In need of a bit more infield depth after Nick Maton was traded to Detroit as part of the deal for reliever Gregory Soto, the Phillies signed former Oakland Athletic Vimael Machin to a minor-league deal.
It's Machin's "second stint" with the Phillies, though the first lasted less than a day. The Phils selected him from the Cubs in the 2019 Rule 5 draft and then quickly traded him to Oakland for cash considerations.
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Machin is a 29-year-old, left-handed hitter from Puerto Rico. He was originally drafted by the Cubs in 2015 out of VCU. Despite a lack of power, he's been a strong performer in 741 games at Triple A, hitting .307 with a .400 on-base percentage.
Last season, he hit .324/.401/.457 in 292 plate appearances for the Athletics' Triple A affiliate in Las Vegas. Across parts of three seasons in the majors, Machin has hit .208/.290/.261 with 14 doubles and a homer in 361 plate appearances.
Machin played first, second, third and short for the A's. Defensively, he's graded out as neutral.
If the Phillies carry four players on their season-opening bench, the safe bets are backup catcher Garrett Stubbs, infielder Edmundo Sosa, and infielder/outfielders Dalton Guthrie and Kody Clemens.
MLB
In the event of injury, a player like Machin could be needed because the Phillies don't have many infielders close to major-league ready behind those backups. There's Will Toffey, who played 97 games at Triple A Lehigh Valley last season, hitting .242 with a .770 OPS. He played mostly third base with a handful of starts at first.
Scott Kingery is also still in the organization. The 2023 season is the last guaranteed year of the six-year, $24 million contract he signed prior to 2018.