Last weekend, Oakland Athletics slugger Brent Rooker smashed three home runs in as many games at Citizens Bank Park, prompting Philadelphia Phillies fans to visualize him belting October dingers in red pinstripes.
However, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski and the Phillies “don’t believe Rooker is a good fit.”
On the one hand, this may appear paradoxical, given Nightengale’s previous statement that the Phillies were “keeping a close eye” on Rooker. However, during this time of year, teams monitor a large number of players, some of whom they recognize are not a good fit for their club.
That is not to say the Phillies do not believe Rooker is an impact batter. He’s hit 22 home runs and has a.951 OPS this season, which any team would love to have in their lineup.
Having said that, the Phillies have Kyle Schwarber firmly ensconced at DH. Rooker would need to play left field to fit in with the Phillies. This season, he has played only 72 1/3 innings in left field and 102 1/3 innings in the two corner outfield positions combined. Obviously, his current job believes he is best suited to be a DH.
Furthermore, if the Phillies are searching for a right-handed batter to start in left field, either against lefties or when Brandon Marsh is playing centre field, Rooker is overqualified for the position, even with his defensive limitations in mind. He’s a player you don’t want to remove from the lineup because he’ll most likely be hitting in the middle of the order.
The 29-year-old is also under team control until the 2027 season, so getting him out of the A’s will not be cheap. That’s not to say it won’t be worthwhile for a team to trade prospects for Rooker, who is on track for his second straight 30-home run season. But the Phillies, who have Kyle Schwarber under contract for $20 million in 2025, are unlikely to be that team if they don’t believe Rooker can play full-time left field.
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