Starting Pitcher Linked to Phillies Signs Elsewhere in Free Agency

The Philadelphia Phillies will have to turn their attention elsewhere to add starting pitching after one of their targets was signed by another National League team this offseason.

Heading into the offseason, the Philadelphia Phillies were linked to a lot of players in free agency after their shocking collapse in the NLCS and the potential that Aaron Nola could be exiting.

It's no surprise either.

The Phillies have been major players on the open market, landing multiple marquee names the past few years.

However, a possible surprising factor for many was that Philadelphia is reportedly still looking to add starting pitching this offseason despite re-signing Nola for 2024 and beyond.

So, the players that they were previously linked to them are still seen as potential options for the Phillies.

One starter who kept popping up was Sonny Gray.

The 2023 AL Cy Young runner-up posted a 2.79 ERA across 32 starts and 184 innings pitched with the Minnesota Twins. That's the lowest ERA he's had since 2019 and the most innings pitched since 2015.

He would have been a great fit for Philadelphia's third starter role, however, the right-hander is now off the market after he signed a three-year, $75 million deal with the St. Louis Cardinals according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic.

The Cardinals have been heavily pursuing starting pitching this offseason and came up short in the race for Nola.

They also signed a former Phillies pitcher earlier in the cycle as they attempt to rebuild their rotation.

With Gray now off the market, it's expected that Philadelphia will continue their search for other starters. Yoshinobu Yamamoto is seemingly their top choice.

What type of budget that president of baseball operations, Dave Dombrowski, is able to work with is unknown right now, but if past deals have indicated anything, they'll continue to be a high-spending team to ensure they are true World Series contenders.