For however bleak the end of Craig Kimbrel’s stint with the Philadelphia Phillies may have been, he still took the ball 71 times for manager Rob Thomson during the 2023 regular season, production that will have to be replaced now that the nine-time All-Star is a Baltimore Oriole.
Ideally, more than one arm will make up for Kimbrel’s workload. The Phillies hope that José Alvarado stays healthier in 2024, Seranthony Domínguez has a bounce-back season, Jeff Hoffman replicates a breakout 2023 campaign and Orion Kerkering is ready for a full season at the majors.
Still, the Phillies could probably stand to add another veteran to the bullpen before pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training.
It can certainly be argued that the Phillies should be players for All-Star closer Josh Hader, who is a free agent reliever with his career on a Hall of Fame trajectory. But all indications this offseason have been that the Phillies don’t plan to make a play for Hader, who will likely seek to top the five-year/$102 million deal that Edwin Díaz signed with the New York Mets last offseason.
Perhaps if Hader’s price drops as the season nears and he becomes more open to taking a three-year deal with a high average annual value — like what happened to Jake Arrieta prior to the 2018 season — the Phillies will become interested. Right now, though, don’t count on Hader being the Opening Day closer for the Phillies, even if would make them a scarier team.
But Dombrowski did acknowledge at last month’s MLB Winter Meetings that the Phillies still believe they will make another addition to the bullpen mix.
“I would anticipate that we’re going to sign a bullpen guy,” Dombrowski said, according to MLB.com‘s Todd Zolecki. “I would think somewhere in the winter, we have a chance to do that. Or a trade. It’s probably going to come after more of them come off the list. They’re in a position where they’re willing to say, ‘OK, we’ll take a one-year deal for X amount of dollars.'”
Hader certainly doesn’t fit that bill. Jordan Hicks and Robert Stephenson probably don’t either. Interestingly, some familiar names who have already donned red pinstripes previously might be ideal fits for the market the Phillies are shopping in.
Héctor Neris — already one of the more decorated relievers in Phillies history — is a free agent after two seasons with the Houston Astros. Neris perhaps was miscast when the Phillies asked him to close games, but bringing him back to be a medium-leverage arm that occasionally pitches in the eighth or ninth innings would make sense.
Neris had an excellent reputation as a person during his eight seasons with the Phillies, and believe it or not, he’s made the most appearances (513) of any reliever in baseball since the start of the 2016 season.
The only issue with Neris as a target for Dombrowski and the Phillies is that he may very well get a multi-year deal. Even as he prepares for his age-35 season, Neris is coming off a pair of successful seasons in Houston where he won a World Series and posted a 2.69 ERA over 141 regular season appearances. Over on Just Baseball, I projected that Neris would land a two-year/$19 million deal this offseason.
If the Phillies prefer a one-year commitment, a third go-round with David Robertson could make sense.
Last we saw Robertson, he gave up a titanic home run to J.T. Realmuto and set the stage for Bryson Stott’s grand slam in the clinching game of the Philadelphia Phillies NLWCS win over the Miami Marlins.
There’s no other way to put it — Robertson’s stint with the Fish was a disaster, as he posted a 5.06 ERA in 22 appearances after the Marlins acquired him in a mid-season trade with the Mets. However, Robertson had been very effective before the trade, posting a 2.05 ERA in 40 games for the Mets.
I’ve projected Robertson will land a one-year/$8.5 million deal, even after his disappointing finish to the season. That seems fair considering Kimbrel just landed a one-year/$13 million deal that includes a $1 million buyout on a $13 million club option for 2025.
Robertson will turn 39 in April. There’s always risk when you sign a pitcher of advanced age that they will get injured and/or stop being effective. That’s just part of the gamble you take when playing in this part of the free-agent market. It would also be a risk if the Phillies signed 38-year-old Adam Ottavino or soon-to-be 36-year-old Aroldis Chapman. If the Phillies want to mitigate some of that risk, they’ll have to be willing to spend more money to round out their bullpen.
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