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The Phillies are bringing veteran outfielder Oscar Mercado, who spent the 2025 season with their Triple-A club, back on a new minor league deal, MLBTR has learned. Mercado was with the D-backs this spring but was released yesterday. He’s represented by Excel Sports Management.
Mercado had a solid season with the Phillies’ Triple-A club in Lehigh Valley last year, his age-30 campaign. In 115 games and 477 plate appearances, he slashed .249/.369/.373 with 11 homers, 40 steals and more walks (14.5%) than strikeouts (14.3%). After a .242/.265/.333 showing in 34 spring plate appearances with the D-backs, he’ll now re-up with the Phils and head back to Lehigh Valley to begin the season.
It’s only natural to see Philadelphia bring in some familiar outfield depth. They’re going with top prospect Justin Crawford in center field to begin the season. Touted as he is, the 22-year-old has never taken a major league plate appearance and hasn’t had an especially impactful spring, batting .250/.291/.346 in 55 turns at the plate. Johan Rojas, one fallback option for Crawford, will miss the first half of the season after receiving an 80-game PED suspension.
The Phillies had utilityman Dylan Moore in camp as a non-roster invitee and have since signed him to a major league deal. He has 105 career innings in center but has been more of a corner option when playing on the grass. Left fielder Brandon Marsh has plenty of center field experience but is considered a below-average defender there. Waiver claim Pedro León gives the Phillies another 40-man option in center field, though he has only 21 major league plate appearances and hit .241/.312/.422 in 22 Triple-A games last year. Injuries limited him to 25 games overall.
Mercado hasn’t played in the majors since 2023 and was never really able to follow up on a strong rookie showing in 2019, when he batted .269/.318/.443 with 15 homers and 15 steals in 115 games with Cleveland. In 491 MLB plate appearances since that time, he’s slashed .206/.262/.334. Mercado has a solid Triple-A track record though, and he’ll give the Phillies some speed and depth across all three outfield spots.
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