The Phillies have signed Logan Morrison to a minor league deal, NBC Sports Philadelphia's Jim Salisbury confirmed Saturday.
The New York Post's Joel Sherman first reported the signing.
Morrison, who opted out of his minor league deal with the Yankees, hit .289 with 15 home runs and 37 RBIs in 43 games for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre this season. The 31-year-old first baseman has slashed .239/.325/.427 and hit 137 home runs in nine major-league seasons with four teams. He appeared in 95 games for the Minnesota Twins in 2018, batting .186 with 15 homers.
The Phillies haven't gotten much from their bench this year. As a team, they're 24 for 141 (.170) with five home runs in pinch-hitting appearances. Though Morrison doesn't have much of a pinch-hitting track record — he's 11 for 61 (.180) for his career and has four pinch-hit homers — perhaps he could end up being a power bat off the bench. As a minor league signing, it seems to be a low-risk move regardless.
More significant transactions are likely to come for the Phillies before Major League Baseball's July 31 trade deadline, though team president Andy MacPhail said Friday that he does not believe the club is close enough to World Series contention to justify blowing up the farm system (see story). The Phillies currently sit at 47-44 and in third place in the National League East.
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