The Philadelphia Phillies have a glaring problem. It's no secret that the team's bullpen needs the most addressing at this year's trade deadline after the sudden suspension of José Alvarado. Jordan Romano, Matt Strahm and Orion Kerkering now have much larger roles in late, high-leverage innings for the Phillies, though all of them have multiple blown saves already.
That leaves the Phillies front office in a desperate search for reliable relievers, both in the trade market and free agency. There were some recent rumblings about them giving a call to a familiar face who happens to be the best remaining reliever in the free agent market, though a reunion now seems pretty unlikely.
David Robertson's asking price is too steep for the Phillies to bring him back
Shortly after news of the Alvarado suspension broke, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com revealed that the Phillies' brass had discussed a potential contract with Robertson to shore up their bullpen even before losing Alvarado. That news came as a shock to Phillies fans, though a reunion seemed to make too much sense for both sides.
That is until it was reported by USA Today's Bob Nightengale that Robertson is seeking $15 million for one year. That's far too much for the Phillies to give a 40-year-old with a history of injury issues. After all, before undergoing Tommy John surgery, Robertson appeared in only seven games for Philadelphia over the course of his two-year, $23 million contract signed before the 2019 season.
The Phillies wanted a second chance at Robertson when he was re-acquired at the 2022 trade deadline in a deal with the Chicago Cubs. His second stint with the club went better than the first, though it wasn't without another unfortunate injury.
During the Phillies' sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals in the Wild Card round, Robertson strained his right calf celebrating a Bryce Harper home run, keeping him out of the NLDS. He then returned for the NLCS and is most remembered by Phillies fans for saving Game 1 of the 2022 World Series.
In total, Robertson recorded a 2.70 ERA over 23 1/3 innings in his second Phillies stint, with a 1.17 ERA in 7 2/3 innings in the postseason. He has a career 2.91 ERA with 177 saves, and his very solid 16-year MLB track record makes it easy to see why the Phillies would be interested in him for a third time. The Phillies have instead signed reliever Lucas Sims to a minor-league deal, who has recent MLB experience.