5 Dream Free-Agent Pickups for Philadelphia Phillies

The Philadelphia Phillies are headed for a critical offseason. With holes in the bullpen, rotation, at right field and at catcher, the Phillies will have some work to do this offseason if they plan on fielding a contender in 2014.

Even if the Phillies can’t realistically expect to contend for the postseason in 2014, they can still do more than just patchwork. While this year’s free-agent crop is thin, it’s headlined by its fair share of stars who could make an impact on any of MLB‘s 30 teams.

Given the Phillies’ already hefty payroll and likely unwillingness to exceed the $189 million luxury tax, they will only be able to do so much with their vacant dollars on the free-agency front. While it’s not far-fetched to think that the Phillies could sign a top free agent, the chances that they will sign three or four are probably slim to none.

With free agency officially starting at 12:01 a.m. EST Tuesday, November 5, the clock is ticking for general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. and Co. to determine which positions should be prioritized and who to sign to fill them. If he had his way, chances are that Amaro would sign the top free agents at each necessary position.

Today, that’s what we’re going to consider.

Amaro has the resources to sign at least one of the five players to be mentioned in this slideshow. Here are five dream free-agent pickups the Phillies would want to (and could) make.

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