Philadelphia Phillies' Acquisition High Upside Named Best Offseason Move

As the start of the regular season gets closer for the Philadelphia Phillies, the team is getting ready for what they hope will be a great year. 

After a disappointing end to the campaign in 2024, the Phillies decided that they are largely going to be running it back this coming year with a few additions. 

Due to the success that this core has had over the past several seasons, making another run at the World Series before doing anything rash makes a lot of sense. 

While it was surely disappointing not to make the National League Championship Series, this was a team that won a lot of games and was a true contender in the league despite winning just one postseason game. 

While the Phillies might not have made a ton of transactions this winter, the few they made were meaningful and filled needs for the team. 

Jim Bowden of The Athletic (subscription required) recently wrote about the best move for the Phillies this winter. He highlighted a great trade to help bolster their starting rotation. 

“Acquiring Jesús Luzardo from the Marlins gives them the division’s best and deepest rotation," he wrote.

Coming into the winter, one of the most significant needs for the team was to find a starting pitcher to round out the rotation. Taijuan Walker was simply not good last year and Philadelphia couldn’t go into 2025 relying on him to turn it around. 

So, the decision to bring in Jesus Luzardo from the Miami Marlins not only helps them in 2025, but he could be in the long-term plans as well. 

The talented left-hander had his breakout season for the Marlins in 2023, totaling a 10-10 record, 3.58 ERA and 208 strikeouts. 

However, he dealt with injuries last year and was rather ineffective. Due to his success being a somewhat small sample size, there is some risk to this move. If the 2023 campaign was a fluke, Philadelphia might still have an issue in their rotation. 

Furthermore, the struggles from 2024 were likely injury-related, and he should be poised for a bounce-back season. 

This is certainly looking like an appealing move on paper for the Phillies. Adding Luzardo to the rotation should give them a starting five in the rotation to compete with the Los Angeles Dodgers. 

With the possibility of these two teams meeting in October, the pitching matchups in the potential series could be extremely exciting to watch. 

While Philadelphia could have gone with a lesser option, adding Luzardo builds on a strength for the team and will be something they lean on. 

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