CLEARWATER, Fla. -- Meet the new center fielder, same as the old center fielder?
The Phillies have filled their need in center field -- or at least part of it -- with the man who played there most of last season.
The team is bringing back Odubel Herrera on a one-year, $1.75 million contract.
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SIGN UP HERE Herrera, 30, played 124 games for the Phillies in 2021, 104 of them in center field. He became a free agent at the end of the season.
The Phillies have two gaping holes in the outfield -- left field and center field.
Club president Dave Dombrowski on Sunday said the center field opening could be filled with a platoon. He mentioned rookie Matt Vierling as potentially being one half of that platoon. Vierling hits right-handed. Herrera hits left-handed.
As for left field, the Phillies continue to probe the free-agent market for the answer there. They seriously pursued free agent Kyle Schwarber before the lockout. Michael Conforto, Nick Castellanos, Kris Bryant and Jorge Soler are also free-agent possibilities. The Phils prefer a left-handed hitter like Schwarber or Conforto, but most of all they just want a good hitter. They'd prefer not to surrender a draft pick for signing a player who rejected a qualifying offer (Conforto and Castellanos) but would for the right deal.
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Dombrowski would not say what his remaining free-agent budget is (he's already signed relievers Corey Knebel and Jeurys Familia) but he likely has room to be aggressive with the luxury tax threshold rising from $210 million to $230 million in the new collective bargaining agreement. With Familia on board, the Phils have about $188 million in salary commitments. That does not include Herrera.
"As far as competitive balance tax, I'd say we have ownership that's absolutely fantastic," Dombrowski said. "They want to win, they're very supportive. I take the Fifth on what our budget will be because I've never found that that's very helpful to disclose to other people because I don't want to tip my hand on what we are or are not going to do. But I would say that I do not feel restricted at all."
Herrera spent the last seven years in the Phillies organization and became a free agent in the fall after the team paid him $2.5 million to buy out his $11.5 million contract option for 2022.
At the time, it looked like Herrera's stormy relationship with the Phillies was over, but a need in center field, along with high prices on the trade and free-agent markets, has put him back on the Phillies' radar.
Herrera was an All-Star for the Phillies in 2016. He was suspended 85 games for violating Major League Baseball's policy against domestic violence in 2019. He did not play during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season and returned last year and hit .260 with 13 homers, 51 RBIs and a .726 OPS in 124 games.
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