Dave Dombrowski was asked if the recent trade that sent Matt Vierling and Nick Maton to the Tigers for Gregory Soto and Kody Clemens means their could be bench battles come Spring Training.
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.
