Former Rays middle infielder joins Phillies on minor league deal

Christian Arroyo: there's a name that hasn't been uttered by Rays fans in a while.

He recently signed a minor league deal with the Philadelphia Phillies to try to compete for a backup infielder role on their major league squad, which is high on star power, but perhaps a bit low on depth.

Arroyo spent his 2024 in the minor league system of the Milwaukee Brewers, playing 30 games at the AAA level and 7 in their complex league.

He hasn't enjoyed the success that teams forcasted when he was drafted in the first round of the 2013 MLB Draft out of Hernando High School by the San Francisco Giants, then dealt to his hometown team for face of the franchise, Evan Longoria.

His status is a fringe depth guy, and it'll likely stay that way, barring any major change in production this season.

During his time with the Brewers' farm system, he only managed a 73 wRC+ in Triple-A with quality of contact numbers that weren't great.

His best season as a major leaguer came in 2021 with the Red Sox, where he managed 0.7 WAR on the strength of a 105 wRC+ and a 1 OAA mark at second base, a position he's mostly played after his stints at third didn't go so well.

Unfortunately for Arroyo, his last stint in the majors was a 2023 campaign with the Red Sox that ended with a .241/.268/.369 slash line and a -0.3 WAR in 66 games. His lack of lineup presence came from some shoddy defense at second.

The hope for Arroyo is that he's able to return to his 2021-2022 form, where he at least notched above-replacement-level production and seemed to put some things together with his bat-to-ball ability, sporting solid contact and strikeout rates.

Luckily for the Phillies, they likely won't have to rely too heavily on Arroyo, as they've still got a talented starter in Bryson Stott and serviceable (if not great) backups in Edmundo Sosa and Weston Wilson.

Arroyo provides them with a low-risk option to get some playing time in their minor league system in case of injury or underperformance from their other depth options.