Phillies rumors: Team still in market for a starting pitcher?
By John Town
With the Phillies still awaiting the decisions of star free agents, is the team still eyeing the addition of a starting pitcher?
Spring training is drawing ever closer with many of the top free agents in baseball still available. The Phillies are nowhere close to done with many balls still up in the air as they pursue Bryce Harper and Manny Machado. In addition to signing one of these two, the team may still be looking to add to the rotation.
Jon Heyman of Fancred Sports reported that Philadelphia is one of many teams still looking to add a starter this offseason. The Padres, White Sox, Giants, Orioles, Yankees, and Mets were the other teams also listed as teams possibly looking to add a starter.
This coincides with the idea that Philadelphia may still be looking to make another splash in addition to a potential Harper/Machado signing, as suggested by Corey Seidman of NBC Sports Philadelphia.
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The main starter Philly would look to add is Dallas Keuchel. They have been linked to him all offseason long but have been unwilling to meet his asking price of five years. With his free agency drawing out so long, Keuchel’s price will have to come down eventually to sign. The team will likely make a run at Keuchel once they know what happens with Harper and Machado’s free agency.
Keuchel would be a good addition to the righty-heavy rotation the team already has. His sinkerball approach would mix things up between Aaron Nola and Jake Arrieta according to Steve Sax of MLB Network Radio.
Beyond Keuchel, there aren’t many options that would be appealing to the team. Gio Gonzalez, Clay Buchholz, and Ervin Santana are the next best starting options after Keuchel. The team would be better off sticking with the starters they already have rather than signing one of these three.
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Even though spring training is just around the corner, the team is nowhere close to done in free agency.