Five questions the Phillies need to answer this offseason

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PHILADELPHIA, PA – AUGUST 12: Starting pitcher Aaron Nola #27 of the Philadelphia Phillies throws a pitch in the first inning during a game against the against the New York Mets at Citizens Bank Park on August 12, 2017 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Hunter Martin/Getty Images) /

How will the rotation be filled out?

For the most part, Philadelphia’s starting pitchers were absymal. Outside of Aaron Nola, no one finished the year with an ERA below 4.25 that pitched exclusively in the rotation. The starting pitching needs to vastly improve, and team president Andy MacPhail recognized that in a recent press conference.

The simplest answer would be to go out and sign starting pitchers on the free agent market. Yu Darvish and Jake Arrieta are the two biggest names expected to be free agents, but Lance Lynn and Alex Cobb are also attractive options that won’t require as big of contracts.

On the other hand, MacPhail said he does not expect the Phillies to have a large payroll next year, so this may rule out any larger contracts in free agency.

Another avenue the club could take to fill the rotation is through trade. There are several potential targets for trades, including Toronto’s Marcus Stroman and Pittsburgh’s Gerrit Cole. They are both still team control for a few more years and the club has more than enough assets to use in a trade – more on that later.

Of course, the final option is to merely roll with what the club has now along with maybe one low-end starter brought in on a one-year contract. This would leave a lot of question marks in the rotation with Jerad Eickhoff, Vince Velasquez, and Zach Eflin all coming back from injury and Nick Pivetta not having the rookie season one would hope. Ben Lively and Mark Leiter are both potential options, but neither is particularly exciting.

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