Philadelphia Phillies Predicted to Land Four-Time All-Star at Trade Deadline
After the Philadelphia Phillies are coming out of an offseason that was surprisingly quiet compared to their standards, it’s likely that any future roster upgrades are going to come at the trade deadline.
Barring anything disastrous, the Phillies will be buyers.
That allows the front office to look ahead and see which players might be worth giving up future assets to get onto their roster for the stretch run.
With their lineup and rotation filled with star power, the weakest point of the club is their bullpen.
That’s why Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report thinks Philadelphia will land four-time All-Star Kenley Jansen ahead of the trade deadline in a deal with the Boston Red Sox.
This likely doesn’t come as a huge shock.
Jansen has been linked to the Phillies a couple times during the winter, but nothing came to fruition.
The Red Sox had a horrendous offseason of their own and likely will find themselves as sellers at the deadline.
Philadelphia could potentially land Jansen for cheap as he’s in the final year of his contract before hitting free agency following the season.
The veteran would be a huge addition this bullpen.
Despite the poor reputation that he’s gotten the past few years, Jansen has converted 108-of-124 save opportunities, good for 87 percent, in the last three seasons according to Miller. Compare that to Craig Kimbrel’s 82 percent rate, and that bodes much better for the Phillies.
Bullpen arms seem to always be a hot commodity at the deadline and Boston might be fielding multiple offers for him.
That could drive the price up and potentially keep Philadelphia out of the sweepstakes if the asking rate becomes too high.
Either way, Jansen will be a player to monitor throughout the year to see if he’s worth acquiring for the Phillies’ stretch run.
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