Free Agent Lefty Starter Could be Real Option for Philadelphia Phillies

The Philadelphia Phillies could still add arms to their starting rotation and could look to this free agent as a potential option.

There are still plenty of solid options on the market for the Philadelphia Phillies if they want to continue adding starting pitchers to their rotation after re-signing Aaron Nola.

It was reported that was a goal of the front office after accomplishing their No. 1 priority when getting their ace back onto the roster.

Right now, it seems like Yoshinobu Yamamoto would be the Phillies' preferred choice in free agency, with the Japanese phenom officially being posted by his NPB team.

The price tag for the right-hander would not come cheap as he's a coveted starter on the open market.

A player that Philadelphia could pivot to as less expensive option would be Eduardo Rodriguez, who is coming off one of his best seasons as a starting pitcher in 2023 with the Detroit Tigers.

The left-hander went 13-9 with a 3.30 ERA across 26 starts and 152 2/3 innings pitched.

This prompted him to opt-out of his contract with the Tigers and test his value in free agency once again.

Rodriguez was scheduled to receive $18 million, $16 million and $15 million over the next three seasons in Detroit. He'll likely be looking for more total money in a multi-year deal, but isn't expected to bring in the same type of contract that the other high-profile starters will this offseason.

The average salary per year that the lefty was going to make sits just over $16 million.

Something around that number could be enticing to the Phillies, who would be able to slot a capable starter like Rodriguez into their third or even fourth spot in the rotation.

Anything more than that probably makes Philadelphia look at other options, especially considering what caliber of players are on the trade block.

However, don't rule out them trying to sign the left-hander this offseason.