Former top prospect Kingery traded to Angels for cash

PHILADELPHIA -- If Scott Kingery’s career had followed the trajectory everybody envisioned, the Phillies might have exercised the second of three consecutive club options that could have kept him in Philadelphia through 2026.

Instead, they traded him to the Angels for cash considerations on Friday.

The deal ended Kingery’s tenure with the Phillies early, after he signed a six-year, $24 million contract extension following a dynamic 2018 Spring Training. At the time, Kingery was one of baseball’s top prospects and just the second drafted player in baseball history to sign a multiyear contract before he spent a day in the big leagues. But in 325 games over parts of five seasons with the Phillies, Kingery batted .228 with a .667 OPS while producing a 0.5 WAR, according to Baseball Reference.

Kingery, 30, battled injuries and other unfavorable events along the way. He made significant swing changes. Many still believe that the Phillies’ decision to bounce him around to six different positions as a rookie stunted his development. Former Phillies manager Gabe Kapler once pinch-hit for Kingery in the second inning of a game on Sept. 15, 2018, before Kingery even batted, which was not received well in the clubhouse.

Kingery was optioned to Triple-A Lehigh Valley in the spring of 2021. He took his last at-bat for the Phillies on May 16 of that year. Then he played his final game on June 8, 2022, when he entered the game in the ninth inning as a defensive replacement.

Kingery had not been on the 40-man roster since June 2022, when he was outrighted to Triple-A. Last November, the Phillies exercised a $1 million buyout on a $13 million club option for 2024. He did not have enough Minor League service time to become a free agent, so he remained with the organization.

He was upbeat about his future when he spoke this spring.

“It’s just, ‘Go out there and play baseball,’ taking it to a point where it can be as simple as possible,” Kingery said in February in Clearwater, Fla. “Just go out and show that I can play some good baseball. I guess there’s not as much pressure anymore. It’s just really good to get back out here with these guys and take the approach of, ‘Show 'em what you can do.’”

Kingery batted .268 with 25 home runs, 67 RBIs and an .804 OPS in 125 games with Lehigh Valley this season, but the Phillies never promoted him. Instead, they chose other utility players like Kody Clemens, Weston Wilson and Buddy Kennedy.

Now, Kingery gets a fresh start in Anaheim.