On Wednesday night at 8 P.M., the Phillies along with every other MLB team faced the non-tender deadline. Teams were faced with the choice of offering arbitration-eligible players a contract or letting them go.
The Phillies tendered all of their eligible players a contract, including a controversial decision to offer Vince Velasquez one. Seranthony Dominguez, Zach Eflin, David Hale, Andrew Knapp, Hector Neris, and Rhys Hoskins will all be back on the team in 2021.
Other teams cut ties with some of their arbitration-eligible players, some surprisingly so. Because of this, there’s a bit more bread on the selves before the blizzard hits.
Several players with All-Star potential now find themselves without a home. The Phillies would be fools not to explore this new market of players. Some of them are even advertising their new status.
Who should the Phillies Sign?
Let’s start off with the self-proclaimed free agent himself, Archie Bradley.
Bradley fits perfectly into the Phillies’ biggest need: Late inning bullpen help. Since 2017, he sports a 2.95 ERA between the Diamondbacks and the Reds. Coincidentally in 2020, Bradley posted a 2.95 ERA between the Diamondbacks and the Reds.
He usually averages 96 MPH on his fastball, although in 2020 it averaged a tick above 94 MPH. This could be due to the unusual nature of the 2020 season. With a career 9.3 K/9, he’d be a welcome addition to the back end of the Phillies’ bullpen.
Another hard-throwing righty the Phillies could take a look at is Ryne Stanek. Stanek is very much a tale of two cities. In Tampa Bay, he was known as one of the original openers in baseball history. He posted a 3.55 ERA with the Rays, opening 56 games for them. As the opener, he posted a 2.71 ERA.
He changed with the Miami Marlins. His ERA in parts of 2 seasons ballooned to 6.03. He only pitched 31.1 innings for the fish, so this is a small sample size. His career 10.9 K/9 rate should be interesting enough for the Phillies to take a flier on him.
Although not guaranteed to start the season, John Brebbia should be on the Phillies’ radar. With a career ERA just around PI (3.14) and a K/9 over 10, he certainly would be a welcome addition to the Phillies. He is coming off of Tommy John surgery, however.
In the hitter department, there are only a couple of candidates for the Phillies without knowing if they’ll have a DH or not.
The riskiest but possible biggest payoff would be Danny Santana. In 2019, Santana looked to be a big breakout start for the Texas Rangers. He slashed .283/.324/.534 with 28 home runs (15 more than his career total up to that point).
Outside of 2019, Santana’s career has been unremarkable, hold for his rookie season. He’s a utility man through and through, playing every position besides pitcher and catcher in 2019. He’d be a steal if and only if 2019 wasn’t a fluke.
The only other player that fits the Phillies at the moment is David Dahl.
In 2019, Dahl was an All-Star with the Colorado Rockies. He slashed .302/.353/.524 that season. It wasn’t much of a surprise either, as he slashed .293/.341/.518 his previous 2 seasons.
Like all of us, 2020 was not Dahl’s year. He posted an OPS+ of 19 in just 24 games. He will most likely to better than that in 2021. He can also play center field which is a spot the Phillies could look to improve. However, he isn’t very good defensively, posting a negative dWAR every year of his career.
Photo by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire
