The Phillies have been connected to several players as of late with the stove heating up. They signed Archie Bradley to sure up the bullpen, but more moves could be on the way.
International Free Agents
The signing period for IFA’s started on January 15th. So far, the Phillies have signed two prospects.
Rickardo Perez is a 17-year-old catcher from Venezuela. He was the second-highest ranked catcher in MLB.com’s top 30 international prospects. The first is ranked right ahead of him at number 8.
He has plenty of tools including above-average contact and throwing arm. He’s no slouch behind the plate either.
Yemal Flores is a raw power-first prospect. He’s a 17-year-old outfielder. There’s not much more information out there other than that.
Free Agent Rumors
There have been two shortstops connected to the Phillies as of late. The first is a familiar name for Phillies fans.
That’s right. The rosy-cheeked shortstop of the 2010s for the Phillies has a shot at a potential return. Freddy has always been a throwback to the ’70s-’80s as a glove-first shortstop.
The bridesmaid of Gold Glove Awards, Galvis was the Phillies shortstop of choice from 2012-2017. For his career, he has been a subpar hitter. He has a career OPS+ of 82 and an OBP of .292. He’d certainly be a step down from Didi Gregorius who posted an OPS+ of 119 in 2020.
The other shortstop they’ve been connected to is slightly more exciting.
Marcus Semien had a down 2020 but was an MVP candidate in 2019. He slashed .285/.369/.522 with 33 home runs, finishing 3rd in MVP voting.
In 2020, he did mash in the postseason, posting a .891 OPS in the AL Wild Card Series and a 1.344 OPS in the AL Divisional Series.
There are 2 pitchers that have been connected to the Phillies, one reliever and one starter. The more exciting of the two is the potential closer Alex Colomé.
Colomé is heading into his age 32 season but has been sterling for the majority of his career. He has a career 2.95 ERA and a 2.62 ERA since 2016.
In 2020, he was one of the best closers in baseball. He had a 0.81 ERA in 22.1 IP with 12 saves. He’d potentially slide into the Phillies’ closer role if he were to come to Philadelphia.
The other is a long-time veteran that the Phillies have seen a bunch of over the years.
Pitching with the Marlins and Nationals, Anibal Sanchez isn’t a stranger to the NL East. He struggled in 2020 to the tune of a 6.62 ERA. In 2019, he had an ERA under 4 while starting 30 games. In 2018, he posted a 2.83 ERA.
He’d be a veteran presence to help secure the back end of the rotation. He wouldn’t be the most exciting signing, but he’d be a welcome addition.
Trade Rumors
As I pointed out in the past, Dave Dombrowski loves acquiring players from his past teams. Andrew Benintendi could be one of those players.
It’s hard to say what the legitimacy of this rumor is but it isn’t ridiculous. The AAA arm could be Adonis Medina who made his debut for the Phillies in 2020. He made just one start, giving up 2 ER in 4 IP with 4 K. It would make sense with how thirsty the Red Sox are for starting pitching.
Rumors do indicate that Benintendi is on the trade block.
Benintendi is a career .271 hitter with a 107 OPS+. He’d be an improvement defensively over Andrew McCutchen. He struggled hard in 2020, hitting just .103. He was a key to the Red Sox World Series win in 2018, hitting .333 in 5 games.
He’d be under team control through 2022.
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