The Phillies introduced Friday that they’ve launched veteran infielder/outfielder Whit Merrifield and recalled fellow infielder/outfielder Weston Wilson from Triple-A Lehigh Valley.
Merrifield signed a one-year, $8MM contract with the Phillies in free company this previous offseason. That assure got here within the type of a $7MM wage for the present season and at the least a $1MM buyout on an $8MM membership choice for the 2025 marketing campaign.
Merrifield, who has struggled to a .199/.277/.295 batting line in 174 plate appearances this season, remains to be owed about $3.01MM of his wage plus that $1MM buyout. He’ll now be capable of signal with any group, and a brand new membership would solely owe him the prorated league minimal for any time spent on the MLB roster or injured listing. That quantity can be subtracted from what the Phillies owe, however Philadelphia will stay on the hook for almost all of his remaining contract.
Whereas issues with the Phillies clearly didn’t pan out, the 35-year-old Merrifield was a good hitter as just lately as final season in Toronto, when he turned in a .272/.318/.382 slash with 11 homers, 28 doubles, a triple, 26 steals, a 6.1% stroll price and a 17.1% strikeout price. His offense has tailed off since his peak seasons (age-29 and 30) when he led the American League in hits in consecutive seasons as a member of the Royals, however this degree of decline was as surprising because it was precipitous.
To his credit score, Merrifield’s contact expertise stay wonderful. He’s fanned in solely 10.9% of his plate appearances, and this 12 months’s 8.6% stroll price really ties a career-high mark for the three-time All-Star. He hasn’t hit the ball with any authority, nonetheless, handing over a bottom-of-the-barrel 83 mph common exit velocity and 17.4% hard-hit price. Merrifield entered the 2024 season with a gaudy 24.8% line-drive price in his profession however has hit simply 16.8% of his batted balls on a line this season.
The late-blooming Merrifield didn’t even attain the majors till his age-27 season in Kansas Metropolis, however he nearly immediately turned not only a fixture on the Royals’ roster however one of the crucial prolific hitters and base thieves within the league. From 2016-20, Merrifield batted .295/.342/.445 with 58 homers and 119 stolen bases. Along with main the majors in hits in 2018 and 2019, he additionally paced the American League in stolen bases in 2017, 2018 and 2021.
Between that observe file, the now minimal price ticket and his defensive versatility — he can play second base, third base and throughout the outfield — Merrifield ought to discover a new alternative earlier than lengthy. Grim as his 2024 manufacturing (or lack thereof) has been, there are a number of groups across the league searching for a veteran righty bat and/or assist at second base/left area.
The Yankees, Pink Sox and Mariners are among the many present postseason contenders who’ve acquired negligible manufacturing from second base this 12 months and will speculate on Merrifield turning issues round with a change of surroundings. (WEEI’s Rob Bradford tweets that Boston didn’t have curiosity in Merrifield this offseason, however circumstances change.) And, Merrifield’s former Kansas Metropolis membership has been on the hunt for a bat that may play each the infield and outfield, as famous final month by normal supervisor J.J. Picollo himself.
