Philadelphia Phillies: Stay far, far away from the likes of Jake Arrieta
By David Esser
After his 2020 season was cut short due to a nasty looking hamstring injury, former Philadelphia Phillies RHP Jake Arrieta has spent much of the past few months rehabbing and getting back into throwing shape. In a showcase that he held for major league scouts, the former Cy Young winning right-hander reportedly looked pretty good.
Hear Jake Arrieta look very good at his showcase in Austin, Texas last week. Cubs reunion would be cool but no word on teams yet.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) January 31, 2021
Taking into the account the Phillies need for an extra starter towards the back-end of their rotation (Matt Moore isn’t really cutting it for me), bringing back someone like Arrieta would normally intrigue the likes of Dave Dombrowski. After all, Arrieta is a former All-Star who was legitimately the best pitcher in all of baseball once upon a time. Throw in the fact that he’s spent the last three seasons in Philadelphia, and a quick and easy return to the team appears to make sense on paper.
Philadelphia Phillies should have zero interest in Jake Arrieta.
However, despite Arrieta’s impressive resume pre-Philadelphia, the front office needs to stay far, far away from the right-hander. Not only was Arrieta impressively bad for the Phillies over the course of his three-year/$75 million contract (4.36 ERA), but he was simply not a very good fit for the team’s culture and clubhouse.
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Fans never really meshed with the former World Series champ, and there were a handful of clubhouse related incidents that just didn’t sit well with people connected to the team. Compare that to the likes of Didi Gregorius, who earned the love and affection of Phillies nation by being good at baseball, and by being an all-around great person.
Like I mentioned previously, the Phillies genuinely do need another arm at the back of their rotation. Spencer Howard is set to be on an innings limit in 2021, Zach Eflin is still no surefire thing at the #3 spot, and the likes of Matt Moore and Vince Velasquez are pretty much wildcards. With that said, there is an absurd amount of starting pitching talent still available on the open market.
Names likes James Paxton, Taijuan Walker, Cole Hamels, Jake Odorizzi, and Julio Teheran all stick out to me, to name a few. All would instantly slot in as a “plus” arm towards the back of the Phillies rotation, and all would excite the fanbase to a far greater extent than the likes of bringing back Arrieta. There’s simply zero reason to try and mend relations with Jake, regardless of how good he looked during his showcase.
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Philadelphia reportedly had at least one scout at Arrieta’s throwing session, which isn’t surprising (it’s always smart for teams to do their due diligence). However, I wouldn’t view that as the Phillies having serious interest in the veteran right-hander. Dombrowski and company have been keeping an eye on all sorts of free agent pitching this offseason, with the general consensus being that at least one more starter and reliever will be added when it’s all said and done.