The outfield, bullpen and the back of the starting rotation were the three clearest areas the Phillies needed to address heading into the offseason, and after signing Jordan Romano and Max Kepler to one-year deals, they signed left-handed starting pitcher Jesús Luzardo from the on Sunday morning Marlins, according to Fansided.

According to the Miami Herald, the Phillies are sending the Marlins their No. 4 prospect, Dominican shortstop Starlyn Caba, and outfielder Emaarion Boyd, a former 11th-round pick who spent 2024 in High-A.

This could be the most impactful addition of the three for the Phillies. They needed a fifth starter, but Luzardo is much more than that, closer to a No. 2 when healthy, and he said last week he will be after missing the final three and a half months of the season with a back injury has.

Luzardo, 27, has two additional years of club control and is eligible for free agency after the 2026 season. He immediately improves the Phillies’ rotation and makes them one of the best in baseball probably the best in baseball. He provides the Phillies with protection if Ranger Suarez leaves in free agency after 2025. Suarez hired Scott Boras last week and has certainly seen how high the prices are when he hits free agency, so that’s a real possibility. And Luzardo also provides the Phillies with a strong rotation if an attractive trade offer for Suarez comes along in the next two months.

Luzardo’s best year was 2023, his only full season in which he was healthy, when he went 10-10 with a 3.58 ERA and struck out 208 batters in 178⅔ innings. He had Tommy John surgery in 2016, missed a little less than half the season in 2022 because of a forearm problem, two weeks in 2024 because of elbow tightness and did not pitch after June 16 due to a lumbar spine stress reaction.

However, Luzardo told reporters just last week that he was healthy and could throw.

“I was able to go through my normal offseason progression: throwing, running, coming off the mound,” Luzardo told MLB.com. “I feel really good (with my) elbow, my back and my whole body, and I’m really getting ready for spring training right now and looking forward to opening day being 100%, which is feeling really good right now feels and we are full.” -go.”

Luzardo didn’t appear to grow into a top starter until 2023. In 50 starts from 2022 to 2023, he posted a 3.48 ERA and 1.15 WHIP with 328 strikeouts in 279 innings.

The Phillies roster knows this all too well. They knocked him out after four innings in the 2023 wild-card round, but otherwise struggled with Luzardo’s 95-97 mph fastball, plus changeup and mid-80s slider. This is what he has done in the last five regular season meetings:

• 5⅓ IP, 1 R, 11 K
• 7 IP, 2 R, 9 K
• 6 IP, 3 R, 5 K
• 6⅓ IP, 2 R, 9 K
• 5⅔ IP, 2 R, 8 K

A 2.97 ERA with 42 strikeouts in 30⅓ innings.

Excluding 2023, Luzardo has reached 100⅓ innings in the majors. He certainly doesn’t have the track record of endurance of a Zack Wheeler or Aaron Nola, but maybe that’s the point. Luzardo’s left arm is not as heavily used, even though he has been starting in the majors since 2020.

According to MLB Trade Rumors, Luzardo plans to make $6 million through arbitration this offseason. That number is expected to rise to $11 million in a year. Considering how much it costs to start pitching as a free agent, that’s a tremendous value and a real asset to the Phillies if he can stay healthy. Two years with Luzardo could end up costing the Phillies $17 million, while two years with smaller pitchers with less potential like Frankie Montas and Matthew Boyd would cost the Mets and Cubs $34 million and $29 million, respectively.

As described here, every dollar counts for the Phillies this offseason. Because of their luxury tax situation, they’re essentially paying double for every player they add until more money comes off the books next winter or they can make some payroll before then.

Of course, the Phillies also paid a potential price, sending the 19-year-old Caba to Miami. He didn’t get his first taste of Single A until 2024 and was unlikely to help the Phillies for several years. They’re a win-now team overall, and Luzardo is a win-now player who hasn’t cost them their heralded trio of Andrew Painter, Aidan Miller and Justin Crawford.

According to The Athletic, the Phils will also receive a minor league catcher as part of the deal: 27-year-old Paul McIntosh, who made 480 plate appearances in Double A last season in the Marlins’ system.

The addition of Luzardo will increase the Phillies’ payroll from a luxury tax perspective to about $305 million. This is above the fourth and highest threshold, which carries the harshest penalties. The Phils were already paying 92.5 additional cents for every dollar spent over the third cap of $281 million, so Kepler’s one-year, $10 million deal will actually cost closer to $19.25 million.

The luxury tax penalty above the $301 million limit is 110 cents on every dollar of overages, so even a $5 million player would currently cost the Phillies about $10.5 million.

However, most of their off-season work is done. They’ve added more pitching ability and depth in Luzardo, replaced one of the two late relievers they lost to free agency with Romano and brought in another outfielder in Kepler who they hope will have an everyday job in left can take over the field. There is a calculated risk and benefit for all three. With an inflexible payroll and roster, the Phillies knew they had to be creative.