Following the recent signing of star reliever Jordan Romano, it was believed that the Philadelphia Phillies were potentially done with bullpen upgrades for the offseason. According to Matt Gelb and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski indicated that he was comfortable with the current group of relievers (subscription required) and was likely to put his focus elsewhere as a result.

Well apparently, that doesn’t appear to be the case anymore as recent rumors have it that the Phillies are among three teams, which also includes the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees, that have shown interest in former closer Carlos Estévez, as per MLB insider Héctor Gómez.

That makes total sense for the Phillies, as Estévez remains one of the top relief options still available on the free agent market. The former All-Star is coming off his best-ever season in the majors. He posted a 4-5 record with a sparkling 2.45 ERA and 0.91 WHIP, along with 12 walks and 50 strikeouts in 55 innings over 54 relief appearances split between the Los Angeles Angels and the Phillies.

More importantly, Estévez played a major role in stabilizing the back end of the bullpen for Philadelphia after joining the club at the trade deadline. In 20 appearances down the stretch for the Phillies, he went 3-2 with six saves, a 2.57 ERA, 1.19 WHIP and 18 strikeouts in 21 innings of work.

The Phillies suffered a significant loss to their relief corps when both Estévez and Jeff Hoffman left for free agency this offseason, leaving a huge hole in the bullpen for others to fill. The recent addition of Romano should already help somewhat in that regard. But by bringing back Estévez as well would give the Phillies two potential shut-down, monster options to finish off ballgames for the upcoming 2025 season.

There’s no doubt that Estévez would crave a second chance with the Phillies and would likely want some redemption after how Philadelphia was eliminated from the MLB playoffs this past season.

With their main competitors for the World Series all making big moves to significantly improve this offseason, with the New York Mets getting Juan Soto, the Los Angeles Dodgers getting Blake Snell, and the Yankees nabbing Max Fried and trading for Devin Williams, it is about time for the Phillies to seriously consider making some moves that move the needle to keep pace. A reunion with Estévez would certainly be a great starting point.