Philadelphia Phillies: Jose Urena interest signals desire to add a 5th starter

The Philadelphia Phillies are in the market for a fifth starter.

Heading into the offseason, it was unclear as to what the Philadelphia Phillies would do in regards to their starting rotation. The team has a borderline elite trio in Nola/Wheeler/Eflin, and Spencer Howard is expected to bounce-back after an up and down first season, but there is still a glaring hole at the fifth spot in the rotation.

After three brutal years in a Phillies uniform, Jake Arrieta finally departed this offseason, freeing up $20 million in salary while simultaneously opening up a spot in the rotation for someone new. While it was unreasonable to expect the Phillies to target one of the bigger fish like Trevor Bauer (considering their current financial status), the general consensus was that they’d be able to bring in a veteran, or bounce-back candidate, on a cheap 1-2 year deal.

Names like Jake Odorizzi, Cole Hamels, and Julio Teheran were all tossed out there as arms who’d fit the bill in terms of what the Philadelphia Phillies should be targeting.

More from Section 215

However, when it was announced that the Phillies were in fact retaining Vince Velasquez for at least another season, this threw a ripple into what the team’s starting rotation could look like in 2021. After a disastrous 2020 campaign, pretty much everyone thought Velasquez would be a guy the Phils would let go this offseason. His return not only revealed a heightened sense of loyalty to the right-hander, but it also brought into light the potential for him to land a permanent spot in the rotation moving forward.

With Arrieta out of town, and no-one else in the minor leagues who could come up and realistically start 30+ games, “Vinny Velo” is legitimately Joe Girardi’s best option in that fifth starting pitcher position.

However, a little bit of news dropped the other day that could signal the team pivoting in a different direction.

According to Jon Heyman and Robert Murray, the Phillies were at least in the running for free agent right-hander Jose Urena. The ex-Marlin ultimately signed with the Detroit Tigers for $3.25 million, but the Phillies being in the mix for him is important.

Urena has messed around as a reliever at times, but he’s predominately been used as a starter throughout his major league career. It’s hard to imagine the Phils would’ve reached out to him if it wasn’t about a spot in their rotation, and their interest in adding another arm could spill over into the rest of free agency as well.

Obviously, the Phillies didn’t land Urena, and that’s okay ($3.25 million is probably too much for him anyways). The point is that Dave Dombrowski isn’t oblivious to the fact that Velasquez isn’t a reliable fifth starter at the moment. Him being in the mix for a cheap veteran starter like Urena is promising, and my guess is that the Phillies will reach out to other players similar to Urena at some point this offseason.

dark. Next. 3 reasons to be excited about the Philadelphia Phillies new-look front office

Getting Velasquez out of the rotation and into the bullpen (where he belongs) is a great first step towards fixing the Phillies many problems.

Home/Philadelphia Phillies