December 26, 2018
The Phillies continue to pursue Manny Machado and Bryce Harper, as the two biggest prizes of free agency seem content to take their time and contemplate their next decision.
While news breaking on the Harper/Machado front over the next few days seems to be an unexpected luxury for millions of baseball fans glued to the hot stove, the offseason is far from over for Philadelphia. The team still must make some moves to improve its bullpen and starting rotation.
Here's what NBCSP's Corey Seidman had to say this week:
In terms of starting pitchers, Dallas Keuchel is still out there, but he’s trending down. Do you really want to be paying [Dallas] Keuchel and Jake Arrieta — two groundballers who miss few bats — a combined $42-45 million the next two years? Fair or not, the “stupid money” comments from Phillies owner John Middleton placed even more pressure on the front office than anticipated.
And while Jean Segura and Andrew McCutchen are good additions, the Phils cannot expect to realistically push for 90 wins with their current rotation and bullpen, unless major strides are made by pitchers who were inconsistent in 2018. [NBC Sports Philadelphia]
Their options seem to have slimmed as they've focused on super stars. Will that bite them in the butt as they look to take the next step to compete next season?
Here's our daily Phillies free agency live stream, open thread. Follow along for up to the moment updates on relevant rumors and breaking news:
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