Phillies going to spend big on pitching for 2021?

Will the Phillies spend big next offseason once again?

Phillies fans were greatly disappointed when the Phillies called off their big spending early in the offseason. While they invested $132 million into Didi Gregorius and (mostly) Zack Wheeler, the fans wanted to see more stupid money be spent to add a second starter and another reliever to the bullpen.

However, the Phillies decided to stay below the luxury tax this season and opted to sign a handful of proven veteran players to minor league deal with spring training invites.

The Phillies sudden frugalness this offseason could signal that they’re holding off making any more major additions until the free agent class of 2021.

Next years free agent class features a handful of veteran pitchers, many of whom the Phillies have been linked to in years past: Robbie Ray, Mike Minor, Cole Hamels, James Paxton, Jake Odorizzi, Masahiro Tanaka, Corey Kluber, Alex Wood, and Trevor Bauer.

Those first three guys have been very much connected to the Phillies in trade and free agent talks, and could be reasonably priced free agents next offseason.

Several big name relievers are also projected to be available next offseason. Check out this list of All-Stars: Alex Colome, Zack Britton, Ken Giles, Kelvin Herrera, Kirby Yates, Keone Kela, Sean Doolittle, Tony Watson.

That list trumps the 2020 free agent class by a wide margin and could explain why the Phillies didn’t invest heavily in the weak market.

Philadelphia will also have to address the expiring contracts of Gregorius and J.T. Realmuto. They’ll join what’s also an impressive class of position players potentially available: Giancarlo Stanton, Mookie Betts, George Springer, D.J. LeMahieu, Joc Pederson, Anthony Rizzo, Jake Lamb, and several other potential All-Stars.

So yes, the 2021 free agent class is loaded at a lot of positions the Phillies may need to address: starting pitching, bullpen, center field, middle infield.

And in the midst of this perfect storm of free agents, four of the Phillies top eight salaries are coming off the books after this season: Realmuto, Gregorius, Jake Arrieta, and David Robertson.

Of course, Realmuto is the top priority for general manager Matt Klentak, but shredding about 20 percent of their payroll (Arrieta and Robertson) frees the Phillies up to make two superstar splashes next offseason.

This is especially true for the pitching with so many names available once again and potentially two spots to fill in the rotation.

Philadelphia’s best-case scenario is to have Aaron Nola, Wheeler, and Spencer Howard atop their rotation by the end of 2020. Vince Velasquez, Nick Pivetta, and Zach Eflin are all crapshoots at this point, and any one of them could be gone by next season.

Philadelphia will be in position to give Ray or Minor $16-$20 million next season and still have room to be competitive to fill other parts of the roster.

Philadelphia is still in a great spot to compete this season, but they’re in an even better place to compete in the free agent market once again in 2020-21.