The Philadelphia Phillies have gone big in free agency for the past five years. Now, it's time to see if they will go nuclear.
There are a lot of things working in the Phillies' favor right now: elite pitching, a star-studded lineup, and a phenomenal clubhouse culture, just to name a few. But the one thing working against them is time.
Bryce Harper, the Phillies' signature superstar, has been on the team for six seasons now, and has yet to win a championship. There have been close calls, and Harper is still only 31 (32 in October), but there's immense pressure to win a ring while he wears the cherry pinstripes.
There's one simple way to extend the championship window, though. All it requires is shelling out millions upon millions of dollars for the generational superstar heading to free agency.
On Thursday, Jon Heyman of the New York Post discussed several potential fits for New York Yankees superstar Juan Soto, and singled out the Phillies as a match for the four-time All-Star.
"The Phillies are a serious team that could make sense," Heyman said.
In a separate article Thursday, Heyman referenced a poll of 13 experts that estimated Soto's contract would total $520 million on average. But Heyman also believed that to be conservative, saying "the guess here" is that the number is close to $600 million.
If anyone is worth that money, it's a hitter who has proven to be as prolific as he is at Soto's incredibly young age. Compiling 200 home runs, 763 walks, and 36.2 wins above replacement before a player's 26th birthday is borderline ludicrous.
The Phillies can also sell Soto on the potential of a reunion with Harper, who was his teammate in Washington for a season before moving on to the Phillies. The thought of those two lefty bats in the same order is enough to rob even the best pitchers of sleep.
Ultimately, it comes down to how far the Phillies are willing to go. Soto's other suitors, the Yankees and New York Mets, will have deep pockets. If the Phillies' pockets are just as deep, perhaps they can lure Soto down I-95 to Citizens Bank Park.
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