Amid Yamamoto rumors, Dombrowski says 2024 rotation is set

The Phillies made signing homegrown ace Aaron Nola priority No. 1 at the beginning of the offseason.

With the deal done before the Thanksgiving holiday, the Phillies will spend the remaining months of the long offseason focusing on tweaking the roster.

Or they could pursue another big free agent for the heck of it. Multiple reports, including from the Philadelphia Inquirer and MLB.com, suggest that the Phillies still have interest in pursing the top pitcher on the market, Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

Yamamoto, a three-time Sawamura Award-winner (the Japanese equivalent of the Cy Young), is the most talented player to come out of NPB since Shohei Ohtani. Even though he hasn’t thrown a pitch in MLB, he will be paid like an established ace as it is rare for a pitcher as talented as him to be available on the market at age 25.

Yamamoto was reportedly posted on Monday and his signing window begins at 8 a.m. ET on Tuesday. He will have 45 days to sign with an MLB club or return to Japan. The team that signs Yamamoto will also have to pay a posting fee to his original team, the Orix Buffaloes.

The Phillies are far from the only suitors. The Mets, Yankees, Dodgers, Giants, Red Sox and Cubs are big market clubs in need of a top starter and are expected to be in on the bidding. The Phillies have done extensive work on Yamamoto. Bryce Harper was reportedly involved in crafting the team’s pitch to Yamamoto’s camp.

Yamamoto, Wheeler and Nola would be a dream 1-2-3 punch for the 2024 Phillies. But maybe it’s just a dream.

With Nola signed, perhaps the Phillies’ interest in Yamamoto is exploratory. There’s no harm in window shopping — or driving the price up for competitors.

During a re-introductory press conference for Nola on Monday at Citizens Bank Park, president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said he believes the Phillies starting rotation is set for 2024.

“Yes I do. We have five starters that we like,” Dombrowski said. “I think when you look at some of the statistical models, we had the best WAR of our group of any team in Major League Baseball. So we like our five starters. We look like we are set.”

The Phillies are set to return one of the best and most durable rotations from 2023 with Wheeler and Nola at the top and Ranger Suárez, Taijuan Walker and Cristopher Sánchez.

FanGraphs had the 2023 Phillies rotation ranked No. 1 in fWAR at 17.7. The second-best National League team, the San Diego Padres, posted 14.5 FanGraphs wins above replacement. The Phillies also finished third in the league to the Mariners (901 1/3) and Astros (900) in total innings pitched at 899.

But interestingly enough, if the Phillies do shock the baseball world and snag Yamamoto, the team might have to run a modified six-man rotation in 2024. Yamamoto made only 24 starts in 2023. Starting pitchers in NPB pitch on six days rest and typically do not pitch often on the normal four days rest in their first season stateside. In his first season with the Mets in 2023, Kodai Senga pitched on normal rest only three times.

Dombrowski, when asked what the team’s priorities are following the Nola signing, said the front office is looking to make the team better.

“We’re in a position where we can just evaluate a lot of different things that make our club better,” Dombrowski said. “We don’t have really a glaring spot that we need to fill. Like we needed a starting pitcher, but we’re pretty deep in our bullpen. Of course you can always be better. Our positional players, our infield is basically set. Outfield, we have a little bit of a question just because of a young player that was trying to create some playing time. We don’t really have a glaring need, but we’ll continue to look to see how we can get better.”

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