Like every winter, clubs stockpile minor-league deals. As the offseason drags on and free agents remain unsigned, those opportunities tend to become more creative.<\/p>\n
Friday night brought one of those.<\/p>\n
The Phillies agreed to a minor-league deal with free-agent utility man\u00a0Dylan Moore, according to Will Sammon of\u00a0The Athletic<\/a>. This contract stands apart from many of Philadelphia\u2019s recent minor-league signings<\/a>.<\/p>\n Per Sammon, Moore can earn\u00a0up to $3.25 million\u00a0through plate-appearance and active-roster bonuses.<\/p>\n Moore, 33, is a legitimate big leaguer with a track record across the diamond. While with Seattle in 2024, he earned\u00a0Gold Glove honors\u00a0for his work as a utility player.<\/p>\n Across his career \u2014 seven seasons with the Mariners before his release and a stint with Texas last year \u2014 Moore has played every defensive position except catcher. Most of his innings have come at\u00a0second base and left field.<\/p>\n Offensively, Moore owns a\u00a0career .693 OPS\u00a0and is coming off a down season in which he slashed\u00a0.201\/.267\/.374. Still, his value has consistently shown up against left-handed pitching. <\/p>\n Moore carries a\u00a0career .400 slugging percentage and .727 OPS\u00a0versus southpaws and has posted an OPS of\u00a0.750 or higher in five of his seven seasons.<\/p>\n At his peak, Moore paired that platoon value with strong quality-of-contact metrics, posting\u00a0barrel rates around 17 percentand\u00a0hard-hit rates in the mid-40s. While those numbers have dipped in recent seasons, his approach has quietly improved. <\/p>\n Over the past two years, Moore has been among the league\u2019s most disciplined hitters. For reference, in 2024 he ranked in the\u00a099th percentile in chase rate (17.7%)\u00a0and the\u00a094th percentile in walk rate (12%).<\/p>\n The Phillies are well aware of that profile \u2014 and what it could still offer.<\/p>\n So where does he fit?<\/p>\n Moore will first need to make the club out of spring training. If not, a potential opt-out clause in his deal could give him the opportunity to go elsewhere. Those details remain to be seen.<\/p>\n If he performs well in camp, the signing creates flexibility. Edmundo Sosa has filled the utility role in recent seasons and continues to hit left-handed pitching well. In 2025, Sosa slashed\u00a0.318\/.362\/.533\u00a0against lefties. Given his defensive reliability at second base, Sosa could also factor into a platoon with\u00a0Bryson Stott, who has struggled in those matchups.<\/p>\n Moore\u2019s differentiator is outfield experience. He has appeared in\u00a0more than 250 career games across the corner outfield spots. Sosa, by comparison, has\u00a0one career outfield start.<\/p>\n While it initially appeared Rob Thomson might deploy a left-field platoon of Brandon Marsh and Otto Kemp, Moore\u2019s presence introduces competition,\u00a0especially for Kemp, both in camp and potentially on the roster.<\/p>\n D-Rob officially hangs up the spikes<\/p>\n David Robertson\u2019s relationship with Philadelphia spanned three separate stints. On Friday, the 40-year-old made it official, announcing his retirement<\/a>.<\/p>\n Robertson pitched\u00a017 seasons\u00a0in the Majors with the Yankees, White Sox, Rays, Cubs, Mets, Marlins, Rangers and Phillies. Across\u00a0881 career appearances, he posted a\u00a02.93 ERA.<\/p>\n With Philadelphia \u2014 in parts of\u00a02019, 2022 and 2024\u00a0\u2014 Robertson logged a\u00a03.59 ERA. His most memorable stretch came during the Phillies\u2019 2022 National League championship run, when he made\u00a0eight postseason appearances, including\u00a0four scoreless outings in the World Series, earning the save in Game 1 in Houston.<\/p>\n The Phillies signed Robertson for a third time at the end of last July. He made\u00a020 appearances\u00a0before closing out his career.<\/p>\n Pitchers, catchers \u2014 and the WBC<\/p>\n February has arrived, and baseball is close. Phillies pitchers and catchers report to Clearwater on\u00a0Feb. 11. Five days later, position players join for the first full-squad workout. Spring Training games begin\u00a0Feb. 16\u00a0in Dunedin against the Blue Jays.<\/p>\n Philadelphia will play\u00a032 Grapefruit League games, including two Spring Breakout contests and one split-squad game day.<\/p>\n When camp opens \u2014 and into mid-March \u2014\u00a0nine Phillies\u00a0will also be away participating in the World Baseball Classic:<\/p>\n Brad Keller \u2014 USA<\/p>\n Bryce Harper \u2014 USA<\/p>\n Kyle Schwarber \u2014 USA<\/p>\n Cristopher S\u00e1nchez \u2014 Dominican Republic<\/p>\n Johan Rojas \u2014 Dominican Republic<\/p>\n Aaron Nola \u2014 Italy<\/p>\n Edmundo Sosa \u2014 Panama<\/p>\n Taijuan Walker \u2014 Mexico<\/p>\n Alan Rangel \u2014 Mexico<\/p>\n Seven of those players project as Opening Day roster locks. While representing one\u2019s country is an honor, the injury risk remains real. A recent piece in\u00a0The Athletic<\/a>\u00a0outlined how teams attempt to protect against that risk.<\/p>\n Insurance has become a bigger factor in the WBC since Jos\u00e9 Altuve and Edwin D\u00edaz were hurt in 2023. Team Puerto Rico officials said this weekend eight to 10 players were initially denied coverage, including Francisco Lindor, as insurers have tightened standards and costs have risen heading into this spring.<\/p>\n The priority is protecting the clubs. The WBC policy is designed to reimburse a team for a player\u2019s guaranteed salary if he gets hurt during the tournament and misses time afterward. Players typically go through entrance and exit physicals so injuries can be traced to the event instead of something preexisting. <\/p>\n Underwriting can also get stricter for players with recent surgeries or extended injured-list history, which is why some names get flagged late in the process. If a player isn\u2019t approved, his MLB team can still clear him to play, but the club is taking on more financial risk.<\/p>\n Whether that impacts the Phillies remains to be seen, but it\u2019s another layer they\u2019ll be monitoring as camp opens.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t