Phillies Rumor Roundup: Yamamoto meeting, Bryce Harper extension?, more

Phillies met with top free agent starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto

Of course, the biggest news in Phillies-land is that the team met with the top starting pitcher on the free agent market, Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Yamamoto is meeting with a bunch of teams at the moment with most of the big spenders getting at least a chance to talk to him.

That said, it is nice to see the Phillies be willing to make a pitch to a guy that is probably going to command a deal in excess of $300 million. The Phillies' rotation is already a strength at the moment and adding a potential frontline starter like Yamamoto could very well be the move that pushes Philadelphia over the top. It would certainly make them a team that no team wants to deal with in a short playoff series.

Unfortunately, the Phillies are currently not considered among the favorites to land Yamamoto. Teams like the Mets and Giants are more in need of landing a big name to have for the long haul and then you have the usual suspects like the Yankees and Dodgers in the running. One team to keep an eye on is the Boston Red Sox who desperately need help in their starting rotation and who appear to be very keen on trying to lure Yamamoto to Boston.

The Phillies' meeting with Yamamoto seems like it will be among the last of this first round before Yamamoto starts trimming his options down, so it isn't outside the realm of possibility that we could get some closure to the Yamamoto Derby soon.