Potential Philadelphia Phillies Free Agent Target Viewed As Under-the-Radar Addition

The Philadelphia Phillies will have a chance to replace Taijuan Walker with the right-hander.

Sep 19, 2024; New York City, New York, USA; Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Taijuan Walker (99) pitches in the first inning against the New York Mets at Citi Field. / Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images

The unfortunate reality for the Philadelphia Phillies moving forward is that their regular season won't mean much to anyone. They could win 120 games, and everyone would only be focused on what they did in the playoffs.

While that's the price a contending team pays, that doesn't mean they shouldn't look to improve their rotation for the 2025 regular season. The Phillies playoff rotation looks set moving forward, but there are ways to improve that, too.

If they want to improve their starting rotation, replacing Taijuan Walker should be the top priority.

Philadelphia will likely have to eat some of Walker's money to move off of him, as a team taking him with the money he has remaining in his deal seems unlikely.

Never say never, but the chances of that happening are lower than ever before after the right-hander had a campaign to forget.

Depending on whether the Phillies move on from him, they'd have to replace him. They have a few youngsters who they might let eat those innings moving forward, but there are always worries about doing that due to most of them having little to no experience at the Big League level.

The better idea would be to have a proven veteran in that spot, and there's one on the market who fits that description.

That pitcher is Shane Bieber, who Philadelphia has been linked to over the past 12 months.

Jim Bowden of The Athletic predicted that Bieber would earn a low base salary with incentives, which would be the best outcome for the Phillies if they wanted him.

"Shane Bieber will likely be my pick for best value signing this offseason because of his upside. The AL Cy Young Award winner in 2020, he finished fourth in the voting in 2019 and seventh in 2022. He’s a two-time All-Star and a former Gold Glove winner. He made only two starts this year before undergoing Tommy John surgery, which will put him out of service until at least next summer. However, if he comes back healthy, whoever signs him might have a Cy Young-caliber pitcher for the second half of the season."

The only reason Bieber will be as cheap as Bowden predicted is because he had Tommy John surgery after starting in just two games.

While that's a worry for every team that wants to sign him, it's a risk Philadelphia should be comfortable taking after Walker was unplayable in 2024.