Phillies' Free Agent Target Agrees to Contract With San Francisco Giants

The Philadelphia Phillies will have to look elsewhere if they want to bolster their bullpen.

There was an exciting report for Philadelphia Phillies fans earlier when they were linked to some of the best available relievers on the market.

Jordan Hicks and Robert Stephenson would be plug and play pieces for their bullpen that lost Craig Kimbrel this offseason and is looking to add more elite arms to this unit.

After re-signing Aaron Nola early on, the Phillies have yet to make another move.

Landing Hicks or Stephenson would be a nice addition to their roster that just needs some final pieces.

However, it looks like Philadelphia will have to turn their attention elsewhere after Jeff Passan of ESPN reported that Hicks and the San Francisco Giants are in agreement on a four-year, $44 million contract.

 At $11 million AAV, that seemingly would have been in the range of interest for the Phillies. It would get them a bullpen addition without breaking their bank like signing Josh Hader would potentially do.

But, the interesting note coming from Passan's report is the Giants are transitioning his role from reliever to starter when he joins the team.

"Hicks, 27, is expected to work as a starter after spending the majority of his career in the bullpen," he said.

The only eight starts of his career came with the St. Louis Cardinals in the 2022 season when he recorded an ERA of 5.52 across 26 1/3 innings pitched. His career-long outing was five innings and he rarely went past three.

If this was something that Hicks was looking for with his next team, then that could be a reason why he didn't end up on the Phillies.

Philadelphia is comfortable with their current rotation and likely would only move things around for an established starter like Blake Snell or Jordan Montgomery.

They'll have to continue looking for another bullpen piece, or go all in on Stephenson, to secure their reliever this offseason.