Relative to what the Philadelphia Phillies have done in past offseasons, this has been a quiet one.

After re-signing their ace Aaron Nola to a megadeal, they have not done much to make additions to this roster.

That makes sense as they have very few holes and are already projected to have the second-highest payroll heading into the 2024 season. Dave Dombrowski also said as much, mentioning they likely are just looking for outfield depth and adding bullpen arms.

But maybe that’s a smokescreen.

According to former MLB executive, Jim Bowden, the Phillies are still interested in Japanese phenom Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

There were reports that Philadelphia met with the potential superstar pitcher. He was the free agent that the organization was most interested in pursuing if they weren’t able to re-sign Nola, but still decided to set a meeting with him after handing out $173 million to their ace.

Bryce Harper was also part of the pitch to Yamamoto as he continues to use his sway to try and lure free agents to the Phillies.

With the projected price tag to sign the Japanese right-hander continuing to increase, it was thought that ownership and the front office would not be interested in spending that much money on another player.

However, knowing what it would cost to get Yamamoto and still engaging in this process is an encouraging sign for those who want them to land the phenom.

Ultimately, they might decide that they just can’t spend that price tag with Zack Wheeler’s extension still on the horizon, but Philadelphia continues to keep themselves in the sweepstakes of a pitcher who projects to be Top-5 in the league at some point.