MLB rumors: Phillies, Yankees, Mets after Patrick Corbin?

The Phillies, Yankees and Mets could all be in the market to sign lefty Patrick Corbin.

The hot stove is (finally) heating up.

With the GM Meetings in the books and a few weeks until December’s Winter Meetings, this is typically a slow time for big-ticket free-agent signings in baseball. But the top lefty on this year’s market is starting to garner big interest.

According to Jon Morosi of MLB.com, the Phillies and Nationals have joined the Yankees among the most aggressive pursuers of Patrick Corbin, the ex-Diamondbacks star.

Left-hander Patrick Corbin is viewed as the top available starter by most in the industry, and he’s drawing interest from the Yankees, Phillies and Nationals, among others. The Mets also could trade Jacob deGrom or Noah Syndergaard and sign Corbin or another free agent, if they aren’t optimistic about coming to terms with deGrom or Syndergaard on long-term contracts.

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For the Mets to get involved, it would likely take an accompanying blockbuster. The Yankees have been linked to Corbin since the middle of the 2018 season. As for the Phillies, an offseason of spending is expected in Philadelphia.

The Phillies’ interest in adding a prominent starting pitcher may surprise some, given the club’s apparent focus on free-agent position players Bryce Harper and Manny Machado and organizational rotation depth. Of the 10 pitchers to start at least one game for Philadelphia this year, only Jake Arrieta was in his age-28 season or older.

Corbin, 29, posted a 3.15 ERA across 33 starts for Arizona last season. That work included 246 strikeouts, 2.47 FIP and a 5.13 SO/BB. Since debuting in 2012, Corbin owns a 3.91 ERA in 945.2 innings pitched.

If the Phillies landed Corbin, he and 2018 Cy Young candidate Aaron Nola could form one of baseball’s best one-two punches atop the rotation. Last season, only eight starters in MLB logged 200 innings, made 30 starts and recorded 200 strikeouts. Nola and Corbin made up one quarter of that list.

Joe Giglio may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @JoeGiglioSports. Find NJ.com on Facebook.