Phillies Linked to Star Pitcher After Yamamoto Whiff

It was surprising to a lot of people that the Philadelphia Phillies were in on the Yoshinobu Yamamoto sweepstakes until the very end.

After signing Aaron Nola, it was thought they viewed their rotation as set entering 2024. Dave Dombrowski confirmed as much, saying they had their five starters.

Yet, they made an offer to the Japanese phenom and stayed in the mix until he ultimately signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

So, did the Phillies just view Yamamoto as a can’t miss prospect and felt they had to try and land him, or are they actually looking to add another starter?

If it’s the latter, then their link to Marcus Stroman by The Athletic would make much more sense.

They have Philadelphia listed as one of the best fits for the star pitcher, despite Dombrowski saying that their rotation is set.

On the surface, it doesn’t make much sense, especially considering the three-year, $63 million contract that The Athletic’s Tim Britton and Aaron Gleeman are projecting.

But, what if the Phillies view him as a potential bullpen piece?

In fact, that was his first time coming out of the bullpen during the regular season since his rookie year in 2014.

Who knows if Stroman would even consider signing with a team that wouldn’t use him as a starter.

Philadelphia could use another arm in the bullpen and if they think that Stroman can be an innings eater and play a major role as part of that unit, then this connection makes much more sense.