Despite having potentially the deepest rotation one through five in all of Major League Baseball at the moment, the Phillies have put themselves in the mix for 25-year-old Japanese pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
Yamamoto is viewed as the top available free agent. The industry assumption is that signing him will require $250 million or more. The Dodgers, Yankees and Mets have been the three teams most heavily connected, but the Phillies met with Yamamoto last Thursday in Los Angeles. The team's interest is legitimate.
Earlier this offseason, the Phils signed Aaron Nola to a seven-year, $172 million contract. Last winter, they signed Taijuan Walker to a four-year, $72 million deal. In between, lefty Cristopher Sanchez emerged and solidified his spot as one of the Phillies' five starters. Ranger Suarez is under club control through the end of 2025.
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The lone Phillies starter not signed beyond 2024 is their most important one, Zack Wheeler. He turns 34 on May 30 but has been better than ever with the Phillies. He's vastly outperformed his contract and seems interested in testing free agency.
The Phils will be committed to keeping Wheeler, but anything can happen on the open market. Adding a pitcher of Yamamoto's caliber would make clear sense for the Phillies as both a rotation boost in the present and potential protection against losing Wheeler in the future.
The Phillies' front office knew when this process began that the teams best positioned to spend would also be the ones most interested in Yamamoto. They wouldn't be wasting their time with a non-competitive offer, but it's unclear just how far they'd be willing to go. The Dodgers and Yankees are much more desperate for pitching.
The Dodgers, even after trading for Tyler Glasnow, basically have a three-man rotation with Walker Buehler and Bobby Miller.
Philadelphia Phillies
The Yankees have Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodon and question marks, with Nestor Cortes coming off an abbreviated, subpar season.
Is either team going to let itself be outbid by a third party? The chance is even smaller that both teams would. It's further reduced when you consider the presence of uber-aggressive Mets owner Steve Cohen, who reportedly hosted Yamamoto for dinner on Saturday.
It's a fascinating race for a pitcher who dominated in Japan and is young enough to have his entire prime with the team he chooses. The Phillies' pursuit shows that even if there's a high likelihood they enter 2024 with a similar roster, they're still preparing themselves to make a splash when the right fit comes along.