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Andrew Mccutchen is in Philly. Now what?

Now that Andrew McCutchen has signed a deal with the Phillies for 3 years, $50M with a club option, they can deploy Rhys Hoskins regularly at 1st base, especially now that Carlos Santana is gone. Not only that, but the Phillies got themselves a player in McCutchen who consistently gets on base, as he has a career .378 OBP, and sported a .421 OBP with the Yankees vs a .357 OBP with the Giants last season. Andrew will be a big help in that department, as the Phillies were 19th in OBP. McCutchen’s time in New York resulted in a .471 SLG, which also provides a big help to the Phillies, as they were 23rd. He also hit 20 points higher than the team as a whole during the 2018 season, where they were dead last with a .234 batting average.

The question is now, what’s next? Phillies owner John Middleton has stated that the Phillies will spend aggressively spend this offseason, as he stated "We’re going into this expecting to spend money. And maybe even be a little stupid about it." The Phillies have been tied to Manny Machado and Bryce Harper all offseason, but the signing of McCutchen likely nixed any dreams of Harper in a Phillies uniform. Manny Machado is still entirely possible for the Phillies, especially if they can convince him to make the move back to third base. If he still wants to play shortstop, Jean Segura can absolutely make the move to second, making Cesar Hernandez the odd man out.

Besides adding another bat, the Phillies are likely going to kick the tires on a Corey Kluber or Trevor Bauer trade, which would be huge since it would be another ace-level pitcher in the staff. However, the Phillies are probably going to go the Dallas Keuchel. A Cy Young winner in 2015, he doesn’t add much in the way of strikeouts, with a career 7.2 K/9, and a career-low 6.7 K/9 since becoming a full-time starter for the Astros. He allowed far too much contact this past season, with a career 211 hits allowed, a concerning number. If the Phillies are looking for a workhorse, however, Dallas is definitely their man, as he had 204.2 IP this season, and averages 216 IP over the course of a full season.

Zach Britton is another player that the Phillies are actively looking at as an option to bolster their bullpen. Britton could be an option to close for the Phillies or could be a solid bullpen piece if they decide to go with another player to close. Andrew Miller and Adam Ottavino are also bullpen options that the Phillies are actively looking at, and could be making their way over to Philadelphia sometime soon.

Who do you want the Phillies to go after next? Let me know down below.