bring him up any time Turner goes 0-5.
Kingery was a good example of the downside of trying to save money by offering a prospect a contract before their major league debut.
Hes not on that contract anymore. The Phillies declined the option last year, then retained him under the original player contract he signed out of the draft. Either he agreed to it, or didn’t have the service to force free agency. Either way, he’s not a 15MM guy this year. He gets paid whatever any other non 40 man AAA guy gets
@rogue ok got it, but what’s the cash considerations if he’s on a vet minimum deal.
They bought him from Philly. Could be any amount. Could have given Philly a dollar. Amounts over 1MM have to be approved by the Commissioners office. It doesn’t sound like the angels paid that kind of money here.
@rogue I don’t hate the move then. So it’s essentially signing Cole tucker to possibly be a backup.
Basically. It’s really more about Philly giving Kingery a chance a fresh start with a new club, than anything else. I doubt the Angels gave up much of anything. And guys on the uniform player contract don’t even get the MLB minimum if they are not on the 40 man. It’s a low risk move we’ll all probably forget about by May 1st
@rogue yeah it’s like guillorme,dozier, tucker, Lopez and I probably missed 5 other players or blocked it out.
Wrong. If the Angels don’t add him to the Major League Roster tomorrow he will be a free agent. It’s a slam dunk the add him to the MLB Roster tomorrow. They didn’t trade for him just to let him walk away and few days later.
@dsaag7. Didn’t say they weren’t going to add him to roster. Was comparing him to those guys. As far as him being a slam dunk because they traded for him. They gave up cash considerations. He’s far from a lock.
Kingery signed his contract before his MLB debut. This years club option (which was denied by the Phillies) would’ve been an arbitration year for Kingery had he not signed a deal. This means instead of electing free agency after your club option is denied you can stay with the organization and go through arbitration for your annual deal. Kingery elected to stay with the organization (Philly). Philly trades Kingery to Angels for cash. Kingery is not required to be on the 40 man and if contract is selected it will most likely be league minimum for the Angels. I love this kids abilities so I like the move. Hope this clears up your concerns.
@scott brewer. Thank you. I definitely don’t mind the move. Gives him a good chance to make the team, because as of now they need infield depth. It’s also nice that he play the outfield. I’m wondering if this is a sign ward is on the move?
Funny, I thought the same about Wardy. Could he be traded to Detroit, maybe Pittsburgh? Possibly.
@trojan he’s around the same as o’neil without the pick attached. Trade rumors has him at getting a #7, #20, and a toss in.(farm system rankings).Still think that’s a little low, probably could get a better deal at the deadline.
He’ll be on the MLB roster tomorrow, watch. Otherwise he’s a free agent agent at 5pm ET.
Just cause it’s legal in California doesn’t mean you should be smoking it while making trades.
Great comment.
Once again, Arte wants to operate this team on the margins. Just enough so it “looks” like the team is trying. I’m so effing sick of this owner and I know everyone around this team is too.
Arte? You think Arte is sitting behind the scenes and advocating these moves? That’s laughable.
Good move or bad move, this is Minasian.
Its a minor league deal for a player that will be in Salt Lake, not Anaheim.
Arte is a meddling moron and we all wish he would sell the team, but this deal has nothing to do with him. It’s just one of a flurry of deals Perry has made that will provide the MLB team with some depth in the minors.
It’s already starting with Soler out of the gates and now Kingery as a backup option for MiLB. We’ll see a ton of these moves just like we saw last year. And the year before…
Right, our GM doesn’t know he’s doing. These are not marketing moves. Blame every marketing move on Moreno if you like, such as keeping Ohtani, but Minasian made the horrible trades.
It’s not just Moreno, it’s the M & M boys. It’s a horrible combination.
That takes the cake as the dumbest comment of the day. Put down the pipe.
Kingery is minor league depth and the most they can pay for him in this transaction is $50k.
Wrong..looks like you need to put down the pipe..he’ll be on the major league roster tomorrow.
Wonder what Johnny Cash records they got.
Hopefully they held out for “ring of fire”, one of his best songs.
Pretty sure they got bootleg recordings. I’m not sure what Perry was thinking with this move…
I remember when the Phils signed him to that deal before he debuted. Wasn’t a lot of dough but certainly a swing and a miss.
14 mil is a tremendous cap hit
$24 million
$24 million over 5 years. A $4.8 million AAV and CBT hit.
Angels going all in!!1!
The Angels new David Fletcher
Fletcher was better.
For the Salt Lake Bees? Kingery will not be in Anaheim unless there are many injuries in 2025.
I like Kingery. The Philly front office and coaching staff destroyed him. He used to be a pure contact hitter with some pop. Great line drive hitter. The hitting coaches attempted to make him into a swing and miss power hitter. Since he already got paid, he had no reason to decline what they were forcing him to do. He could of been a Christian Yelich lite.
I can agree that the Phillies front office/coaching staff did him no favors. Moved him around way too much and swing was tinkered with. But he had multiple amount of times to figure it out. That was on him.
They promoted him too soon. He had a 58/13 K/W in AAA at age 23. That’s pretty weak. But I’m guessing that, since he was already signed, they felt like they had to promote him to make it look better.
But the 58/13 in AAA, unsurprisingly, turned into a 126/24 in the pros. There is a chance that he was never going to work out, but promoting a AAA player with very poor K/W’s usually assures that it won’t work out.
This is a brutally bad take on so many levels, but that’s why there’s a comments section.
I loved watching Scottie in the minors – truly thought that he was going to be an Utley-lite. Great swing; baserunning; terrific fielder at 2nd; sneaky power and one of those gamers. Thought that it was one of Klentak’s few smart moves to give him that deal.
Yes – under Klentak the organization outsmarted themselves in player development. It was more a a pure saberdude making decisions on data without an understanding that all players are a unique challenge to develop and that was probably his biggest downfall. Kingery was a part of the fallout but it is also up to the player. The shoulder injury and Covid also set him back hard. A change of scenery might unlock at least a solid ute at this point.
Kingery had every opportunity to be successful regardless of the approach and he couldn’t do it. Say what you want about the Phillies coaches, but a player has to put it together.
He was a “pure contact” hitter in high school and college, but as soon as he got the minor leagues, his swing didn’t translate into the same drive line hitter. That’s when they tried to change his swing.
It makes sense to reunite Kingery with Mickey Moniak. Oh wait, no, no it doesn’t!
If that means Moniak will be playing in Salt Lake next season, I am all for it.
Good deal for the Angels – getting a top prospect making league minimum when they don’t expect to win for a few years… Oh wait, it’s not 2017, my bad!
Maybe he will become the next Profar, Refsnyder or Ibanez. With Bullpens having to be deep, due to lack of innings from the starter, flexibility from the bench becomes more important.
Good deal for the Angels. They get a former top prospect that will not be on 40 man and will provide depth in AAA while making minor league pay. And all it cost them is a few thousand dollars.
There. Fixed it for you.
He is 30, hasn’t been in the majors in 4 years, and has a career OPS+ of 74. Prospect status means nothing anymore – it is a hail mary, and it’s not against the Bears so unlikely to be successful.
That sound you are hearing is the point going over your head. Kingery will be in Salt Lake. He will be on a minor league deal meaning he will be making peanuts. He is depth in case the Angels have catastrophic injuries. Its only a hail mary if he is expected to start in Anaheim and that is not the case. He is 3rd or 4th on the depth chart at 4 different positions.
Thanks for popping into mlbtr, Perry. Go spend some time with your family, it’s going to be another longgg offseason for you.
We will call you Big Dummy from now on.
@outinleftfield You haven’t a clue what you are talking about. He’ll be on the roster tommorrow and will probably get a major league deal..otherwise he’s going to arbitration. If they don’t add him to the roster tomorrow, he will be a free agent by sun down.
Kingery was on a minor league deal with the Phillies when traded for and he has 3 options left. Unless there is catastrophic injuries he will be in Salt Lake. Thanks for pointing out that you are Big Dummy’s alt account.
Angels going all in this season!!
That extension turned out terrible like every Six Feet Under album does.
This is getting embarrassing
ANGELS ARE GOING FOR IT
Forgot this guy is still in MLB. Angels are collecting a dumpster fire of talent.
You think all teams dont have a Scott Kingery?
He is not in MLB. Hasn’t been for quite some time and won’t be in 2025. Angels traded for him to be in Salt Lake as depth in case of injuries.
This guy will look like the biggest clown in the room by tomorrow. This might be one of the best deals Perry has ever made..he could easily turn into a version of Kike Hernandez. Show me 3 other players that can play CF and SS that had 25hrs and 25 sb last year that will make under 1m in the big leagues? Ill wait.
Well, that is enough to mute you. That you are so lacking in baseball knowledge that you don’t know that Kingery who is going into his age 31 season in 2025 has not had a single PA in MLB since 2021 because he is terrible says it all.
Perry Minasian channeling his inner Trader Jerry
None of you could make the Angels roster
Kingery was the biggest “What if” in recent Phillies history. He had the chance to be a very good MLB player but was destroyed both by his desire to be a home run hitter AND the Phillies insistence on turning him into Ben Zobrist. Had they both just left it alone, he’d likely have been a very productive, all-around second baseman.
The Angels 2025 Cole Tucker replacement.
When you don’t have AAA depth of your own you have to claim guys and hope a couple work out.
I believe his full title is Can’t Miss Scott Kingery.
The Angels doing Angles things. Their front office consists of Perry an IT guy and four billboard employees. Not a lot of baseball minds working together. Arte sold the idea of having an active offseason to get fans excited for the next bobble head night. God forbid he improves an old ballpark or assemble a pitching staff.
Some of the commenters on the Soler trade suggest that the Angels are trying to assemble a pitching staff via an addition by subtraction move of Canning.
@Nashville that’s what it was. They have plenty #5 starters. They also had one of the worse outputs from dh soler solves that. This move is just a guy off the bench, and they definitely need a guy that can play the infield.
@Rexhudler86: Yep. Totally get the Angel’s (and Braves) side of this. Be surprised if the Braves even tender Canning a contract. I expect a non tender and possible re-signing on a cheaper deal than the $5.1M that Canning is projected to get in arbitration.
Calm down. This is akin to signing a player to a minor league deal with an invitation to ST. Kingery is not even on the 40 man roster, isn’t blocking any prospects, and could possibly make the Angels as a utility player. If not, then it’s a nothing deal. This is merely a depth move.
Every year teams sign or trade for a bunch of these players who have struggled or otherwise not performed to expectations. Every season fans get angsty about these signings and how the GM is ruining the team. 90-95% of these players either end up cut in ST or filling out AAA rosters.
Just imho, but the Angels should be more interested in playing kids rather than 31 year old players with bad AAA stats. He had a 138/34 K/W in 463 ABs. That’s unlikely to translate well in the pros.
The Angels seem like a team that doesn’t want to spend the money, or at least spend in the right places, to make up for their poor personnel decisions of the past and be really competitive, but they also don’t want to look like they are blowing it up.
LOLAngels
A low-risk move, except for the fear that they treat Kingery like Sano & Hicks and decide to give him more playing time than some younger kids.
@joe hopefully not. Kingery hasn’t played in the mlb in three years. Maybe he won’t care if he plays once a week.
Can’t believe they paid anything for him. Probably could have gotten him for free unless they were worried the White Sox would take him.
Iron pigs legend
I can’t be the only one who was surprised to see that Kingery is already almost 31 years old. Seems like yesterday he was a top prospect.
Angels looking to get offseason shopping done before free agency begins.
@ybc I’m not anticipating many moves maybe a second baseman, and a bullpen piece. Most likely one year deals, and a bunch of minor league deals
NEWSFLASH Minasian can only get trades done with the Phillies and Braves
The dude hasn’t played in two years. Pass
I actually really liked and rooted for him but he was misused and had injuries that couldn’t justify that salary. I wish him luck in California.
Look even if Scott Kingery has a good spring training most likely he’s not gonna make the 26 man roster he’s AAA minor-league insurance Salt Lake City needs holes to be filled in Salt Lake City
Wow. We are a mere two days into the offseason and the race for most wtf deal is already over. Angels out here making moves baby!
Perry with a flurry of moves immediately after the WS, making the Salt Lake Bees the best team in the PCL.
@johhnybravo we lost ohtani because arte said he thought his contract started with a 4. People were saying it was 600 million three years prior. Ohtani could’ve stayed if it was matched, and arte probably could’ve sold the team.
Rexhudler86
If Arte Moreno was smart he should’ve locked up Shohei Ohtani 4 or 5 years ago but Arte Moreno lives on an island with Albert Pujols and Anthony Rendon just them two players combined my guess over $550 million for 2 players it takes a lineup of 9 above average players to be successful, it takes 5 above average starting pitcher in the rotation to have a chance and with outstanding bullpen and decent bench, now you got something special The angels need a ace a pitcher that will snap a four game losing streak. Concentrate on pitching and bullpen help.
Most of this entire blurb is unintelligible. If you are posting to a forum, please gather enough basic understanding of English comprehension first. Okay, thanks.
By the way, you’re welcome dodger fans for Shohei Ohtani yes go ahead thank Arte Moreno our owner who’s been hiding for 3 years, not making no public appearances not the most popular guy in baseball, especially in Anaheim I wonder if he is starting to turn orange wearing one of those red caps make America great again
I can still remember when that early extension was considered a steal and Kingery was gonna be a big piece of the puzzle for them. Man people got that wrong on both fronts.
The insanity continues year after year.
Trout to Philly for Kingery with no $ changing hands would have been a dream come through.
Please clean house except for our young core.
A lot of words for a very insignificant player.
Arte going ALL IN with these big moves. World Series roster is almost set now… And I mean the Santa Ana Beer League World Series.
Does Minasian have the phone numbers for any other GMs than Braves and Phillies? Just asking.
This dosent surprise me there already buying trash this gm need to go he worthless