MLB insider believes this 10-year veteran would be ‘perfect fit’ for Philadelphia Phillies

The Phillies also reportedly made third baseman Alec Bohm and right fielder Nick Castellanos available in trades, to no avail.

They did sign an outfielder, though — left-handed hitter Max Kepler, who slashed just .253/.302/.380, with a below-average 91 OPS+ (indicating he was nine percent worse than the league-average hitter), and a paltry eight home runs in 105 games in 2024.

It’s not what Phillies fans were hoping for. Instead, the Phillies are banking on their offensive stars like Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber, Trea Turner, and J.T. Realmuto to lead them back to the playoffs and their first World Series championship since 2008.

However, with spring training still over a month away, one team insider believes this free agent would be a “perfect fit” for the Phillies.

Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski recently told reporters that he would be “surprised” if the team signed any “impactful-type” of offensive bats.

“I don’t want to say it’s a tight payroll. From an ownership perspective, I don’t think I’ve ever gone to [owner] John [Middleton] on anything and him say, ‘No, don’t do something.’ But you still try to keep things in perspective. We’re over $300 million in the threshold. Everybody we sign is a major penalty at this point. So you’re cognizant of that,” Dombrowski stated.

The Phillies are projected to have the second-highest payroll in baseball in 2025 at an estimated $307.6 million, according to FanGraphs. Since the Phillies are above the highest tax threshold of $301 million, they must pay a 110% tax for every dollar overage.