With Spring Training about a month away, the Philadelphia Phillies will be looking for some final touches to their roster that gives them the best opportunity to compete for the World Series.
They already have a lineup littered with star power, so they likely will be looking for bullpen pieces for their late innings or some combo guys who can start games when needed.
Opening Day roster projections are starting to come out and Ethan Witte of The Good Phight released his.
Everything looks pretty standard. After all, there weren't many changes this offseason so things will largely look the same.
However, there was one notable name that stood out.
He has the Phillies adding flamethrowing Japanese reliever Shintaro Fujinami to the roster to help the bullpen unit.
"Fujinami is someone I've stumped for this offseason as a possible one-year option since he’s coming off a season where he struggled mightily to find the strike zone. If anyone can make it work with the stuff he's got, it's Caleb Cotham, so why not see what it would be to bring him in?" he writes.
The right-hander has ridiculous stuff, making him an ideal candidate to come into this unit and fit with their philosophy of velocity.
The issue is Fujinami struggled mightily in his first Major League season last year, posting an 8.57 ERA with the Oakland Athletics as both a starter and reliever before they traded him to the Baltimore Orioles.
There he was a little better, posting an ERA of 4.85 strictly coming out of the bullpen, but his first year in the MLB did not go as planned and has depreciated his value.
That could work in the favor of Philadelphia who is searching to add talent at a discount.
Fujinami was rumored to be looking for a starting role with his next team this offseason, but has warmed up to the idea of returning as a reliever.
The Phillies should definitely see the price tag he's looking for and pursue him if the number is low enough.
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