As rumors fly about the Philadelphia Phillies’ pursuit of longtime Toronto Blue Jays star Bo Bichette, it’s worth noting that they already signed a shortstop recently.
Granted, Bichette probably won’t play shortstop moving forward, and the Phillies already have three-time All-Star Trea Turner at the position even if Bichette doesn’t come to town. This signing was about creating depth at the Triple-A level, and potentially providing some injury insurance.
According to the transactions log on his official roster page, 24-year-old free-agent infielder Christian Cairo signed with the Phillies on Dec. 19. That signing was not reflected on the log for at least two weeks thereafter.
Cairo spent the past season in Triple-A with the Cleveland Guardians organization. Cleveland drafted him in the fourth round in 2019, and he’s played every game of his minor-league career with that organization to this point, but he was briefly sidetracked last offseason when he spent spring training with the Atlanta Braves, due to his selection in the Rule 5 Draft.
Though he’s never been prolific at the plate, posting a .672 OPS in 469 minor-league games, Cairo has slowly and methodically climbed the ladder, and with a season and a half of Triple-A experience to his name at this point, one would think he’d be ready to jump in at the big-league level if called upon.
Cairo is also the son of longtime major league catcher Miguel Cairo, who played just shy of 1,500 games in the big leagues, including 27 with the Phillies in 2009.
It’s possible casual Phillies fans won’t hear Cairo’s name once all year, but as questions of roster construction float around and Phillies fans dream of a Bichette signing, it’s good to remember that even the seemingly small moves during an offseason can matter if the dominoes fall a certain way.
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