Phillies: Considering their real off-season needs now
By Rick Soisson
The Philadelphia Phillies have to completely revamp their bullpen if they are going to contend. Let’s look at some potential free agent options.
Among Philadelphia Phillies fans there is a mushy but growing concern that their declining team will not re-sign J.T. Realmuto, the current Michael Jordan of MLB catchers. This sentiment in print is sometimes attached by a hyperlink (or two) to an Oct. 3 article by Todd Zolecki, in which the Phillies Managing Partner, John Middleton, was said to “not sound optimistic” about re-signing the All-Star backstop.
No one really knows, though. Maybe the team is working up an offer that would allow Realmuto to declare himself the per annum-salary catchers’ all-time leader, but maybe for a shorter period than he’d ideally prefer. However, knowing Philadelphia sports, let’s assume the Fightin’ .500s won’t keep Realmuto. What is their next move since they’re surely planning to field a team next spring?
If you’re scratching your head, you really haven’t been paying attention to the Phillies. Their bullpen in 2020 was the worst defensive group in history since those Jin Dynasty guys who tried to stop Genghis Khan.
So, in the spirit of fix-your-first-problem-first, it says here that the bullpen is the Phillies’ first priority this winter – otherwise, things could devolve into a three-year losing battle, like that war in northern China way back when.
The only guy the Phillies really need to re-sign from this year’s bullpen is Jose Alvarez, the guy who was hit in the testicles with a line-drive late in the season, when he wasn’t wearing a cup. Assuming he’s OK, of course. If he’s OK, he’s effective.
They need to replace all the rest, not that this will happen as such. But the first three guys the Phillies need to sign this off-season are all relief pitchers.
Really. (Didi Gregorius must be re-signed too, and he can be literally first if need be, but then the next three must be relievers.)
A lot of money is coming off the Phillies payroll total this winter, approximately $60 million. Therefore, all three of the following pitchers can be somewhat overpaid, and they should be happy about that since none are “spring chickens.” Their deals should be done quickly.
Here are the humble suggestions…