Philadelphia Phillies With Guardians in a battle for the sensational Ace who had a flourishing season with his former team but decide to join Phillies
Spring training is just around the corner but the hot stove is still sizzling as the Cleveland Guardians find themselves at the center of rumors and reports about one of their star pitchers.
Emmanuel Clase, who’s popped up in several rumors this offseason, is now being linked to the Philadelphia Phillies.
SportsRadio 94WIP’s Howard Eskin spoke about the situation early on Thursday and revealed that the Phillies “have spoken to Cleveland concerning Emmanuel Clase. Here’s the issue, one of the players that Cleveland wants is [Justin] Crawford. [Philadelphia is] not giving up Justin Crawford.”
It would make sense that the Guardians would want a prospect of Carwford’s caliber. He’s a 20-year-old center fielder who possesses both the offensive and defensive ability to make him a star. Cleveland desperately needs more production from that position group. It also makes sense that the Phillies would want more pitching depth when looking at their current staff.
It’s important to note that this report comes off the heels of another report indicating that the Guardians won’t be trading Clase anytime soon. Jom Morosi of MLB Network indicated that while Cleveland was receiving calls from multiple teams about Clase, they weren’t motivated to trade him right now.
Pitchers and catchers report next week, so time is certainly running out for a trade if one is going to happen. Obviously, Clase is a member of the Guardians until he isn’t. And as of right now, he’s the closer of a pitching staff that could be one of the best in baseball in 2024.
Philadelphia Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski spoke on WIP’s The Morning Show on Wednesday. He covered a slew of topics, such as Andrew Painter’s Tommy John recovery, adding to the rotation prior to Opening Day, and extending the rotation’s ace Zack Wheeler.
The Phillies would be wise to lock their ace up long-term prior to him becoming a free agent. As was the case with Aaron Nola, the price for Wheeler will only increase as more teams become involved in negotiations.
When asked how important it is to the team and when he expects a deal to happen, Dombrowski talked about his club’s efforts in re-signing Wheeler before he becomes a free agent.
“Well, we would love to sign Zack today, if we could,” Dombrowski said. “I think it’s important that we re-sign him. He’s one of the best pitchers in baseball. [I] really never get into negotiations publicly, but you can say it’s important for us and we would love to get that done. I know Wheels loves it in Philadelphia, loves being part of the organization. I would say that it’s a priority for us.”
