The Philadelphia Phillies, in recent years, have continually had one of the premier bullpens in the National League. That wasn’t the case this year, despite having elite closer Jonathan Papelbon waiting to finish off games.

The middle relief and late inning arms (outside of Papelbon who finished with a 2.92 ERA) were relatively woeful, which has lead to the Phillies’ front office strongly pursing relief arms, including that of Edward Mujica who last pitched for the St. Louis Cardinals:

Source: Phillies strongly pursuing eighth-inning relievers, including Edward Mujica. Believed to be willing to go three years for setup man.

Mujica was lights out for the Cardinals this past season, though, ended the year on the disabled list with arm issues so signing him to a long term deal might be a bit risky. Still, as one of the top relievers on the market, any team that brings him aboard will need to take such a financial risk to make it happen.

This isn’t the first rumor of the Phillies going hard after Mujica, so where there is smoke…