CLEARWATER, Fla. - Even though the Grapefruit League schedule starts on Friday and opening day is less than six weeks away, the Phillies are still hungry to improve their pitching.
In an interview with John Clark of NBC Sports Philadelphia on Tuesday, Phillies owner John Middleton said the team was "very" active in pursuing potential upgrades. Middleton went on to say that he would "love" to do something on that front.
Middleton made the comments as a number of attractive free-agent pitchers, including Jake Arrieta, Alex Cobb and Lance Lynn, remain unsigned.
"We're having talks every single day with different people," Middleton said.
Middleton gets updates on those talks regularly from general manager Matt Klentak.
"Matt kind of now knows me, when we walk in the office and see each other for the first time he basically says [since] the last time I talked to you, John, at 5 o'clock yesterday afternoon nothing happened or this has happened," Middleton said with a laugh. "Then I'll see him at lunch time and still nothing has happened or this has happened. We have a lot of conversations about that."
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Middleton is eager to win, but he remains committed to seeing the rebuild through. Klentak has often said he won't make a shortsighted move that would jeopardize the future. He has said his goal is to play in October for a decade, not just one year. That's Middleton's goal, too.
If the Phillies were to make an upgrade on the pitching side in the coming days or weeks, it would have to be on their terms. They have been in continuous contact with Arrieta's representatives all winter, but won't go to five or more years to sign the right-hander who turns 32 in March. If Arrieta were willing to sign a deal in the two- to four-year range, the Phillies would definitely have interest (more on all that here).
Stay tuned on that one. Camps are open. Free agents Eric Hosmer and J.D. Martinez have signed in recent days. Like Arrieta, they are represented by Scott Boras. The pitching logjam looks ready to break and could have an impact in Philadelphia, where the Phillies are methodically striving to become playoff relevant again.
"We wouldn't be out talking to people the way we are if we didn't think that we could get that little extra push," Middleton said. "I think we all feel this way. [It] just has to be done in an intelligent, thoughtful and reasonable way.
"But, yeah, I'd love to do something."
