Where Will Phillies Turn for Outfielders If Bourn, Swisher Are Too Overpriced?
December 21, 2012 by Zachary D. Rymer
Filed under Fan News
The Philadelphia Phillies are on the lookout for an outfielder, but their dilemma is that they’re looking for Ferraris on a Toyota budget.
According to Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com, Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. isn’t liking the price tags he’s seeing on the free-agent market:
phillies gm amaro on top free agent OFs: “we feel like the demands are north of where we want to be.” eying trades too
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeymanCBS) December 20, 2012
Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer crunched the numbers last week and determined that the Phillies’ payroll projects to be over $170 million after arbitration and other things, leaving them precious little money to spend on an outfielder if they want to avoid the $179 million luxury tax threshold.
With so little money at their disposal, here’s a look at bargain outfielders the Phillies can pursue on the free-agent and trade markets.
Note: Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com unless otherwise noted. Salary and payroll information courtesy of Cot’s Baseball Contracts.