The Phillies announced this morning that they’ve signed left-hander Matt Strahm to a one-year extension. The deal comes with a vesting club option for the 2026 campaign. The ACES client had been slated to hit free agency following the 2024 campaign. Per a report from MLBTR’s Steve Adams, the deal will guarantee Strahm $7.5MM in 2025, and the option will vest for that same amount if he pitches at least 60 innings in 2025.
Strahm, 32, signed a two-year, $15MM deal with the Phillies prior to the 2023 season. His first season in Philadelphia was a resounding success, as he posted a strong 3.29 ERA with a nearly-matching 3.24 FIP in 87 2/3 innings while splitting time between the club’s rotation and bullpen. While the southpaw held his own during his time in the club’s rotation with a 4.05 ERA in 33 1/3 innings, he was nothing short of dominant in relief as he posted a sparkling 2.82 ERA while striking out 30.1% of batters faced during that time. That led the Phillies to look for additional starting pitching depth this winter, in part so they could keep Strahm in a full-time relief role rather than swing him between the rotation and bullpen as dictated by injuries to the club’s starting staff. With the club’s offseason signing of right-hander Spencer Turnbull to act as a swing man, Strahm appears poised to have a bullpen-only role for at least the start of the 2024 campaign.
The deal makes plenty of sense for the Phillies, as the club stood to lose not only Strahm but also Turnbull and Jeff Hoffman from its relief corps this winter. By extending Strahm, they’ve fortified their bullpen for 2025 and perhaps 2026, allowing the lefty to join the likes of Jose Alvarado, Seranthony Dominguez, and Gregory Soto as a late-inning option for at least the next two seasons. It’s a bullpen mix that was incredibly productive for Philadelphia last year, as the club’s relief corps ranked seventh in the majors with a 3.58 ERA while the group’s fWAR was only bested by the Dodgers and Orioles.
Of course, the deal isn’t without risk on the part of Philadelphia. After all, Strahm has dealt with plenty of injuries through his eight years in the majors. The southpaw has a history of knee issues dating back to his time with the Royals back in 2017, when he underwent surgery on his left patella tendon. His knee issues lingered over the next several years and he underwent surgery once again as a member of the Padres in 2020, this time on his right patella tendon. Aside from that history of knee problems, Strahm has more recently dealt with a wrist issue that left him on the shelf for a month in 2022 while pitching for the Red Sox.
Even with Strahm’s injury history, landing a quality relief arm capable of pitching out of the rotation on a one-year guarantee is a smart move for a Phillies front office that has prioritized continuity this offseason, re-signing Aaron Nola to a seven-year pact back in November while extending ace Zack Wheeler on a three-year, $126MM contract earlier this month. Had Strahm produced similar results out of the bullpen this year as he did in 2023, it would’ve been reasonable to expect him to slot in towards the top of the left-handed relief market this winter alongside the likes of Tanner Scott and A.J. Minter. Teams looking for left-handed bullpen help this coming winter will now have one less option at their disposal, though those aforementioned names as well as veterans such as Aroldis Chapman, Matt Moore, and Brooks Raley all figure to be provide clubs will plenty of options.
Good idea.
His hair alone is worth a contract extension. Good move Dom
ren – The last thing his hair needs is extensions.
Man when they signed him last year a lot of people panned the deal like Dombrowski ruined the market for MLB? A year later, signing looks like an A.
Good move keeping Straham around.
cp – I knew it was a good move last year, he pitched well for the Sox despite being badly misused by Cora.
Dombrowski may overpay on occasion, but he’s an excellent evaluator of talent.
I really like how DD works. I certainly was not sure about the Strahm deal when they signed him, but they have been working the market to find pitching opportunities so much better under DD than before. Smart to keep him..
Is it OK for me to play cranky old man and state that this trend for stringy long hair and / or awful beards for baseball players is silly looking? OK, now get off my lawn…..
If you can’t beat them, join them (here)?
cpdpoet- some folks around here automatically hate on the people at the top of their fields. It’s like that’s the only way they know how to deal with their obvious jealousy. One only needs to read the comments in the Ohtani articles to see if play out.
DD is a HoF Exec, the Phillies are lucky to have him.
I liked this for Philly after Cora resurrected Strahm’s career.
cora had very little to do with it
I love this move for my Phils!
He’s our Swiss Army Knife…not a role he can’t fill…great move!…Now, lock up Stott and Bohm!!!
kutch – I put down money on Stott being this year’s stolen base champion, I really think it’s possible.
FPG…that is a possibility, I don’t think Atlanta is going to let Acuna run wild again, after his knee scare in Spring Training…
Is Acuna out for 3-4 months?
It’s interesting w/ the Walker injury.
Looks like Turnbull will start the season in the rotation, but he hasn’t really pitched since his @150ip in 2019. He took a full slate of starts in ’20, but still only 56ip.
Wonder what his ip threshholdwill be in ’24 and if that means that Strahm will garner a few starts as well? He threw well in his 10g last year.
Best thing is, he’s a part of the pen for at least these 2 seasons.
Strahm – effective LH are so valuable esp. against division rival ATL.
Seems to me the PHI have a lot of good short term options to fill Walkers spot in the rotation. They shouldn’t feel the need to rush him back even if he is out till the AS Break. This MIGHT make the PHI more motivated to pounce on a P who won’t make the 40 man roster, pick up a waiver claim. I would be surprised if they sign Monty now but not Clevinger who would cost less.
Stott for sure would be a good extension. Bohm, not so much.
He’s a pretty decent reliever who can work multiple innings and fill in as a starter if needed. He pretty much was the only reliable member of our rotation for the first few weeks last year, so I’m alright with this deal.
Good move, he’s a valuable part of our pen. Topper will be using him to follow up Turnbull pretty often I’d imagine. If Turnbull can give us 4 or 5 solid innings, Strahm can follow up and pave the way to our back end guys.
Too pricey for the Red Sox
Strahm is perfect for today’s game of free swingers. I think if you stood there with bat on your shoulder he would walk you every time. True Definition of Effectively Wild. Good for him on using his deception to pitch on a championship team
How do figure as Strahm’s 2023 walk rate was 2.2 BB/9 with a WHIP of 1.015? Both figures are above average for relievers.
I love guys like this. 10 GS, 15 relief appearances> 1 IP, and a couple of saves,
Love this.
Strahm had a fine 2023, but there tends to be a price for adding old players to an old roster. (Hey, Met fans.)
I’ll be interested to see how Strahm holds up this season and next after his variegated year last year. The success rate after mixed seasons even remotely resembling Strahm’s 10 starts and 46 appearances in 87 innings is low.
Less lazy men than I should hie themselves to a study of this!
Great move. He has always been underrated. One of the many players over the past few years that I wish the Red Sox had brought back.