Which Starting Pitcher Should The Phillies Target?

PHILADELPHIA, PA — With the signing of Carlos Santana and relievers Pat Neshek and Tommy Hunter, the Phillies lineup and bullpen seem to be largely set for opening day 2018. That means the bulk of management's attention is likely on boosting the team's starting rotation.

General manager Matt Klentak has stated that the goal is to find a controllable young starter, who presumably has a high ceiling. While there are a few potential options on the free agent and trade market, there is one who stands above the rest as the best, and perhaps the most likely, choice for Philadelphia: Chris Archer of the Tampa Bay Rays.

Of all available pitchers, Archer, 29, is arguably the best right now, and he is arguably the pitcher that will provide the most years of ace-level work. He's more than two years younger than free agents Jake Arrieta and Yu Darvish, and he has shown far more consistency than other controllable starters the Phillies could target, like Danny Duffy of the Royals and Gerrit Cole of the Pirates.

Perhaps most importantly, however (and the factor which makes this trade more likely than the others), the Phillies and Rays match up well as trade partners. The Rays lack positional depth and several high ceiling pitching prospects; the Phillies have an abundance of outfielders and infielders, but lack proven, major league ready starting pitching.

The rebuilding Rays just dealt away franchise cornerstone, Evan Longoria. As they probably have no hope of competing with the star studded Yankees or Red Sox in the AL East this year or next, they're looking to shed salary and probably get younger, while improving their positional depth.

The Phillies can help them do all three of those things. Archer would fetch a ransom, justifiably so, and the Phillies are among the few teams that could provide it and still remain strong. Here's a look at a potential deal:

• Phillies receive: SP Chris Archer, CF Denard Span (taking on most of his salary)
• Rays receive: 1B Tommy Joseph, OF Aaron Altherr, OF Dylan Cozens, OF Cornelius Randolph, SP Zach Eflin, player to be named later

This deal works because the Rays have a number of young players either in the majors or on the cusp. They could rebuild very quickly, in time for the years of cheap control provided by Hernandez and Altherr to benefit them. The young Rays outfield of Steven Souza Jr., Kevin Kiermaier, and Altherr would be promising. Joseph, meanwhile, could play first most of the time, while Brad Miller could shift to second, where's he played before, with Adeiny Hecchavaria and former Giants propsect Christian Arroyo on the left side of the infield. Corey Dickerson could also shift to the outfield and give Joseph some reps at designated hitter.

Eflin, meanwhile, provides the Rayswith depth at the back of the rotation, while Cozens is a high ceiling, low floor prospect who will struggle to find at bats in Philadelphia and who is probably better suited for the American League, anyway. Randolph, a first round pick, would be the wild card of the deal, akin to the Phillies picking up Mark Appel in the Ken Giles trade.

The Phillies, meanwhile, get a veteran presence in Span, and in turn take his salary off the Rays' hands. And in Archer they get one of the pre-eminent young arms in the game, a 2017 All Star with a career ERA of 3.63. He also has proven himself consistent, throwing 194 innings or more each year since 2014. With Aaron Nola and Archer at the front, and Jerad Eickhoff and Ben Lively at the back, the Phillies could be just one or two starters away from a very competitive rotation.

The Royals and Danny Duffy also match up well with the Phillies, but the direction of the Royals organization as a whole is more difficult to predict. They don't appear to have the pieces to improve on their 80 win season of last year, especially with the loss of slugger Eric Hosmer, and thus could be headed for a full rebuild. In that case, players like Tommy Joseph, Aaron Altherr, and Cesar Hernandez, all currently in their primes, might not bear the same attraction.

(AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)