Update: 3:45 p.m. - Patrick Corbin is reportedly close to signing a six-year deal, believed to be with a team other than the Yankees.
With the Jean Segura acquisition official, the Phillies' sights remain aggressively set on left-hander Patrick Corbin.
According to USA Today's Bob Nightengale, the Phillies have "made it clear to Corbin that they won't be outbid."
Hey now.
This is very interesting because the assumption all along has been that Corbin would sign with the Yankees, the team he grew up rooting for. The Yankees, obviously, are a rich franchise not used to being outbid. Their need for Corbin lessened when they traded for James Paxton a few weeks ago, but they'd still love to fill out their rotation with another top-notch lefty.
Corbin is expected by many to make his decision as soon as this week.
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Corbin is great, no doubt about it. Few lefties in the game get more swings-and-misses or strikeouts, few have a pitch as electric as his wipeout slider.
But Corbin is going to cost an insane amount of money. Yu Darvish signed a six-year, $126 million contract with the Cubs last offseason. That will undoubtedly be the starting point for Corbin, especially with two of the four richest teams in baseball vying for his services. My personal projection for Corbin is six years, $162 million. It's $27 million per year, compared to Darvish's $21M per year or the $24 million AAV on Cole Hamels' big contract.
This is what "stupid money" means, apparently. The Phillies already added about $35 million in future payroll with the Segura trade, are poised to make Corbin an enormous offer, and they remain focused on landing one of Manny Machado or Bryce Harper.
Spend it if ya got it, right?
