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The Arrowhead

The Arrowhead

The Student News Site of Souderton Area High School

The Arrowhead

The Student News Site of Souderton Area High School

The Arrowhead

The Arrowhead

Once again the Phillies will have to spend ‘stupid money’ if they want to compete this season

To make the playoffs next season the Phillies will, again, have to spend a lot of money in free agency this year to acquire some big name players.

After making a big splash in free agency, and only finishing with a .500 record at 81-81,the Phillies certainly have their work cut out for them if they want to be playing October baseball.
Last free agency, Phillies owner John Middleton and General Manager Matt Klentak spent “stupid money” in free agency aquiring big name players like Andrew McCutchen, Bryce Harper and JT Realmuto.
But due to a lack of good starting, relief pitching and a lack of offense, Middleton will need to spend “stupid money” again this offseason acquiring some of the big name free agents that are available this year.
This year free agency is loaded with a ton of big name players, but in order to acquire any of them it’s going to cost a lot of money.
One improvement the Phillies could make to their rotation is signing left handed pitcher Dallas Keuchel.
A two time all-star, won the World Series in 2017 with the Astros, won four Gold Glove awards and won the AL Cy Young Award in 2015.
The Phillies missed out on him last season when he signed a one year deal with the Atlanta Braves.
Last season the 31-year-old started in 19 games with a record of 8-8 with a ERA of 3.75 with 91 strikeouts in 112.2 innings played.
In the playoffs he started in two started and had an ERA of 4.50 with four strikeouts in eight innings played.
He will be 32 at the start of this season and according to NBC Sports Philadelphia, they expect Keuchel to sign a contract for two years around $13-15 million per year.
Even though most pitchers don’t improve past the age of 30 he would still be a nice fit for the Phillies because they badly need starting pitching.
Another pitcher that would be a nice addition to their line up is left handed pitcher Madison Bumgarner.
A three time World Series champion and he won World Series MVP in 2014 he is also a four time all-star.
Last season with the San Francisco Giants the 30-year-old pitcher ended the season with a 3.90 ERA and 203 strikeouts in 34 games played with a win loss record of 9-9.
According to NBC Sports Philadelphia, they would expect Bumgarner to sign for around three years $75 million similar to Jake Arrieta’s contract.
Bumgarner would be a nice solid addition to the Phillies rotation pitching with Arron Nola and Jake Arrieta.
In addition to pitching the Phillies also need some more offense on their team so they don’t have to rely heavily on their star players like Bryce Harper, Rhys Hoskins and JT Realmuto.
One player the Phillies can look to acquire is 27-year-old outfielder Nicholas Castellanos.
Last season Castellanos had 27 home runs with 73 RBIs (Runs Batted In) with a batting average of .289 in 151 games.
He would add some much needed offense the Phillies desperately need. And he shows no signs of slowing down.
Since August 1 he led the Cubs in hits, doubles, home runs and RBIs. With 68 hits, 21 doubles, 16 home runs and 36 RBIs.
The Phillies should also bring back outfielder Corey Dickerson who the Phillies acquired from the Pirates at the trade deadline during the season while he was on the last year of his contract.
Bringing him back would give the Phillies some depth in the outfield where they can’t rely on players to be healthy throughout the season.
Dickerson who is 29 who missed more than half of last season due to injury, but when he’s healthy he can produce.
Last season he had 12 home runs with 59 RBIs with a batting average of .304 in only 78 games played.
If he can stay healthy and provide that offense the Phillies will have good amount of players in the outfield.
This offseason is going to be like last offseason where Matt Klentak and the Phillies front office staff will have to spend a lot of money on decent players if they want to make the playoffs.

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