Philadelphia Phillies 'In the Running' for Superstar Free Agent Outfielder

The Philadelphia Phillies have been named as a team "in the running" to sign a superstar free agent outfielder.

Oct 26, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; New York Yankees outfielder Juan Soto (22) hits a solo home run in the third inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers during game two of the 2024 MLB World Series at Dodger Stadium. / Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

The Philadelphia Phillies have been linked to some major offseason moves over the last few weeks, and Juan Soto is a name that has been loosely connected to them as a potential target.

While the idea of signing Soto would be exactly what the Phillies would love to do, it has been viewed as a highly unlikely scenario since many expect to see the superstar outfielder end up re-signing with the New York Yankees or heading across town to the New York Mets.

Despite that thinking, Philadelphia is still being viewed as a team that could make a run at the superstar.

David Brown of DeadSpin has named the Phillies as a team that is "in the running" to sign Soto. They have projected him to sign a 13-year, $702 million deal with the Mets, but they are not counting out other teams including Philadelphia.

Being able to sign a 26-year-old franchise-altering kind of superstar does not come around very often. Even teams that aren't favored to sign him will be throwing everything they can at him.

During the 2024 campaign with the Yankees, he was a huge part of the reason why the team was able to make a run to the World Series, and even though they weren't able to defeat the Los Angeles Dodgers, Soto's year was impressive.

In the 157 games that he played in the regular season, the outfielder ended up hitting 41 home runs to go along with 109 RBI, while slashing .288/.419/.569.

Not only is Soto an elite slugger, he possesses one of the best pure bats in baseball.

Should the Phillies find a way to land the coveted free agent, they would immediately jump up a notch as a championship contender.

After a disappointing end to last year, Philadelphia would love to make a massive splash and come back stronger and better positioned to win the World Series.

Recently, reports have come out that the Phillies are open to trading Alec Bohm which signals a willingness for them to shake things up dramatically.

All of that being said, the fans shouldn't get their hopes up.

Soto is still not likely to end up in Philadelphia.

Even though no one is counting them out just yet, it's likely they will have to look elsewhere for their splash move since there are plenty of other big bats on the market they could look at.