The Phillies have six starting pitchers in camp: Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels, Kyle Kendrick, Miguel Gonzalez, Roberto Hernandez, and Jon Pettibone. Of those six, two finished the year on the disabled list (Kendrick and Pettibone) and one has never thrown a single pitch in Major League Baseball (Gonzalez). Hamels and Lee are solid starters, but Hernandez failed to hold on to his rotation spot for all of 2013. The Phillies would be much better off adding one more veteran starter that they can reasonably count on. Many suggested that free agent starter A.J. Burnett would fit the Phillies nicely.
Nick Carfardo of the Boston Globe believes the Phillies are right in on Burnett:
We mentioned last week that the Orioles could be the wild card for Burnett because he lives in Baltimore. And it’s really looking like a Baltimore-Philadelphia-Pittsburgh runoff for his services. Landing Burnett would be a coup for the Orioles, who need a top pitcher to compete with the Red Sox, Rays, and Yankees. Of course, as in all things Orioles, it comes down to money. It also wouldn’t shock this reporter if the Yankees were trying to get Burnett back.
Signing Burnett would allow the Phillies to stash Pettibone at AAA and give Gonzalez time in AAA or the bullpen to become sharp.
The Phillies may have a good shot, if they're willing to spend the money. As Matt Gelb noted in the Philadelphia Inqurier, Burnett is a close family friend of Phillies Assistant General Manager Scott Proefrock. Philadelphia is not all that far from his Maryland home, and Burnett spent plenty of time in the National League East early in his career.
Yesterday on MLB Network Radio, host Jeff Rickard speculated that maybe Burnett recanted on his stated early-offseason "Pittsburgh or retirement" plan due to a low-ball offer by the Pirates that caused Burnett to look elsewhere. The Pirates may not wish to spend 18% of their payroll on Burnett, as Cory Weibel of the Three Rivers Burgh Blog notes. Weibel points out that the Pirates have five solid internal options, Gerritt Cole, Wandy Rodriguez, Francisco Liriano, Charlie Morton, and Edinson Volquez.
Finally, the success that Burnett has had in the National League may want him to stay there. Further, the Orioles have not spent much money thus far. After Grant Balfour's deal collapsed over the Orioles claiming he failed a physical, teams may be hesitant to sign with Baltimore. The last thing Burnett needs to close his career is someone to overly-scrutinize his physical. The one thing going for Burnett and Balitmore is that he resides in Monkton, Maryland.
So, Burnett is probably available for the signing…if the Phillies are willing. I would recommend that they take Burnett to give themselves an option if a couple starters do not work out. We learned the hard way last year what happens when the rotation has holes. This type of depth would give the Phillies a much better shot in 2014.
