Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports tweeted Thursday that the Phillies are “connected” to free agent outfielder Angel Pagan.
Pagan, 35, hit .277/.331/.418 with 12 home runs last year for the Giants.
From the naked eye this makes no sense. Pagan is a veteran outfielder (a la Howie Kendrick and Michael Saunders) who would need everyday innings. Considering the prospect logjam in the outfield, why the heck would the Phils take on another older outfielder?
But there are scenarios that would result in some sort of last-minute outfield addition:
- The Phillies are worried about Kendrick (.182/.196/.469) and Saunders (.200/.308/.597) after tepid springs.
- There’s some lingering injury concern that has the Phils searching the outfield ranks for another name.
- There’s an infielder trade in the works, which would move Kendrick to second base and open an outfield spot.
So those are the scenarios, and I suppose the Phils wouldn’t yet be sold on either Aaron Altherr or Roman Quinn being everyday major league outfielders right now.
But, that said, this is a Jon Heyman rumor about the Phils being “connected” to Pagan. Take it for exactly what it is: a rumor.
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