Following the seven-year contract that the Philadelphia Phillies signed Aaron Nola to, rumors began to spread that Dave Dombrowski might not be done in the starting pitcher market.
The Phillies have a strong rotation at the top thanks to Nola and Zack Wheeler’s one-two punch, but it appears that they were interested in adding another player.
The pool of pitchers they could realistically pursue was small, as they already had one of the biggest payrolls in baseball.
But during the early offseason, Eduardo Rodriguez’s name had been mentioned in relation to Philadelphia.
The left-hander recently finished a season with 26 starts and a career-low ERA of 3.30 with the Detroit Tigers. With three years left on his contract, he made the decision to opt out of his five-year, $77 million agreement in order to reenter free agency
Rodriguez was rumored to be looking at East Coast teams to be closer to his family, one of the reasons why he had been linked with the Phillies. That report was disputed when it came out that he was open to playing anywhere.
Now, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan, the lefty has signed a deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks who eliminated Philadelphia in the 2023 National League Championship Series.
According to Jon Heyman of The New York Post, it’s a four-year, $80 million deal with a vesting option to raise it to $100 million.
The Diamondbacks’ rotation, which was lacking a reliable starter to complement their ace Zac Gallen, will benefit greatly from this.
Regarding the Phillies, there may not have been as much internal interest as reporters had previously suggested. His signed contract indicates that the financial commitment was higher than what they were willing to pay for a starting pitcher.
Now, if they really want to add players to their rotation, they’ll have to look elsewhere.
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