Philadelphia Phillies are the Betting Favorites to Land Bogaerts
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The Philadelphia Phillies are in hot pursuit of a superstar shortstop this offseason. After coming just two wins away from a World Series championship, a few tweaks, or in this case, one big splash, could make all the difference.
The odds changed on Tuesday morning. The Phillies were the favorites to land Trea Turner as recently as Monday with -125 odds, or a 55.6% chance according to OddsChecker. Those odds now stand at +175, behind the New York Yankees after an overnight shift leading into Tuesday.
Bogaerts is now the shortstop favored to sign with Philadelphia at +200.
On a surface level, a deal makes sense. Bogaerts and Phillies president of baseball operations, Dave Dombrowski, spent time together during their tenures with the Boston Red Sox. So, familiarity is there.
Bogaerts is also the best "pure" hitter out of the group of the four star shortstops available. His career slashline of .292/.356/.458 with 156 home runs over the course of 1,264 career games has earned him four MLB All-Star nods and five Silver Slugger awards.
However, Boagerts is the least talented defender of the group of free agent shortstops with a career -51 DRS at the position. He would fit right in with the new-look Phillies, all bat and no defense.
That said, Bogaerts will likely come with a slightly cheaper price tag than Carlos Correa or Turner, but he brings an arguably bigger bat to the lineup.
Regardless, any of the available shortstops would immediately make Philadelphia a more formidable contender as they gear up for another run at a World Series in 2023.
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