The Phillies Made An Offer To Yoshinobu Yamamoto

Don't count the Phillies out on prized free-agent pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto just yet. We already heard that they met with him last week. Then we heard reports that they were at least trying to be aggressive and sign him. And now, per Matt Gelb, we know that they have made him an offer.

Since Shoehei Ohtani signed his ridiculous deal with the Dodgers, Yamamoto has been priority one for seemingly every team in the MLB. And for good reason. He is the biggest name to come out of Japan since perhaps Ohtani. Yamamoto won 3 MVPs, and 3 Sawamura Awards (the Japanese equivalent of the Cy Young) while playing in Japan. In 7 seasons he had a 1.72 ERA and 986 Ks in 967.2 innings.

The Yankees, Mets, and Dodgers all have higher odds to land him. But the Phillies are in the mix. The worst is that he wants to play on a big stage and the Phillies are one of the biggest stages in baseball. And we can at least say Dave Dombrowski has been serious about trying to bring him to Philly.

If they somehow managed to sign him, it would give the Phillies the best starting rotation in baseball. Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, and Ranger Suarez. It would put the Phillies well over the Luxury Tax, and make it hard for the Phillies to do much else this offseason. But that would be worth it. Yamamoto has a chance to be a Cy Young candidate right away.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto is the only big-name free agent, apart from Aaron Nola, the Phillies name has even been attached to thus far. There has been no word of them being interested in any other top-level starter once they brought back Nola. So it very well be a Yamamoto or bust scenario for them when it comes to starters. And likely he won't come to Philly. But there chance, however small it may be.

The MLB off-season is strange. In every other league the second free agency starts, the big names start coming off the board. But with the MLB, we are over a month into free agency, and some of the biggest names have yet to sign. Everyone was waiting for the Shoehei Ohtani shoe to drop before making other moves. And now that it has, deals are slowly starting to be made. The question for us is, what will the Phillies be doing?

So far their big move has been bringing back Aaron Nola. And they did so on what is actually a somewhat team-friendly deal. But after how last year ended, and with what the Dodgers are doing, it is not enough. Simply running it back will not cut it. They need to get better not just to keep up with the Dodgers and Braves, but because the last two years they just were not good enough. Luckily, Dave Dombrowski seems to understand that. It has been reported that the Phillies are willing to go further over the Luxury Tax Threshold.

But who might they do that for? What types of players would be enough to push them over that hill? Do they need another starting pitcher? Is an extra bat more important? Or should they focus on building up a great bullpen? There are still some good players out there that would fill one of those 3 needs.

Signing Whit Merrifield is not going to have fans running out to Rally House to get a jersey. But it would be a solid addition. The Phillies need a full-time Left fielder. Harper is playing first, letting Schwarber be the DH. They dont trust Johan Rojas to be the full-time center fielder after how poorly he played in the post-season. So Marsh may move back there, creating a hole in left field.

Merrifield is not a star. But he is solid across the board. Plays well in the field, puts the ball in play, and has some speed on the bases. Is he a difference-maker? Not really. But it's another solid player who won't go down swinging at something 5 feet out of the zone like certain people on this team did.

Stephenson is likely not on many fans' radars. Relief pitchers who don't get saves don't get noticed too much outside of their own fanbase. But Stephenson was fantastic for the Rays last season. He has a plus fastball, and recently added a great cutter that took his game to new heights.

Could he turn into a closer? Maybe. But even if he just comes over here to be a middle-inning guy it would be an improvement. He has great stuff and doesn't have the pesky walk problem so many of the Phillies relievers had last year. He had 8 walks and 60 strikeouts in 38.1 innings last season.

Matt Moore is not the sexiest free agent on the market. And many Phillies fans' memories are probably tainted from when he was here as a starter. But since then, he has found new life as a relief pitcher. And last year between 3 teams he had a 2.77 ERA, a 1.15 WHIP, 57 ks, with just  16 walks in in 48.2 innings.  He is not a needle mover, but he would be another solid arm out of the pen. And as we have learned, the more reliable guys you have the better. Otherwise, you will wind up overusing your big arms, and they will have nothing left come playoff time.

Pederson trolled Phillies fans earlier in the offseason when out of nowhere he posted a photo of himself with the Phillie Phanatic with the cpation "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia." People assumed it meant he was signing here. But that was not the case. He does make some sense though.

Like Hernandez, he does not exactly fit the style of player the Phillies need. He is another low-batting-average guy with decent pop. But he has a bit less swing and miss to his game, and draws more walks than Hernadez does. The problem is that like Hernandez, he is a liability in the field.

There is not a left fielder that fits all of their needs. Everyone either has a bad glove, too much swing and miss to their game or a combo of both. Merrifield is probably the closest thing to what they need, but he lacks the pop that Hernandez and Pederson have. Any of the 3 would at least provide an improvement though. And Pederson's big personality would likely make him a fan favorite.

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