Phillies Have 'Little Appetite' In Signing All-Star Closer
The Philadelphia Phillies may be out on at least one option to serve as their closer in 2024.
USA Today reported on Sunday that the Phillies “have shown little appetite” to pursue the top closer on the free-agent market, San Diego’s Josh Hader. The publication ranked the world champion Texas Rangers as the “heavy favorite” to sign the closer.
Hader turned into a bullpen star in 2018, when he became an All-Star for the first time as he went 6-1 with a 2.43 ERA and racked up 12 saves.
Since then, Hader has gone to four more All-Star Games, including in 2023, and has gone 20-21 with a 2.50 ERA and 165 saves.
If that’s the case, then what’s next for the Phillies when it comes to a closer.
Last year’s closer, Craig Kimbrel, is a free agent and he could still be an option. He went 8-6 last season with a 3.26 ERA and saved 23 games in his age 35 season. Kimbrel has been in the Majors since 2010 and has 417 career saves.
He saved three games this postseason, but he was also rocked by Arizona in the NL Championship Series, as he gave up five hits and four runs in three innings of work and went 0-2 with one save.
The Phillies may see Kimbrel as a back-up plan as they explore the rest of the market.
The full-time closer market in free agency is thin beyond Hader. Most of the options are similar to Kimbrel in age, including Texas’ Will Smith and Miami’s David Robertson.
It’s not clear if the Phillies have an internal option. The most experienced one would be Jose Alvarado, who had 10 saves for the Phillies in 2023. That was a career high, and he has 32 saves for his career. If the Phillies don’t acquire anyone else for the role, it could fall to him.
The Phillies could also dip into the free-agent market for a high-leverage arm that could become a closer. Milwaukee’s Jordan Hicks has a live arm and has 32 career saves but has never been a full-time closer.
Other potential free agents to watch would be the New York Yankees’ Wandy Peralta, Houston’s Phil Maton and the Chicago White Sox’s Reynaldo López
