Philadelphia Phillies Named Potential Landing Spot for Past Cy Young Winner

The Philadelphia Phillies were recently named a landing spot in free agency for a three-time Cy Young winner.

Sep 14, 2024; Seattle, Washington, USA; Texas Rangers starting pitcher Max Scherzer (31) pitches to the Seattle Mariners during the first inning at T-Mobile Park. / Steven Bisig-Imagn Images

The Philadelphia Phillies are hoping to make some nice improvements this offseason after a disappointing early exit from the playoffs. 

Even though the Phillies were one of the best teams in baseball throughout the year in 2024, they were only able to muster one win against the New York Mets in the National League Division Series. 

Heading into the winter, Philadelphia will go back to the drawing board hoping to make some adjustments to help get this team over the hump in the postseason.

While some of their bigger needs will be to improve their outfield and bullpen, the Phillies also have a glaring issue in their rotation. 

Despite making a significant financial commitment to Taijuan Walker, he had one of the worst performances of any pitcher in baseball last year. While Philadelphia is going to be paying him a lot of money over the next couple of seasons, they need to have a viable plan to replace him if he struggles once again.

Recently, Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report spoke about the Phillies being a potential landing spot for Max Scherzer in free agency, as he could be a replacement for Walker.

“There's no salary cap in MLB, and the Phillies can spend as much as they please to ensure they win a World Series before their core of mid-30s stars age out of their prime. However, they likely would want to first unload Taijuan Walker (who's owed $18 million in each of 2025 and 2026) to justify bringing in Scherzer. What a star-studded rotation that would be, though. All-Star Ranger Suárez, pitching in his contract year, would maybe be the No. 5 starter.”

Scherzer would certainly be an upgrade to their current situation, but the biggest issue could be regarding how much he is going to get paid.

Since Philadelphia is on the hook for a lot of money with Walker, finding an affordable option is likely going to be their goal, however, if the former three-time Cy Young winner is willing to take less for a chance to win a World Series, he would be an appealing target.

While the right-hander has missed time in recent years due to injury, he is still an effective starter when he’s on the mound. 

With him likely warranting at least $10 million for a season, that could be a bit of a steep price for the Phillies knowing what they owe their struggling fifth starter.