Free agent shortstop Marcus Semien is drawing interest from from the Philadelphia Phillies. Per Jim Bowden of CBS Sports, the Phillies, Red Sox, Reds, and Athletics have all expressed certain degrees of interest. The 30-year old shortstop played for the Chicago White Sox in 2013 and 2014. He spent the last six seasons as a member of the Oakland Athletics.

2020 was definitely an off-year for Semien. He hit .223/305/.374 with seven home runs, 23 RBI, and four steals. In the playoffs however, Simien slashed .407/.484./.667 with two home runs and four RBI in seven games.

Last year was a mess for everyone. If you want to look at a strong sample size, jump back a year further where Semien slashed .285/.369/.522 with 33 home runs, 92 RBI, and 10 stolen bases. The season itself was obviously a career best for Semien and probably a bit higher than what we could expect from him moving forward. He has only hit more than 15 home runs and 70 RBI twice over his career.

Simien is great in the field and his speed makes him dangerous basepaths. He enters free agency after a one-year $13 million dollar contract with the A’s last year. Only 13 players out of the 60 top ranked free agents have signed this offseason. All we need is the dominoes to start falling at the top of the list and you’ll see a ton of signings to follow.

There is no doubt that the Phillies need help in the center of their infield with only Jean Segura and Scott Kingery filling those roles at the moment. Simeon would be an interesting acquisition and hopefully, the Phillies are smart enough to make it a low-value one without without many years attached to it.

Let’s be honest, any free agent deal that doesn’t have JT Realmuto attached to it will be pretty underwhelming. It also begs the question as to why they aren’t focusing on bringing Didi Gregorius back rather than another free agent shortstop but for now, I digress. Unfortunately for the Phillies, that’s the type of reaction they deserve from a fan base thats begging for a winning ball club.

Mandatory Credit: Harry How | Getty Images