The Philadelphia Phillies have continuously proven that they’re willing to spend money on high-end free agents. If the addition is going to make the Phillies better, there’s a great chance that Dave Dombrowski will make a move. Philadelphia has already re-signed Aaron Nola in the early part of the offseason. He was their main priority and the team got the job done. However, with superstar pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto available, the team is now expected to pursue the Japanese phenom this offseason.
Jon Heyman reported the following on the Phillies being interested in making a play for the right-hander. “Red Sox, Blue Jays, and Phillies, those are the other three teams I’ve heard. So those three will join the Dodgers, Giants, Mets, and Yankees. Seven teams to choose from. Could be one or two others. I have not heard the Cubs lately or the Cardinals. I could say it’s getting too rich, but I think the fact that he hasn’t really talked money with anybody, may suggest that he is really just looking for one of the coastal teams.” This is massive news coming from Heyman. There hasn’t been a ton of noise for Yamamoto to the Phillies since the early speculation when Nola was a free agent. That makes this a bit of a surprise report.
Pitching help for Philadelphia will always be a bonus. This is a team that has proven to be able to win when it matters most and adding another top-of-the-line arm makes them even more dangerous. It’s questionable if the Phillies will spend as much as it might cost to land him, but there isn’t any reason to believe they won’t after they’ve proven to be massive spenders in recent years.
