Phillies Must Pursue Impending Free Agent Superstar from NL Rival This Offseason

The Philadelphia Phillies lost out on the possibility of bidding on a major free agent target next offseason late on Sunday evening.

Star slugger and previously a potential Phillies free agent target Vladimir Guerrero Jr. agreed to a 14-year deal worth $500 million to remain with the Toronto Blue Jays potentially for the remainder of his career.

With Philadelphia in need of a power hitter in the middle of the lineup, especially with Kyle Schwarber set to hit free agency a year from now just as Guerrero Jr. was prior to the extension, missing out on any shot at bidding on the 26-year-old is a potential sting to the future plans.

After sitting out the Juan Soto sweepstakes, many wondered whether the Phillies could be gearing up for someone like Guerrero Jr. instead and would go all-in to land him.

Though that is no longer going to be the case, there's another name out there who instantly should become the top target.

When the Chicago Cubs made the most significant trade of the offseason to acquire superstar outfielder Kyle Tucker from the Houston Astros, they did so with the knowledge that Tucker would be hitting free agency next year.

The Cubs will give it every effort to re-sign Tucker to an extension before he hits the open market, but all indications are that the Scott Boras client will be open for bidding.

With Guerrero Jr. now off the market though, Tucker becomes the top prize of the class and will have a rich market which could push his final deal into the range of what Guerrero Jr. received.

Tucker is two years older than Guerrero Jr. which will likely prevent him from getting the same contract in terms of length, but the argument can be made that he is a much better player than the face of the franchise in Toronto.

For one, Tucker brings infinitely more value both as a fielder and as a baserunner. For Philadelphia, the fact that he could become the new focal point of an outfield which has struggled to produce at high enough of a level in the last couple of years should make them willing to do whatever it takes to land him.

It's not going to be easy though as Tucker is putting up MVP-like numbers to begin the year.

Being named the National League player of the week, the star ended the weekend leading all of baseball in hits as well as on top of the NL in home runs, RBI, OPS, and total bases.

While the Phillies may be putting together a massive contract to bring Tucker to the City of Brotherly Love, so is every other team in baseball.

Regardless, ownership should start saving their spare change now, because Tucker would be worth every penny.