Veteran Reliever backed up to play For Phillies
There’s a lot of excitement around the possibility that the Philadelphia Phillies could land another star player this offseason after already re-signing Aaron Nola. With reports out that they made an offer to Japanese phenom, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, much of the attention will be focused there until he ultimately makes his decision. The Phillies are seen to have little chance to sign him, but apparently are being “aggressive” with their pursuit.
On the more realistic side this offseason, Philadelphia’s front office might look to add more bullpen help prior to the start of next year. With Craig Kimbrel departing to the Baltimore Orioles, they need more backend relievers. The Athletic lists the Phillies among the teams best suited to sign veteran Robert Stephenson, who is coming off one of his best seasons in the MLB. Last year after being traded to the Tampa Bay Rays, the right-hander recorded an ERA of 2.35 across 42 appearances with 60 strikeouts in 38 1/3 innings pitched. “Stephenson is the latest journeyman reliever to have a breakout year with the Rays, his fourth MLB team in four seasons …
Tampa Bay tweaked Stephenson’s oft-used slider into a more cutter-like offering he threw nearly 70 percent of the time, with amazing results. He’s always thrown hard and missed plenty of bats, so Stephenson’s breakout wasn’t totally out of nowhere, but teams will have to weigh four great months versus a mediocre track record. He has one of the widest spectrums of possible outcomes in this free-agent class,” Tim Britton and Aaron Gleeman write. For Philadelphia, the reward could outweigh the risk.
Their bullpen unit was massively improved in 2023 compared to 2022 and projects to have similar success next year. Adding someone with Stephenson’s upside would raise the ceiling of their relief staff. His projected three-year, $30 million contract also wouldn’t break the bank after they spent $172 million on Nola. Stephenson could be a real option this offseason.
