Óscar Mercado DVOA, Advanced Stats, & Fantasy Rankings

The Philadelphia Phillies announced on Friday that outfielder Oscar Mercado and infielder Christian Arroyo will be in major-league spring training camp as non-roster invites. Mercado didn't appear at all in the major leagues last year and hit .222/.308/.405 with a .713 OPS, 12 home runs, 50 RBI, 16 stolen bases and 51 runs scored in 93 total games at Triple-A El Paso (San Diego Padres) and Triple-A Toledo (Detroit Tigers). The 30-year-old Colombian outfielder was a second-round selection by the St. Louis Cardinals back in 2013 and hit a career-high 15 home runs, drove in 54 runs and stole 15 bases in his rookie season in 2019 with the Cleveland Guardians. However, Mercado was never able to approach those numbers again over the next four years and has posted a .596 OPS since. He will most likely begin the 2025 campaign at Triple-A Lehigh Valley.

The San Diego Padres signed free-agent outfielder Oscar Mercado to a minor-league deal. Mercado will report to spring training in 2024 hoping to impress the coaching staff and earn a reserve outfield role on the Opening Day roster. The 29-year-old Colombian played in only 20 games at the major-league level in 2023 with the St. Louis Cardinals, going 9-for-31 (.290) with no homers, five RBI and two stolen bases. He was solid on the farm with three different the Triple-A organizations of the Cardinals, Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers, too, and will have a legitimate shot at earning a bench role in San Diego given their lack of outfield depth at the moment. In his five seasons in the big leagues since debuting in 2019 with the Cleveland Guardians, Mercado has slashed .237/.289/.388 with 26 home runs, 100 RBI and 29 stolen bases in 298 career games.