After a rough-and-tumble year in Philadelphia back in 2023-2024, the Philadelphia Phillies will need to prepare possibly to see a familiar face in Queens next season, if all goes well for him. It was announced on Monday that former Phillies outfielder Cristian Pache and the New York Mets have agreed to a minor league deal with a non-roster invite to spring training.
Pache will be one team away from divisional bingo this year in this contract with the Mets. He only needs to play with the Washington Nationals organization before he can say he's played with every club in the NL East.
After starting his career in Atlanta, he was traded to Oakland, then to Philadelphia in 2023, and then to the Baltimore Orioles in the 2024 Austin Hays trade. However, his time in Baltimore was cut short when he was designated for assignment and quickly picked up off waivers by the Miami Marlins. Pache didn't stop there, though.
New York Mets taking a low-risk chance on former Phillies outfielder Cristian Pache
After his three-team 2024 season, Pache was signed to a minor league deal by the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2025 and played for their Triple-A affiliate. Now, in 2026, it seems yet another NL East team will be taking a chance on the now 27-year-old.
When the Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski acquired Pache, it felt as though he would be somewhat like what they're thinking Justin Crawford will be in 2026; however, the two could not be more polarizingly opposite.
In the one and a half seasons he spent with Philadelphia, he started strong, definitely being a sight for sore eyes in center, with highlight-reel plays being made nightly. Pache also hit .330 in his first 18 games. However, his high strikeout rate and low walk rate both began to rear their ugly heads, and they were too much for the Phillies' coaching staff to overcome.
HELLO CRISTIAN PACHE, WHAT A CATCH pic.twitter.com/uo0CGVILMo
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) June 17, 2023
Before being traded at the 2024 deadline, Pache was batting just .202 with the Phillies. He has proven to be a moderately successful Triple-A player, but even at that level, he wasn't able to produce consistently for the Phillies, so it made sense to let him go, as Baltimore also quickly learned.
Will this be a good decision for the Mets? Who's to say?
Will it be nice to see Pache's platinum, curly locks patrolling an outfield in the NL East again if he gets the call back to the majors? Absolutely, as long as he continues to swing the bat as he did for the majority of his tenure with the Phillies.