The Philadelphia Phillies are a rebuilding team that has a habit of picking up flippable veterans during the offseason. The latest vet that they have been linked to is Angel Pagan.
According to Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports, the Philadelphia Phillies are showing interest in free agent outfielder Angel Pagan, and for the life of me I can’t figure out why. It’s true that the Phils have a habit of signing veterans that could be moved at the deadline, which is a smart approach to the offseason when you’re in full rebuild, but they have tended to focus on relievers, which tend to be more valuable at the end of July. Angel Pagan is a 35-year-old outfielder with declining skills in the field that has had an average bat over the past three seasons, holding a 98 wRC+ on average.
With opening day just over a week away, it’s not like other teams haven’t had their chance to sign Pagan themselves. After sitting on the market for so long, he’s not likely to be demanding a large contract, either. This just points to his trade value not being terribly high unless he has a ridiculous first half.
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The other problem here is that adding Pagan would limit some of the Phillies’ young outfielders, of which they have plenty. Odubel Herrera is locked up and will be in the starting lineup on a consistent basis. They also have Michael Saunders, Howie Kendrick, Aaron Altherr, Roman Quinn and Tyler Goeddell as options with big league experience while Nick Williams could come knocking before long. The outfield is crowded as is, and while Philadelphia is entrenched in their rebuild, they should be finding out which pieces they can rely on in the future, not adding a veteran that will take away playing time from the youngsters.
In terms of trade value, the watered down version (and another current free agent) of Pagan, Coco Crisp, was traded this past season from Oakland to Cleveland for Colt Hynes, whom Athletics Nation had this to say: “Getting traded for Coco Crisp will probably go down as the highlight of his career,” which is to say that the A’s didn’t get much in a 31-year-old lefty stuck in the minors. The Phillies would get more for Pagan, but not by a whole heck of a lot.
The only way this potential signing would make sense would be if the Phillies saw an opening in the National League and were deciding to make a playoff push way ahead of schedule. But why would they do this? To sell. Sell tickets, sell excitement, and most importantly sell the future of their team to upcoming free agents. Bryce Harper and Manny Machado will be headlining the free agent class after the 2018 season, and getting some positive press in the two years leading up to that time could be what they’re going for.
At least that’s the only way that I can make sense of why the Phillies would make an investment, no matter how minimal, in a 35-year-old outfielder with an injury history to the depth they currently have.