Phillies Offseason: Keeping Up To Date On Minor League Signings And Departures

It’s been weeks now of the entire MLB offseason focusing on Shohei Ohanti and then to Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

While the Phillies were in the running and reportedly made an offer to Yamamoto, they found out on Thursday night he would be going to the Dodgers, too.

Phillies fans will now need to wait and see how the market turns out. If there aren’t many other teams willing to spend, perhaps the Phillies can come away with some top free agents who had markets that simply didn’t pan out as they’d hoped.

While waiting for news on that front, however, let’s take a look at the moves the Phillies have made in the minor leagues. He has an incredibly strong set of minor league numbers (2.31 ERA over

Minor League Free Agent Signings

RHP Ryan Burr

Signing date: 12/12/2023

Some info: The most recent minor league signing, Burr would seem like a player likely to be around in Spring Training. He has an incredibly strong set of minor league numbers (like 2.31 ERA over parts of seven seasons), but he’s also spent parts of four seasons with the White Sox major league team (most recently in 2022). He’s not a player that’s a shoe-in for a roster spot (hence the minor league deal), but he should provide some very good play to the AAA IronPigs and be a top option in the case of an injury should he not find himself on the major league roster come the end of Spring Training.

RHP Robinson Pina

Signing date: 12/11/2023

Some info: Pina is a player that the Phillies will hope they can get to miss some more bats at AAA. He suffered an injury in June 2019 that sidelined him until the next season where there was no minor leagues, so he did not appear in MiLB games again until 2021. In each of the last two seasons, he’s show an incredible strikeout to walk ratio at AA or below (193 to 41), but that has not continued in AAA, where that ratio flips to 28 walks and only 19 strikeouts. He has proven he can be reliable pitching depth for the organization up to AA and if they can get him past his AAA roadblock and keep him in the zone and missing bats, there’s a chance he could utilize his plus pitches at the major league level should it be needed.

1B Jacob Gonzalez

Signing date: 12/11/2023

Some info: A first basemen with an MiLB career slash line of .260/.329/.716. He has yet to play above AA, but the Phillies system as a whole did not have much depth at first base other than Darick Hall in AAA. AA Reading played OF prospect Carlos De La Cruz and former OF prospect Jhailyn Ortiz at the position for most of the year.

RHP Nick Snyder

Signing date: 12/4/2023

Some info: Snyder is a bit of a flyer for the Phillies. He appeared in six games for the Rangers in 2021 and 2022, but wound up back in the minors. He had a single poor outing in his short AAA stint in 2021 but ultimately his season with the Rangers that season was ended due to an injury to his throwing shoulder. He was signed by the Rangers to a minor league deal for the 2023 season, but did not play due to injury.

RHP Max Lazar

Signing date: 12/8/2023

Some info: Lazar is a player who had a strong strikeout to walk ratio (73:19) in 2023 but missed both the 2020 and 2021 seasons, putting him a bit behind the eight ball. That may contribute to why he hasn’t previously made it past AA. His primary problem since returning from those lost seasons has been his inability to miss bats, with opposing batters hitting over .250 off of him since then. He certainly pounds the zone, he just needs to start missing more bats – something the Phillies developmental staff will hope they can assist with.

RHP José Ruiz

Signing date: 11/28/2023

Some info: Phillies fans may remember from the NLCS the constant mention of how the Arizona Diamondbacks changed essentially their entire bullpen staff in the back half of the season. Well Ruiz was one of those players who was replaced. He was acquired from the White Sox for cash and wound up with Arizona from April 11 until July 25. During that time, he threw 40.2 innings in 34 games (one start) and recorded a 4.43. He had a strikeout to walk ratio of 36:17 but allowed an opponent batting average of .277 and a WHIP of 1.50. In 23 of those 34 appearances, however, he allowed no runs. Of the remaining games, there were six occasions he allowed more than one run and four of those included home runs.

International Signings (In December)

SS Denilson Aguila

Signing date: 12/6/2023

Quick stats: Age – 17, Height – 5′ 11″, Weight – 165, Switch Hitter

RHP Joshue De La Cruz

Signing date: 12/5/2023

Quick stats: Age – 18, Height – 6′ 2″, Weight – 193

RHP Eligio Arias

Signing date: 12/2/2023

Quick stats: Age – 20, Height – 6′ 7″, Weight – 230

RHP Hanfermin Vargas

Signing date: 12/2/2023

Quick stats: Age – 19, Height – 6′ 3″, Weight – 158

Rule 5 Selections

See Article: MLB Rule 5 Draft Results: Phillies Add Five Players In MLB Rule 5 Draft Minor League Portion

Minor League Departures

SS Alexeis Azuaje

Reason: Passed Away

RHP Carlos Betancourt

Reason: Selected in Rule 5 Draft (Astros)

RHP Blake Brown

Reason: Selected in Rule 5 Draft (Rays)

LHP Keylan Killgore

Reason: Selected in Rule 5 Draft (Royals)

LHP Rafael Marcano

Reason: Selected in Rule 5 Draft (Twins)

SS Kilwer Colmenares

Reason: Released

C Vito Friscia

Reason: Released

RHP Jace Vines

Reason: Released

LHP Josh Hendrickson

Reason: Released

SS Madison Stokes

Reason: Released

3B Drew Ellis

Reason: Elected Free Agency

LHP Jhordany Mezquita

Reason: Elected Free Agency

OF Dustin Peterson

Reason: Elected Free Agency

LHP Damon Jones

Reason: Elected Free Agency

RHP Hector Perez

Reason: Elected Free Agency

LHP Michael Plassmeyer

Reason: Elected Free Agency

LHP Ben Bowden

Reason: Elected Free Agency

RHP Shaun Anderson

Reason: Elected Free Agency

RHP Hans Crouse

Reason: Elected Free Agency

3B Jim Haley

Reason: Elected Free Agency

LHP Jakob Hernandez

Reason: Elected Free Agency

OF Brewer Hicklen

Reason: Elected Free Agency

RHP Erich Uelmen

Reason: Elected Free Agency

3B Will Toffey

Reason: Elected Free Agency

RHP Drew Hutchison

Reason: Elected Free Agency

RHP Jeremy Walker

Reason: Elected Free Agency

SS Robbie Glendinning

Reason: Elected Free Agency