After another lackluster season, the Philadelphia Phillies offseason is ripe with plenty of needs that need to be addressed.
The most notable need is bullpen help. This has been the story of the Philadelphia Phillies for most of the past five years; however, there are many other positional needs that also could be improved. The most logical fixer upper will be the Phillies outfield.
Reports out of Philadelphia are saying that the Phillies will once again be making a lot of noise in the free agent market.
Three outfielders that they are keying in on are Jacoby Ellsbury, Shin Soo-Choo, and Nelson Cruz. Ellsbury is by far the bigger name but his injury history may scare the Phillies away from bringing him to the City of Brotherly Love. Instead the Phillies offseason will most likely focus on Shin Soo-Choo and spend the big money to bring in multiple arms for their bullpen.
The Phillies could improve their outfield by adding any of these players with Dom Brown and Ben Revere but the question is how much better will they actually get. The team’s success still largely depends on the success of Ryan Howard. Over the past few seasons, Howard has not produced at the level that the Phillies had hoped. There is even talk during the Phillies offseason of the team using a platoon at first base to decrease the wear and tear on Howard’s body.
I am sure that there will be plenty more rumors over the next two months for Phillies fans to discuss and most of these rumors will consist of the “big money” free agents but the truth is it is the moves that the Phillies make for the little known free agents that will mean the most. It is easy to look at the Jacoby Ellsburys of the world and see the impact that he would have on the Phillies rosters but if the bullpen plays as it has recently the Phillies will yet again be doomed.