Philadelphia Phillies: Worth investing into Ken Giles for the 2022 season?

Ken Giles could help the Philadelphia Phillies later down the road.

Whether we like it or not, it doesn’t seem like the Philadelphia Phillies are all that serious about competing in 2021. They let Didi Gregorius walk simply due to the $$$, they haven’t made any immediate “win now” moves since Dave Dombrowski arrived, and J.T. Realmuto is still on the open market.

With the Phils geared up for a “re-tool” of sorts, the team could start looking to pivot to 2022 as the start of their championship window. If that’s the route that this new-look front office decides to take, signing former Phillie closer Ken Giles makes an abundance of sense.

Nicknamed “100 miles Giles” for his unbelievable velocity, the right-hander has established himself as one of the better closers in all of baseball since 2014. He recorded sub-2.00 ERAs during his first two seasons with the Phillies, had a strong 2017 year with the Houston Astros, and then recorded another sub-2.00 ERA season with Toronto in 2019. With a fastball that routinely touches the triple digits, and a slider that creates a ton of swings and misses, Giles is essentially the picture perfect image of what a modern day closer should look like here in 2020.

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Unfortunately for Giles, he suffered an injury this past season which ultimately required the ever dreaded Tommy John surgery. He went under the knife in late September, and most projections have him missing the entire 2021 season. If he was healthy in a normal offseason, Giles would likely be fetching offers in the $10+ million range. However, considering his recent surgery (and declining revenue around the league), he might have to settle for something on the smaller side – with the longterm goal of returning to action sometime in 2022.

For the Philadelphia Phillies, this might actually be a bit of a favorable situation. They obviously already have a relationship with Giles, and have a pretty glaring need at the closer position. Throw in the fact that the Phillies reportedly want to lower payroll this winter, and snatching up Giles on a cheap two-year deal (due to his injury) would be a win-win situation.

Signing Giles to effectively rehab during the entire 2021 season is risky, especially considering the fact that there are other, healthy relievers still available to be signed. However, this type of approach to things could end up paying out huge rewards for the Phils later down the road. If Giles returns to action in strong form for the 2022 season, the Phillies would’ve landed themselves a top-end closer on the cheap.

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Now there’s an argument to be made that spending assets on an injured veteran is a bad idea, but the Phillies aren’t really in a position to be picky. Ownership doesn’t want to spend, the farm system is bare, and the in-house options at closer are below average. If Dombrowski can swing a deal to get Giles in the building for the 2022 campaign – he should just do it.

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