The Winter Meetings are in full swing and the Phillies have already made a big move to bolster their bullpen, inking forer Rays reliever Tommy Hunter to an $18 million deal and bringing back last year’s All Star Pat Neshek for $16 million.
According to reports, the team is turning it attention to the rotation next and rumors have swirled that Philly was investigating potentially making a move for Zach Greinke, currently with the Diamondbacks. Other top options on the market include Jake Arrieta and Yu Darvish, but it seems as though the Phils could go more low key as far pitching does.
As for position players, the Manny Machado rumors are dying down a bit but aren’t dead, and two Phils position players — Freddy Galvis and Cesar Hernandez — have been being shopped around the league. With regard to the Phils depth at infield, the two aformentioned players are blocking younger and potentially more talented position players like secon baseman Scott Kingery and shortstop J.P. Crawford.
NBCSP’s Jim Salisbury reports that the Phils are aggressively trying to trade Galvis, and that a deal sending Hernandez to the Angels was discussed (and the Angels refuse to pay too high a price for him) before L.A. decided to acquire Ian Kinsler instead.
As for realistic acquisitions go, Christian Yelich is a target, other sources say. It’s the Marlins — who recently made blockbuster headlines trading slugger Giancarlo Stanton to New York — who are wrestling with whether to move the former first round pick. Yelich hit .282 last year and .298 in 2016.
After Miami send Marcel Ozuna to the Cardinals, it futher confirms speculation that the team is in full firesale mode — meaning Yelich could be available to help add some high volume hitting to the Phils outfield.
