Heading into the Winter Meetings, the Philadelphia Phillies already took care of their No. 1 priority this offseason. With Aaron Nola signed to a lucrative seven-year, $172 million contract, they are playing with figurative house money during these meetings, while other teams are searching for their own upgrades.
The Phillies are still looking to add other pieces though. They have continued to be linked with other starting pitchers in free agency and on the trade market, but they might turn their attention to another position.
Earlier in the offseason, president of baseball operations, Dave Dombrowski, had some interesting things to say about their young outfielder Johan Rojas. “He has to be able to contribute some offensively or else he has to go down (to the minors) and continue to develop. Doesn’t mean we don’t love him. We think he’s a really good player. But we do need more offense than that out of a position,” he said. That’s certainly honest.
Rojas struggled immensely at the plate during the playoffs and was only kept in the lineup due to his defense.
But despite that comment from Dombrowski, there is speculation that Philadelphia also doesn’t want to take opportunities away from Rojas or Brandon Marsh in case they find their bats and thrive offensively. So, it seems like they’re looking to add platoon players to the roster to supplement their outfield in limited roles.
There are plenty of options on the open market for the Phillies to find that type of player, but Dombrowski also doesn’t feel like it’s an urgent need for them to address.
“We’re in a position where we can just evaluate a lot of different things that we think make our club better. We don’t have really a glaring spot that we need to fill,” he told Matt Gelb of The Athletic. That also makes sense. Despite the negativity surrounding Rojas after his poor playoff performance, he still finished the regular season with a slash line of .302/.342/.430, two home runs, 13 extra-base hits and 23 RBI across 59 games and 149 at-bats.
While much of the focus might be centered on finding another starting arm, don’t be surprised if Philadelphia gets the outfielder they’re looking for at the Winter Meetings.
