Phillies: Playing the southpaw starters’ sweepstakes

Vacancies:

If trading doesn’t pan out, the Phils will still have the opportunity to sign an expensive –but relatively young– free agent. To illustrate, Corbin went 11-7 with a 3.15 ERA in ’18, and those numbers have him atop the starter’s market. Translation: One national site’s forecast is $129 million for six campaigns.

In his arsenal, Corbin features mostly a slider and sinker combination, but he also has a four-seam fastball and a curveball. So, was ’18 a career year or a breakout 162? Well, one franchise will be willing to pay for the privilege to find out, although six seasons will probably be too many for the Phillies.

For the ‘Stros, Keuchel went 12-11 with a 3.74 ERA in 2018. And the estimate for the southpaw is $82 million for four summers, but Klentak probably won’t go beyond a three-year commitment. However, the GM could offer three campaigns with a higher AAV (average annual value).

In his repertoire, Keuchel mostly relies on his sinker, but he also twirls a slider, cutter, changeup and four-seamer. But while Corbin is drawing the most attention, the former Astro may be less of a risk. At least, he’s had a handful of decent 162s as a track record.

To sum up, Klentak could miss on one left-hander but pick up another. Of course, he has enough young talent besides Scott Kingery and Sixto Sanchez to acquire Paxton or Ray. But if he swings a deal, which hurler should he trade for? Paxton.