Third time’s the charm?
This week has shown that one of the Phillies biggest weak spots so far this season has been their middle relief. The trio of José Ruiz, Tanner Banks, and Joe Ross have struggled to get outs at a consistent basis and have a combined 6.55 ERA. Newcomer Carlos Hernandez, who was claimed on waivers just before Opening Day, has allowed 4 runs in just 6 innings pitched.
The back of the Phillies bullpen appears to be stabilizing despite having a big workload to start the year with all of the close games Philadelphia is playing. Jordan Romano started the season in an ugly manner, but he has since thrown three scoreless appearances. Still, there hasn’t been anything to shake the belief that the Phillies are at least one reliever short.
Could that reliever be David Robertson? The 40-year-old remains unsigned despite a solid 2024 where he appeared in 68 games for the Rangers and amassed a 3.00 ERA to go along with his best strikeout percentage (33.4) since 2017 and lowest walk rate (9.1%) since 2021. The velocity on his cutter was still right at his career average of 93 MPH.
Robertson has reportedly set his asking price at $10M, a lofty price for a 40-year-old reliever. But perhaps he’s willing to lower that price the longer he sits on the open market as the season progresses. Admittedly, it is unlikely the Phillies would be willing to meet his current reported asking price with how the front office approached last offseason.
But Phillies are at least familiar with Robertson and were interested in him before, as they’ve acquired him twice over the last six years under two different front office regimes. So, we pose the question to you: Should the Phillies call David Robertson and ask about his price? If his asking price drops, would you sign him? Or would you rather use the few spots the Phillies have for roster churn to see what they already have in the system and reassess at the trade deadline? Or should they ride it out with the current options they have and give more runway for correction?