SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. _ When the season ended, and Jeremy Hellickson had pitched for his third team in three years, the veteran right-hander did not hide his desire for some stability. He had worked for free agency. The idea of securing long-term employment with one franchise was something that enticed him.
And, even with the Phillies having made a $17.2 million offer for Hellickson's services in 2017, the pitcher appears ready to test the market.
His agent, Scott Boras, labeled Hellickson "probably the foremost under-30 pitcher on the market." It is Boras' job to advocate for his client, and that is what the agent has done this week at the general managers' meetings. He has canvassed teams to see the potential interest in Hellickson should he decline the Phillies' offer by Monday's deadline.
The initial returns, according to Boras, were strong.
"He had a (3.71) ERA in Philadelphia, which is a little bit of an offensive ballpark," a smirking Boras said. "He's done very, very well. He has a fresh arm. He's a guy who has the highest spin rate on breaking balls. He has a lot of components that tell you why he's successful _ command, change-up, breaking ball _ that are creating a lot of interest for a lot of teams in a marketplace where the free-agent market is very short on starting pitching. It's really advantageous for him."
The industry has been somewhat divided on whether Hellickson would accept the qualifying offer, but most signs have pointed to Hellickson, 29, opting for free agency because of the weak market. That will please the Phillies, who stand to gain a valuable draft pick, somewhere around No. 25 in the first round, as compensation for losing Hellickson.
The pick has future implications, but not immediate ones. General manager Matt Klentak has stressed the need for the 2017 Phillies to be better than the 2016 version, and the majority of that talk has centered on upgrading the offense. The Phillies have made their preference to build through pitching well known. But signing a veteran starter just because he is a veteran could be superfluous.
The Phillies have seven young pitchers on the 40-man roster who made starts for them in 2016: Jerad Eickhoff, Vince Velasquez, Aaron Nola, Zach Eflin, Jake Thompson, Adam Morgan, and Alec Asher. They will add the next wave of young starters this month to protect them from the Rule 5 draft. Those additions could include Ben Lively, Nick Pivetta, Mark Appel, Ricardo Pinto, Elniery Garcia, and Drew Anderson.
Some of those pitchers will be injured, others will reach the majors as bullpen arms, and a few require more seasoning. But it is a formidable inventory, one that the Phillies could augment in future seasons with a proven, topflight starter.
For now, they could go young in the rotation.
"We do have a nice volume of young pitching," Klentak said. "Some of them are experienced in the big leagues, and some of them are going to pitch at triple A this coming year. But we have young starters in volume to get us through the year. Ideally I'd like to create balance in everything we do and not rely exclusively on first-year big-leaguers or rely exclusively on 10-year veterans. I'd like a more balanced approach.
"But markets will develop how they develop, both in free agency and in trades. We have to be prepared to adjust."
