The Philadelphia Phillies knew they needed to bring in an outfielder this winter.
The group consisting of Nick Castellanos, Brandon Marsh and Johan Rojas have proven the past two years that they aren't offensively gifted enough to be part of a championship-winning roster.
While Marsh and Rojas are both young in their careers and could certainly turn into impact players at the plate eventually, the reality is they aren't providing enough consistent support with the bat in their hands to help the Phillies win the World Series right now.
With that in mind, the fan base started dreaming.
Hand a megadeal to Juan Soto? Trade for Luis Robert Jr.? Sign star slugger Anthony Santander?
It turns out none of that is what Dave Dombrowski and this front office had in mind.
Instead, they opted to sign Max Kepler to a one-year, $10 million contract that caused some people around baseball to scratch their heads considering he's been inconsistent at best following his breakout season in 2019.
This could certainly be a savvy move if he performs the way he did in 2019 and 2023 when he had OPS+ figures of 120 and higher while also hitting 60 homers and driving in 156 runs combined in those two campaigns.
But it could also be a dud if his OPS+ is under the league average of 100 like it was in 2021, 2022 and 2024 when he only had double-digit home runs and 50-plus RBI one time in those three years.
That level of variance doesn't even factor in where Kepler will play on defense.
During his Major League career with the Minnesota Twins that spanned 10 seasons, he played 927 games in right field and 159 in center, never standing out in left a single time.
The next logical question becomes if Kepler is going to take over in right field with Castellanos moving to left, or if he the new signee is going to play a new position for the first time in his career?
According to Dombrowski, it's going to be the latter option.
Well, that answers it.
Philadelphia's resolution to their outfield issues was to sign an inconsistent hitter to play a position he's never played before during is 10 years in The Show.
Again, this could work out and look like a great value signing.
It also has disaster written all over it before Kepler has even taking a swing in a Phillies uniform yet.