The Phillies reached agreement with utilityman Dylan Moore on a minor league contract, reports Will Sammon of The Athletic. The Klutch Sports client receives a non-roster invitation to MLB camp.
Moore is a veteran of seven big league seasons. He’d spent his entire MLB career with the Mariners until they released him last August. Moore signed a minor league deal with the Rangers and was quickly called up after Corey Seager needed an appendectomy. Moore spent the final month of the season on the MLB roster and appeared in 18 games as a Ranger.
That was a homecoming for the Central Florida product, who began his professional career as a seventh-round pick by the Rangers in 2015. Texas traded him to the Braves before he made it out of A-ball. Moore bounced around the minors before establishing himself in Seattle upon signing there as a minor league free agent.
A right-handed hitter, Moore has done the majority of his damage against left-handed pitching in his career. A .216 batting average against southpaws isn’t going to turn many heads, but he has walked at a 12% rate and has 28 homers in 819 career plate appearances with the platoon advantage. Moore didn’t produce against pitchers of either handedness last season, yet he was a decent role player for the majority of his time in the Pacific Northwest.
His offensive approach skews heavily toward the three true outcomes, particularly strikeouts and walks. Moore has a trio of double digit home run seasons and has stolen at least 11 bases in all but one year of his career. He’s not a burner but has generally done well to take extra bases when opportunities present themselves.
Moore will vie for a multi-positional role off Rob Thomson’s bench. He has experience everywhere on the diamond except catcher. He shouldn’t play much shortstop or center field but rates as a solid or better defender anywhere else. Edmundo Sosa will be the top utility infielder, while Otto Kemp has a similar defensive skillset to Moore and also hits right-handed. Depth outfielders Johan Rojas and Pedro León, plus non-roster invitee Bryan De La Cruz, also bat from that side. The Phils will have a lot of competition for potential platoon partners for Brandon Marsh and prospect Justin Crawford, who’ll go into camp with a good chance to win the center field job.
I really hope DMo can find his way onto the roster in Philly. He plays everywhere except catcher and has some serious pop!
Just don’t look at his 2025 numbers lol I’m pretty sure he went 3 straight months without a hit (tho he played sparingly as a short side platoon in ‘25)
Fire Amaro!
Thank you Dave for keeping him away from my Red Sox!
Why would Boston have any interest in this guy? A Hamilton/Romy combo is pretty bad, but even that would be preferable to Moore.
Rumors had it they were looking at Moore. I like Romy’s bat and Sogard to me is better than Moore. With Eaton’s game including his speed, I’m anticipating Hamilton being traded or released before opening day assuming no injuries.
LOL, I am a sox fan living in Seattle and I thought the same thing. This guy was horrific last year and was having one of the worst years that I can remember for a player in Seattle.
Dombroski trying to sign every below average player to ever play
Not sure a guy a year away from a GG is a below avg player. He struggled last year but was pretty good before that. No he wasn’t a superstar but was good in his role.
Perry Minasian & Arte Moreno would like a word…
Not sure why everyone is complaining, it’s a minor league deal and none roster invitation meaning if he sucks it won’t affect anything
@jordo – Every depth signing ends up with the same folks kvetching and moaning about the front office. In fact, the reality here is that someone such as Moore is a good get on a minor league deal. He won’t sniff the roster unless there are injuries, or other things that go wrong. But as a security blanket, he is a smart move.
Frankly, DD & Co. have done a better job than usual recalibrating the bottom part of the 40-man roster and below this offseason. They have some higher upside and potential than they had heading into the offseason, and it was clearly a part of their plan as they only had 32 spots taken on the 40 man just after the season. With a little luck, one or two of the depth moves will pay off in some major league impact this year and beyond.
Born in Yorba Linda. Just A Trout HR away from Angel Stadium
Guy hasn’t hit in three years. Another waste of time DD move.
WT actual F! I missed that he signed a major league deal.
Stick to fantasy baseball. He may be worth a temporary roster spot on your team at some point
Love DMO, Wish him the best. Don’t know if I have witnessed a slump like he had last year. So sad to watch. Plays hard. Great glove. Won a Utility Gold Glove in 2024 and when right at the plate, the ball can really jump off of his bat. Hope he can return to form. He helped the M’s when he was going well.
DMo is a great pickup for any organization.
Time to see if he has any Moore left in his tank.
People are complaining about this guy? He has both a bit of pop and speed and can play everywhere. I would have loved him for the Yanks.
Oh Yippee!!
Elite glove at 6 positions, won GG in 2024. Still league average or better vs. LHP.
Chill out on the Tigers Anthony. They have a way better current team and future foundation / farm system than the rest of the central teams. I think they will win the Arbitration case against Skubal and use that saved money on adding another SP (Giolitto or Bassitt or JV or Max ) and a right handed bat …. I’m glad they didnt sign anyone like Bregman, Bichette, etc., to a long term contract, knowing in a year or two they will be both be on the downside of there careers ….
Unless something unexpected happens they don’t have room for another right handed hitter on the bench. They need a left-handed because Otto Kemp is going to platoon with marsh. You have Edmundo Sosa who’s not going anywhere. They’re backup catcher whoever that is which leaves one spot and no lefties. I do not believe they go into the season without a lefty on the bench.