Phillies and Joe Girardi Reportedly Interested in Dellin Betances and Austin Romine

Joe Girardi apparently has a very specific vision for how he wants the Philadelphia Phillies to look in 2020. Apparently, that involves turning them into the NL East version of his former New York Yankees.

After putting his feelers out for Yankees shortstop Didi Gregorius, Girardi and the Phils also reportedly have legitimate interest in Yankees backup catcher Austin Romine and flame-throwing reliever Dellin Betances.

If you could make a backup catcher in a lab, he would look and play an awful lot like Romine. One of the bets defensive backstops in the game, Romine has been steadily improving with the bat of late. He hit 18 home runs in 149 games over the last two years, and improved his batting average from .244 in 2018 to .281 in 2019. JT Realmuto couldn't ask for a more capable No. 2 behind him.

Betances is free agency's ultimate wild card. He recorded just two outs last season, as a laundry list of injuries basically robbed an entire year from the 31-year-old four-time All-Star. However, when he's healthy, you can count on one hand the number of relievers that are consistently more difficult to hit than he is.

Provided that both of these players stay healthy, Girardi would already be proving his worth to the Phillies if he can work out a way to get these two across the Delaware River to help shake up the NL East.