The Phillies have agreed to a minor league deal with outfielder David Dahl, according to the New York Post’s Joel Sherman (via X). The contract will become official when Dahl passes a physical.
Dahl didn’t see any big league action during the 2022 season, but he returned for a cup of coffee in the form of four games with the Padres at the start of the 2023 campaign. A quad strain then sidelined Dahl for the better part of two months, and after San Diego released him in June, Dahl didn’t get another MLB call-up after signing another minors deal with the Dodgers.
The outfielder will now look for another fresh start in Philly, in what has become something of a journeyman career for the former top prospect. Dahl was selected by the Rockies with the 10th overall pick of the 2012 draft, but his career has been marked by injuries, most notably a lacerated spleen suffered during an on-field collision while playing in the minors in 2015. Debuting in the majors in 2016, Dahl hit .297/.346/.521 over 921 plate appearances with Colorado from 2016-19, and was named to the 2019 NL All-Star roster.
Dahl’s performance dropped off badly in 2020, to the point that the Rockies (surprisingly, at the time) non-tendered him that offseason. Dahl signed with the Rangers but couldn’t regain his form, hitting .210/.247/.322 over 220 PA for Texas before being released in August 2021. The Phillies are now the fifth team Dahl has joined on a minor league contract since he was cut loose by Texas.
Brandon Marsh underwent arthroscopic knee surgery last week and won’t get into any Spring Training games until early March, though the Phillies believe Marsh will be ready to go for Opening Day. President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski didn’t think his team would look for outfield help in the wake of Marsh’s surgery, though between Dahl and yesterday’s deal with Whit Merrifield, the Phils have now signed two outfield-capable players in as many days.
Of course, this doesn’t necessarily indicate any concern over Marsh’s timeline, since Merrifield can also play second base and Dahl’s deal isn’t even guaranteed. Dahl (like Marsh) is a left-handed hitter, so Philadelphia has a number of other lefty-swinging outfield candidates on the depth chart in Jake Cave, Simon Muzziotti, and Cal Stevenson.
Last 3 signings telling me Phillies going for it this year. Turnbull, Whitfield, Dahl….GET SOME
Merrifield…… however maybe he won’t be so merry in the outfield.
I’m all for Bryson Stott being an everyday player. I would hit him leadoff too, with Schwarber in the #5 hole. With Fried and Sale in the division, it’s nice to be able to slot Merrifield in at 2B against tougher LHP though. Don’t think Whit is going to be an everyday player, but I can see him getting into about 100 games with about 350-400 PA’s. Schwarber and Castellanos run the bases like tree trunks. Can see Topper using Merrifield as a pinch runner for either of them late in tight games, staying in the game for defense. This deal also eliminates the possibility of Schwarber playing the OF.
I might add, if the “Dom” is your GM, your team is most likely “going for it”, since Dombrowski has taken at least 4 different teams to the World Series, winning twice. You certainly don’t bring in the HOF-bound “Dom” if you are not “going for it”.
Whitfield, forever Giant.
Remember when Dahl was an All-star? That was fun.
The Phillies are collecting lottery tickets
Think we need a RH compliment to Bryce at 1B. Maybe against LHP, Schwarber gets an occasional day off so Bryce can get off his feet and DH. Trey Mancini, Wil Myers, Darren Ruf make sense on a MiL deal. Or they could play Weston Wilson at 1B down in Lehigh and see how he adapts to the position. That may be his best opportunity to contribute to the big league club this year. There are some power starved teams around MLB, I’m surprised the Phillies didn’t try to swing a trade with Milwaukee or Cleveland. Darrick Hall, Ethan Wilson, Muzziotti, Eduardo Tait, Griff McGarry, Samuel Aldegheri for Devin Williams or Emmanuel Clase. A package of of 6 top 20 prospects should do it, no?
I just googled it to confirm, but Mancini is in the Marlin Org now
Merrifield can play 1B I’ve heard.
I like David Dahl’s ticket a lot better than Whit Merrifield for $8 million.
There’s a real chance Merrifield is DFA’d this year.
No, he won’t be. He’s versatile and has speed and maybe he won’t play as much if he doesn’t produce, but they’re not going to DFA him this year. He’s going to have a decent year with 250 at Batz.
Good depth move. I was wondering if he would get signed again.
Can’t ever disagree with signing a former top prospect and Allstar. If he’s healthy he’ll provide some thump to that Lehigh Valley lineup. There’s still some fringe players out there that the Phillies should consider adding: James Kaprielian, Danny Duffy, Justus Sheffield, Joe Barlow, Kyle Funkhouser, Wil Myers, Alberto Mondesi will all contribute to a big league club this year.
I’d rather have Marty Funkhkuser. He’s good, pretty,pretty,pretty good.
R.I.P. Bob Einstein, aka Marty Funkhouser.
I think his name is Aldaberto not Alberto
Barlow and Duffy both signed elsewhere already.
Can’t be worse than Jake Cave
Give mondesi or myers
C’mon Jake Cave deserves more pa’s, this signing has to have some “writing on the wall” stuff for him.
Ok snarky out of the way.
Cave needs to be dfa’d. He’s got his 1mil guaranteed and his skillset will get him an MLB gig, just not for a WS contending team.
He’s seen 6 straight years of MLB action the last four w/ similar #’s. Am tired of hearing, but he’s a LH bat off the bench? Exactly how many times a season do teams actually PH anymore? And is he really a guy to make the other manager go “uh oh”
And no he never dated any of my sisters OR ran over my dog. Just tying to as DD puts it “improve around the edges”
Hey, you could do worse than having Luke Cage in your dugout.
Not for nothing, Jake Cave made the catch of the year in 2023 at CBP against the O’s. May have been off the bat of Adley
It was his moment he can tell his children and grandchildren about. Dahl us about to take his job. It’s part of baseball.
Great depth signing! Smart move by DD. Now, let’s get Montgomery or Snell!