Philadelphia Phillies: 3 veteran FA pitchers better than Anibal Sanchez
By David Esser
Felix Hernandez
Felix Hernandez initially signed with the Atlanta Braves last offseason, but ultimately decided to opt out due to concerns surrounding COVID-19. After a full year’s worth of rest and rehab away from the sport, he’d be the perfect type of arm to buy low on here in 2021.
Once regarded as one of the top pitchers in all of baseball, “King Felix” started regressing hard once he turned 30 years old. His ERA skyrocketed up into the 4.00-6.00 range, and he routinely struggled with injuries. His most recent season (2019) wasn’t particularly good, so it’s hard to deem him a bounce back candidate. However, Hernandez is only 34 years old, a full 2+ years younger than the likes of Animal Sanchez.
Signing a veteran pitcher as a depth piece, just for them to get injured due to old age, would be a pretty disastrous result for Dave Dombrowski’s Phillies. The team has limited assets, so you really want to avoid shelling out money for someone who could miss a majority of the 2021 season. Felix being a little bit younger provides some level of insurance that he’ll be more available moving forward.
It’s also worth mentioning that Felix could likely be had on a minor league deal due to his year-long absence away from the MLB. Considering just how tight finances are around baseball at the moment, having a veteran of Hernandez’ prestige on a minor league contract, as a depth piece, would be pretty sweet.