Assistant Director of Player Development Edwin Soto Talks Reading Prospects, Trade Deadline

(Reading, PA) — July is often regarded as one of the most important months on the Minor League Baseball calendar. With the All-Star Futures Game on July 12, the MLB Draft on July 13-14 and the trade deadline on July 31, the future of the Phillies’ organization will be severely impacted before August rolls around.

The flurry of events makes members of the front office and development system even more important. Key contributors like Assistant Director of Player Development Edwin Soto perform at their peak.

The Fightin Phils media team spoke with Soto to discuss the development of prospects in Reading, his journey to the Phillies’ organization and the ensuing trade deadline:

Soto’s story

Like most growing up in the Dominican Republic, Soto grew up chasing a career in Major League Baseball. Out of the DR, he was offered a scholarship to complete high school and then college baseball in the U.S. Soto took the chance, thinking he could possibly gain an opportunity through a traditional American prospect’s path. He thrived at Milligan College and then East Tennessee State University in the classroom, but the well ran dry for baseball, forcing him to pivot to staying in the game off the field.

Soto took a role with the Phillies in 2018 as the Administrator of Minor League Operations. He serves in the true behind-the-scenes of the operation, handling both domestic and international operations for anything from travel logistics and rental cars to accounting and human relations.

“One thing that I love about my job is that no day is the same,” Soto said. “Things that I do on June 19 of this year, I probably won't do June 19-ish of next year.”

Soto said in 2021, then-Farm Director and current General Manager, Preston Mattingly, took him under his wing early on. Mattingly helped Soto adjust to the “baseball side” of the front office in career development. He was promoted to Assistant General Manager, and Soto was moved to Assistant Farm Director.

Now, as Assistant Director of Player Development, Soto is helping shape the future of the Phillies’ organization.

Fightins’ prospects

As many highly-touted prospects make their way through Philadelphia’s organization, Miller is ranked as the top position player. He’s the No. 22 player according to MLB Pipeline and second overall behind just pitcher Andrew Painter. Soto said many in the organization adore Miller for his on-field skills, but also his off-field personality. The combination is one that Soto thinks can lead to sustained success in the present and the future.

“We're looking forward to continuing to help develop (Miller) and supporting his path to hopefully a long-time big leader,” Soto said.

Phillies’ No. 15 prospect Carson DeMartini is also an intriguing young player zooming through Philadelphia’s system. After being selected in the fourth round of the 2024 MLB Draft out of Virginia Tech, DeMartini appeared in only 77 games across Single-A Clearwater and High-A Jersey Shore before his promotion to Reading. Soto said DeMartini’s passion about the game, on both offense and defense, is making the Phillies’ organization want to challenge DeMartini more.

While Miller and DeMartini remain in Reading, first baseman Keaton Anthony was promoted to Triple-A Lehigh Valley after slashing a .330 batting average and .902 OPS. As the front office staff looks to hire another member, one of the questions on the application is to select one player outside the MLB Pipeline Top 30 that should be. As of about 300 applications, Soto said around 95% selected Anthony. Even with a .339 batting average on the year, Anthony’s gold glove can be overlooked in Soto’s eyes.

“The bat is so special that people forget about (the glove),” Soto said.

Trade deadline

With the trade deadline at the end of the month, and the draft during the All-Star break, Philadelphia must evaluate the talent currently in-house to see who it intends to keep for the future. Its state as a division-leading, pennant race team makes buying at the deadline more probable, which often means the need to send away prospects.

Soto knows these are tough decisions. As the Phillies looked to bolster their bullpen last season, they sent pitching prospects George Klassen and Samuel Aldegheri to the Los Angeles Angels for Carlos Estevez. The reliever was just a few-month rental, and now Klassen is headed for the All-Star Futures Game. Soto said that as players enter and others exit through the deadline and the draft, it’s important for him to keep the motto of “protecting the standard.”

“Twenty-something players coming in means usually 20-something players coming out. So, a lot of tough decisions to make, but also there's some guys that we're trying to do some player moves as well and continue shuffling guys around with some well-deserved promotions. Very excited to welcome a new era of Phillies players.”

The meetings this time of year often involve introducing systems and philosophies to all players, impacting young and hopeful prospects. Offseason projects also begin to be planned, Soto said. Which high-performance camps will players work in? Who will play winter ball? What about the Arizona Fall League?

“I always love this time of the year, because it reminds everybody how blessed we are to have the jobs that we have,” Soto said.

Soto is making his impact with the Phillies, throughout their minor league teams, and in Philadelphia at the Major League level. July is when his work matters most.