The Philadelphia Phillies have had a solid offseason so far with Spring Training right around the corner. However, some interesting decisions were made this winter.
It was a tough end to the year for the Phillies in 2024. Despite coming into the postseason as one of the favorites to win the World Series, Philadelphia was only able to muster one win against the New York Mets in the National League Division Series.
Due to the early exit, many believed that the Phillies would be making some major changes to their roster.
Arguably the biggest splash for the team was actually in the starting rotation. With a need for a fifth starter, Philadelphia went above and beyond that by acquiring Jesus Luzardo from the Miami Marlins.
The young Southpaw isn’t a finished product just yet and battled injuries last year, but he’s got the stuff to be a front-end starter if he puts it together.
One of the other main areas that needed to be addressed was the bullpen. Coming into the winter, the Phillies had both Jeff Hoffman and Carlos Estevez as free agents. Hoffman was an All-Star for Philadelphia in 2024, and Estevez was an All-Star in 2023 with the Los Angeles Angels.
Both pitched very well for the Phillies last year, but with the early offseason signing of Jordan Romano, it seemed like both returning was unlikely.
That has proven to be true with Hoffman landing a nice deal with the Toronto Blue Jays, and very recently Estevez reportedly agreeing to a two-year with the Kansas City Royals.
The loss of both of these pitchers will likely be felt by Philadelphia, who is taking a little gamble on Romano getting back to form after a poor, injury-plagued 2024 campaign.
Estevez has proven to be able to close games over the past couple of years and has been very successful in high-leverage situations. While he was an All-Star in 2023, his better year was in 2024 with both the Angels and the Phillies.
The veteran right-hander was able to have a career-best 2.45 ERA. Also, while the sample size was small in the postseason this year, he did allow just one run in 2.2 innings pitched.
While he was only with the team for half of the season, his presence was certainly felt out of the bullpen. Philadelphia will have to hope that the decision to essentially go with Romano over him pays off.
Furthermore, it would be wise for Philadelphia to add at least one more veteran arm to the bullpen. With the reliever market starting to heat up, they should act quickly.
