Recent reports from baseball insiders point to the Philadelphia Phillies becoming players in what remains of the free agent market. With a number of high-caliber free agents still available, it seems many interested teams are anticipating contract demands to soften with spring training camps now underway.
The Phillies have been connected to a number of free agents recently, but in the last week, a name that is starting to gain some traction among insiders is versatile All-Star Whit Merrifield.
Following the recent knee injury to left fielder Brandon Marsh and questions about how Johan Rojas’ bat will adapt to major league pitching, the Phillies have been looking to address the questionable outfield depth on the current 40-man roster. According to MLB Network’s Jon Morosi, the market for Merrifield is starting to heat
Free agent Whit Merrifield is moving closer to a decision, source says, and is expected to agree to terms by the end of the weekend
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) February 15, 2024
While Morosi stopped short of naming the five teams vying for Merrifield’s services, the added information in the report that a deal could get done by the end of this weekend points to his market developing swiftly. Are the Phillies one of those five teams?
Insider Robert Murray from FanSided remarked on Thursday’s The Baseball Insiders podcast that he has heard the same rumblings about Merrfield’s timeline.
“Everything that Jon Morosi put out today about Whit Merrifield, I have heard similar things,” Murray said. “So it would not surprise me if a signing ended up happening at some point this week.”
While he said that he doesn’t know what team will eventually sign Merrifield, he did say the Phillies are one of the teams in on the former All-Star.
