All Phillies fans were impatiently clamoring for the team to make a move and here it is. The Phillies have claimed infielder Diego Castillo off waivers from the Yankees.
Castillo spent nearly his entire season in Triple-A for the Diamondbacks. He is entering his age 26 season. To his credit, he slashed .313/.431/.410 in 124 games, walking 97 times. He’s played 97 games in the majors thus far in his career. He has a .630 OPS in those 97 games with 11 homers. For the most part, he’s been a light hitter in the minors with a career .719 in 716 games.
He’s flexible defensively, playing every infield position outside of 1B and the corner outfield spots. He saw action at 2B, SS, 3B, and LF in 2023. His weakest position was 2B with a .962 fielding position.
While it isn’t the stupid money splash we’ve come to suspect, it does fill the Phillies’ 40-man roster. That might be more of the story.
Phillies Off-Season Moves
The Phils have spent most of the offseason with 2 open spots on the 40-man roster. The first was filled by Kolby Allard and the 2nd went to Castillo.
It feels like this could be it (outside of minor league deals) the way management has portrayed things this offseason. Dave Dombrowski, in particular, has seemed pleased with running the same team back for 2024. Fair, considering the Phillies have made it to the NLCS the past 2 seasons and are a hair under the 2nd luxury tax threshold.
Does this prohibit the Phillies from making any further moves? No. There are a few names on the Phillies’ 40-man roster that they could move on from without losing sleep. Besides Allard and Castillo, Michael Mercado and McKinely Moore are equally cuttable.
Perhaps the Phillies will wait until the trade deadline to make meaningful moves for a possible 2024 postseason berth.
Photo Credit: (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)
