The Phillies head into the offseason with a star-studded roster and substantial payroll obligation, though owner John Middleton has already expressed confidence that the 2025 payroll will increase. President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski has at multiple points hinted at potential trades rather than free agent pursuits, speaking of a need to be “open-minded” as he looks to augment a roster that’s been a perennial playoff club but fallen shy of a World Series win (or even a World Series appearance). The Athletic’s Matt Gelb reports that the Phils have signaled a desire to add an outfielder and at least one right-handed reliever.
As laid out in our Phillies Offseason Outlook, adding in the outfield is one of the most logical pursuits for a Phillies club that has established contributors at catcher (J.T. Realmuto), first base (Bryce Harper), second base (Bryson Stott), shortstop (Trea Turner), third base (Alec Bohm), right field (Nick Castellanos) and designated hitter (Kyle Schwarber). Brandon Marsh and Johan Rojas offer options in the remaining two outfield spots, but the Phils aren’t likely to simply roll the same lineup back out in 2024 after another shorter-than-hoped season. Marsh and Rojas could form a platoon, as Marsh bats left-handed to the more defensively gifted Rojas’ right-handed bat. That’d open a path for one incoming outfielder, but Dombrowski’s repeated chorus of “open-minded” approaches to reshaping his offense have prompted natural speculation about trades.
From that standpoint, it’s hard to imagine deals involving Realmuto, Harper, Turner and Schwarber. All have been viewed as core pieces in Philadelphia. The Phillies would probably love to move on from the final two years and $40MM on Castellanos’ contract, but Castellanos is a poor defender who hasn’t hit nearly as well in Philadelphia as he did in his free-agent platform season with the Reds. The Phils would need to pay down a good portion of that contract and/or include a prospect to find a taker.
Bohm, Marsh, Stott and to a lesser extent Rojas are the big league position players who could more plausibly be flipped elsewhere as the Phillies try to reshape their identity. Gelb also lists lefty starter Ranger Suarez as a possibility. Their contractual statuses are as follows:
- Suarez: Controlled through 2025 via arbitration, projected to earn $8.9MM in 2025 (via MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz)
- Bohm: Controlled through 2026 via arbitration, projected to earn $8.1MM in 2025 (via Swartz)
- Marsh: Controlled through 2027 via arbitration, projected to earn $3MM in 2025 (via Swartz)
- Stott: Controlled through 2027 via arbitration, projected to earn $3.5MM in 2025 (via Swartz)
- Rojas: Controlled through 2029, pre-arbitration in 2025
Obviously, the valuation on each player will vary. Suarez would be a one-year rental for a club and would require the Phils — already in need of a starter and likely hoping to dump the remaining two years and $36MM on Taijuan Walker’s contract this offseason — to replace him. He posted a 3.46 ERA with strong strikeout (23.2%) and walk (6.5%) rates in 150 2/3 innings this season but also missed a month with a back injury and struggled from July through September. Plenty of teams would still love to plug him into their rotation.
Bohm is the most consistently productive but has the highest salary and lowest amount of club control remaining of the position players. He also cooled off considerably after a blistering start to the season. He was one of the game’s most productive hitters through early March (.360/.430/.576 in 142 plate appearances) before reverting to his usual brand of roughly average offense for the remainder of the season (.256/.302/.410 over his next 464 plate appearances). Bohm improved his glovework this year and hit righties better than usual but was still notably more productive against left-handed pitching.
Marsh can handle all three outfield spots but is best suited for left field. He’s never hit lefties well but is well above-average versus righties. He runs well and could probably pop 20 homers with a full season of at-bats, though that’d mean lesser rate stats and more plate appearances versus lefties. He’s hit 28 homers in 948 plate appearances across the past two seasons. Marsh is a useful part-time player, but his 31% strikeout rate since 2023 (and 32.8% career mark) is rather concerning, especially since he’s been platooned so often.
Stott is a plus defender and strong baserunner with 15-homer pop. He makes plenty of contact but has really only had one average season at the plate (2023), in addition to a pair of below-average campaigns during which he’s still been a solid overall contributor because of his glove and speed. If a team with budget problems and no concrete option at shortstop would view him as an outside-the-box candidate at short, his market could expand. Stott hasn’t graded as well there in 770 big league innings but has more than 2000 professional innings at short.
Rojas is an even more extreme case of the speed-and-defense skill set. He’s a plus center fielder with excellent speed but turned in just a .243/.279/.322 slash in 2024 (68 wRC+) and is a career .261/.298/.355 hitter (81 wRC+) in 527 big league plate appearances.
Dombrowski has publicly suggested that he needs to be open to trading “good players” in order to get talent in return. Speculatively speaking, Bohm feels like the most plausible fit, as he’s set to earn the most money, has the least club control remaining and plays a position (third base) where the free-agent market is quite thin this offseason. There could be paths to flipping Bohm for a bullpen arm, a back-of-the-rotation starter or an outfielder, and shedding his payroll could also free the Phillies to pursue other options at the hot corner or give them more money to address needs elsewhere on the roster.
Former Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. and longtime Phils beat writers Todd Zolecki and Jim Salisbury took a deep dive into the possibilities on the latest episode of their podcast. All three acknowledged that Dombrowski’s repeated phrases this offseason have not-so-quietly signaled a trade is likely. In addition to repeating the “open-minded” line on several occasions, Dombrowski has at least twice suggested the Phillies have enough star players on the roster. At his end-of-season press conference, Dombrowski said his club has “as many star players as about anybody in baseball” before adding that sometimes “the supporting cast” is where the biggest need sits.
Gelb notes in the previously referenced piece that Dombrowski doubled down on that thinking at this week’s GM Meetings. Asked if the Phils would be “big-game hunting” this winter, the Phils’ president replied: “Our ownership allows us to do a lot of things. But sometimes that’s not what you want. We have a lot of good star players on our team. So, read that as you would.”
The problem for the Phillies if they trade Bohm is that they really don’t have a replacement. Sosa isn’t an every day player. Aidan Miller, one of their top prospects, has barely been to AA & isn’t ready to take over in Philadelphia. It is easy to say trade Bohm, but trading him would also leave a big hole in the lineup.
I’m not sure that a lot of change is needed, just adding a corner outfielder and a couple relievers.
Theoretically, this team’s issue is execution. They, usually, are good enough to get it done, but it’s those short lapses for a few games that sink them in the end. Adding some more talent to reinforce the core should go a long way. Another corner OF, bringing back one of Hoffman or Estevez and adding one more reliable middle reliever. It all adds up.
The “another corner outfielder” is Soto. To paraphrase the James Bond theme song, Nobody does it Better. 655/13 to open. Miller, Painter, and Crawford will eventually lower the payroll.
Soto would do it and then some. I’d love to see it, but I don’t think it has to be him. Reallocating the money to someone like Santander or Hernandez, bringing in another good RP, and maybe even adding a shiny new SP5 on a short-term deal would help as well.
I want to see them pick up 2-3 swing starters – pitchers who can be a long man out of the pen, but handle a starting role for a few weeks when one of the top 5 go down. Maybe one is the #5 until Painter is ready? It’s basically the Turnbull role from last season, and I’d be fine with Turnbull being in the mix. You’ll need at least one stashed at LV.
I’d kick the tires on Michael Soroka, even. Yes, he went 0-10, but he was playing on a AAA team. He was a serviceable arm with the Braves, before the injuries.
Taylor Ward for Bohm? Taylor Ward for Marsh + lottery ticket?
Sign Soto….trade Bohm….. sign one of Tanner Scott, Hoffman, Estevez, See if Bregman wants to come here….Realmuto and Schwarber come off the books next year (2026). Miller Crawford and Painter should all be on the team in 2026 at low cost……Middleton willing to spend for 2025 but will then need payroll to go down which should. Keep Castellanos one more year…that will also lessen payroll in 2026. Walker – no idea what to do there..might as well keep him for another year and fingers crossed he gets better… Marchan needs to be the back up catcher next year.
Don’t know if Phillies would do a bad contract swap. Phillies send nick costellanos to Cincinnati for jeimer candelario and Emilio pagan. Money for 2025 is about the same. Phillies save 5 million in 2026 with pagans contract off the books. Reds get outfielder. Phillies get a possible 3rd basement if they want to trade Bohm and a right hand reliever. If Castellanos can’t handle outfield he can DH for Cincy
D D already said he isn’t trading Castallanos.Contrary to the author of this piece, Castallanos is an average or even slightly above average defensive right fielder. He improved quite a bit in the last two years in the field. Castallanos is a streaky hitter and does strike out a lot, but he is still a good rbi man, and a dangerous middle of the order hitter.
Castallanos is a bum. A albatross around the Phillies neck with his odorous contract, his golf course swing and his pathetic attempts in right field. Other than wheeler and Sanchez the Phillies starting pitching was putrid after the all-star break. The hitting was a disgrace and fundamentals were a joke. No surprise they were eliminated without a whimper.
Tell us how you really feel JA. You have a lot of criticism; some accurate, some hot air. What would your solution be if you were the GM?
My solutions started post-season 2023 ogre, but Dumbrowski failed to address the same then, failed again trade deadline last season. Legitimate closer. Right handed outfielder power bat. No brainier why the Phillies saw southpaw after southpaw. Bullpen by committee is for pretenders. Bohm doesn’t impress me. STOTT regressed. Marsh can’t hit left-handers ever. Etc etc etc. Spend 280 million then get cheap on your bullpen ?
Castellanos is a great young player who plays very good Defense (better than some give him credit for )
During “crunch time”, Nick is sacrificing his body, diving and catching balls and a clutch power hitter for the Phillies including in the playoffs.
I went over this in other forums during the playoffs.
I thought the Phillies and Dave Dombrowski were going to do something big to shake up this Phillies roster.
Casty plays every day and doesn’t make errors. I think you’re wrong.
Casty, overpaid status be darned, was still one of our better hitters both this and last year. I don’t think Candelario or Pagan help as much as it would hurt losing him.
First paragraph mentions the Phillies lack of World Series wins/appearances, but they made it in 2022. Pretty sure everyone outside of Houston (and maybe Queens?) was cheering for them as well.
Bohm, Marsh, Stott and to a lesser extent Rojas are the big league position players who could more plausibly be flipped elsewhere
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And who replaces them? And how much do you get back? Bohm has one year left, and you’d be selling low, maybe very low, on Stott. And it is difficult to be in a position where you are looking to add an outfielder AND also trading one.
You absolutely cannot go into the FA market with Castellanos & Rojas as your only two outfielders. They need an OF, two RPs (one a closer) and probably a low-end #5 to bridge to Painter. TBH, depending on Painter’s health, they might be better off sticking with Walker for 1-2 months and waiting on Painter.
That’s it. Marsh/Rojas really are the only ones that make sense as given they’re looking at OF, and they really don’t need to actually move either (one plays CF, the other is a reserve/platoon/at AAA).
With the veteran team around Miller he would be fine if they trade Bohm. It’s hard to even imagine Bohm getting another at bat in Philly unless it’s from the visiting dugout. They are gonna roast him this year if he is the starting third baseman. Rojas is not a big league starter in no way shape or form. He can’t hit water if he fell out of a boat and as far as being an elite defensive Center fielder why wasn’t he a gold glove finalist. Oh I know because he looks clueless out there unless the ball is hit in front of him. Brandon Marsh is only there to pour water on the interview at the end of the game.
I predicted Dave Dombrowski would be on the prowl to make one of his patented blockbuster trades.
Trade bait could be any number of players including Schwarber, Bohm, Castellanos. or one of the pitchers.
They have catchers in the system and could move on from JT for the right deal.
Crawford could be ready for a least a platoon in CF.
Aiden Miller is not that far away and could slot into SS, 3B or 2B
Trea Turner would be a great LF or RF if you can convince him that it is in the best interests of the team.
The Padres have 3 former Shortstops in their OF and it has worked well.
Find a couple of versatile players who can play both INF and OF and maybe another starting pitcher in trades or free agency.
It would give Rob Thomson more players to work with and he can do more matching up to strenghts versus weaknesses with opposing pitching,
If Dombrowski and Middlebrook clear out some payroll
then SS Willy Adames would be a nice fit,
He has also said he is open to playing another position
(3B? OF LF or RF?
A Phillies team would dramatically improve its defense
and over all athleticism
with Turner in LF Crawford/Marsh CF Castellanos RF
Harper 1B Aiden Miller 2B, Stott SS, Adames 3B
etc….
Mariners get Bohm, Castellanos & Mick Abel (#6 from NW) – Phillies get Andres Munoz & Mitch Haniger. Who says no?
DD hears ……………………. Bohm, Casty, & Abel for Munoz and Hanig,,,” CLICK
“The line you are trying to reach is out of service”
I’m not completely writing off Abel, but he’s been awful so far. Then the rest is one year of Bohm for four years of a good closer?
Abel is still young and let’s face it, the Mariners seem to develop pitchers better than anybody. They could very well be interested in Abel.
The Phillies. Although Bohm and Taijuan Walker may work or better yet Bohm, Walker, and Abel for Luis Castillo, and Andres Munoz would be a win for both teams.
The Phillies are in a damned if you/damned if you don’t situation because they’ve tied their team to streaky middle of the lineup bats & flawed defensive players. The last 3 postseasons have seen them be carried by their pitching and Bryce Harper being an amazing postseason performer. In all 3 series they were eliminated, their bats went ice cold and it wasn’t like they were facing prime Scherzer & deGrom.
Trading any young position players muddles their luxury tax number even more. They need their high price players to perform more consistently. Trea Turner has been a terrible defensive SS and has only about 3 months of above average league play since joining them. Realmuto’s bat (and power) is in decline due to age & overuse. Castellanos is a negative WAR player every year in Philly due to his bad defense tanking whatever offensive value he has. Schwarber is fine but his bat is still inconsistent and it’s hard to generate more value from your middle of the lineup hitters with no one on base. (Look at Harper’s numbers the last 2 years with runners on base as opposed to bases empty)
Couple that with the top of their farm system who the majority of those prospects are no ML ready and are 2-3 years away. They don’t either have internal solutions for 2025 but these prospects may not have as much value to a trade partner compared to a team that has more ML ready guys (think Ortiz to MIL in the Burnes trade last winter).
Which means the Phillies either need to, again, spend big in free agency. Hoping that throwing more money will eventually fix this issue. Or they need to get creative and think outside the box to solve these solutions. Replacing John Rojas with Juan Soto and pushing Marsh to CF will definitely help make the lineup better. But there’s still enough holes in that lineup that it’s likely they’ll still have the same struggles.
It may sound crazy, but they may be best off doing a bit of buying & selling this winter. Maximizing a trade of a player and then using that return along with their farm system to plug a hole elsewhere. The biggest issue is there’s no clear upgrades (outside of Soto) out there on the market. Unless they swing a trade for someone that nobody knows is available.
The Astros would be willing to move Ryan Pressly for a 1B or a low salary player to free up payroll (Darrick Hall or Kody Clemens?) Pressly is battle tested in the post season. Guardians are shopping Clase, sure Mariners would listen on Munoz and there’s always Mason Miller. The Phillies essentially need to replace Hoffman and Estevez, so it needs to be an impact trade. Wonder if the Rockies would trade Kris Bryant (4/108) for Taijuan Walker (2/37) straight up? At least Bryant could spell Harper at 1B and play some LF vs LHP. Painter will be the Phillies 5th starter by end of May. Maybe they sign a Mike Soroka or Peter Lambert to keep that spot warm. If they did trade Kody Clemens as part of a package for a RP, they could sign Joey Gallo on the cheap.
1) The Braves will be stronger, healthier and more competitive in 2025, as will the Mets, especially if they sign Soto (who wants to stay in NY), and resign any or all of Alonso, Servino or Mannea who all received QOs. This means the Phils have to significantly improve this offseason if they are to remain competitive in the NL East and gain even a playoff wild card berth.
2) While outfielders like Teoscar Hernandez and Anthony Santander could potentially improve the Phils outfield, both received QOs from the current teams and will be very expensive to obtain in free agency. Infielder Alex Bregman who also received a QO has been touted as a potential Phils’ acquisition, but he will also be very expensive and he does not improve the Phils at any of their infield positions.
3) The thought of trading Alec Bohm is utter nonsense. Bohm was one of the Phils top defenders and hitters throughout the season, but a serious hand injury plagued him in the final month of the season and playoffs. The thought of trading Nick Castellanos is also ridiculous. He carried the Phils offensively for the second half of the season and playoffs and continued to play solid, if not exciting, defense.
4) For the Phils to significantly improve in 2025, they have to restructure their outfield, add a lights-out closer, and field a younger and more energetic team. To do this, they will have to make a few shrewd trades and be active in the free agent market, which will require the team to free up some money.
5) Several players have been named as potential Phils’ trade candidates, but those most named will not bring the kind of returns the Phils require to significantly improve.
6) The players who the Phils could trade for the kind of returns they require are the $20 million a year DH Kyle Schwarber, the $23 million a year catcher JT Realmuto, and the $18 million a year starter Taijuan Walker. Significantly, Schwarber and Realmuto are free agents after the 2025 season and, if the Phils fail again to win the world championship, either or both players could jump ship and sign elsewhere in free agency. Schwarber is replaceable because he has been the Phils full-time DH for 3 years, a position the Phils could improve on by opening it up as a DH by committee of older players who could be given a day off defensively once a week if they were able to remain in the lineup and hit. Realmuto is replaceable because he is aging, getting injured more often, and spending less time on the field. What’s more, minor league catcher Rafael Marchan is a capable catcher who now appears ready for prime time with the Phils, and fellow minor leaguer Tait is being touted as the Phils’ catcher of the future. Walker is replaceable because his enthusiasm for pitching for the Phils has waned since he was not used during the 2023 playoffs.
7) Considering all of the above, the Phils could dramatically improve and remain atop the NL East by acquiring outfielder Jurickson Profar in free agency. Profar is an accomplished switch hitter and solid defensive fielder. He did not receive a QO from the Padres and would be reasonably priced. Free agent outfielder Tyler O’Neill could be another consideration but only as a right-handed platoon outfielder who is weak defensively. In a pinch, he could pair with Marsh to platoon leftfield.
8) If the Phils trade Walker,. they could round out their staring rotation by promoting Andrew Painter who appears to have profited and recovered from Tommy John Surgery. Although there has been talk about promoting minor leaguer infielder Aidan Miller and outfielder Justin Crawford, they still need development and could be hurt, as Johan Rojas has been, by being promoted to the bigs before they were ready.
9) Finally, the Phils need to trade for closer Emmanuel Clase. The Guardians are looking for a power hitter to either play the outfield or DH. They might like the idea of acquiring Kyle Schwarber in exchange for Clase. The Diamondbacks are flush with outfielders but they are also looking to upgrade at DH with a power hitter. Trading their young centerfielder Jake McCarthy for Schwarber might improve both the Diamondbacks and the Phils. The White Sox are in full rebuild mode and would probably welcome an established veteran or two to lead their young team forward. Starter Crochet and centerfielder Robert Jr. are on the trade block and a blockbuster centered around Schwarber, Realmuto, and/or Walker could expedite the White Sox rebuilding efforts and dramatically improve the Phils. Money would probably have to accompany any players traded by the Phils, but money is one thing the Phils organization has. If the Phils want to win a world championship in 2025, a few of the players I’ve mentioned are what the Phils really need.
1-At this point, I think the Braves have to be favored. The Phillies will still win their share of games, but the Braves lost a ton of guys last year.
3-I wouldn’t trade Bohm at this point, and might look to extend him. You’ve been waiting on him for five years, and he might just now be morphing into the player you thought you drafted at 1/3. I don’t like Casty, but you can’t improve your OF by trading away an outfielder.
9-” a blockbuster centered around Schwarber, Realmuto, and/or Walker”. Those guys aren’t getting you anything even if you throw in money. And you have no one to rep[ace JTR in any case.
Joe, The Phils will be able to either get the players they need now or valuable prospects for Schwarber, Realmuto and Walker. They’ll also be able to free up money for any free agent acquisitions. If the Phils don’t significantly improve this offseason, they’ll be eating the Braves and Mets dust for a long time. At this time, Marchan is ready to replace Realmuto.
Stopped reading when you praised Bohm and Castellanos defense. Bohm’s bat most of the season and Castellanos for 2/3 of the season were excellent but let’s not pretend their glove work isn’t average at best.
@otb agree with you on most points except for trading Schwarber. He is the clubhouse leader and I say give this core (including him) one more year to try to turn it around. If Turner can get going as a leadoff guy again, they can move Schwarber down in the order to drive in more runs. Maybe this is just wishful thinking on my part but it would be a bummer to see Schwarbs go. I get it though, DD has to be shrewd if he wants to improve the club this offseason. And yes the Braves will be SCARY good next year.
dmb, My problem with the Phils keeping Schwarber in his walk year is their forfeiting his maximum trade value this offseason by not trading him, their coming up empty if he jumps ship at the end of the season
or overpaying him if he decides to stay beyond 2025, and their allowing him to monopolize the DH position for another season. The Phils would do significantly better with a rotating DH of Harper, Realmuto, Turner, Castellanos, Sosa, and Bohm. That being said, I think Schwarber’s value to the team has always been highly exaggerated. Anyone who understands the art and science of hitting and have watched most of Schwarber’s ABs for the past 3 seasons will tell you he strikes out much too often, hits and misses in unacceptably long streaks, cannot hit good pitching, and usually homers against pitching that most of the other players are also murdering. He has long insisted on leading off which has given him the ability to tee off on a starter who is usually trying to groove a fast ball to start the game. Schwarber has hit more leadoff homers (14) in one season than anyone else in baseball but, in retrospect, the homers didn’t materially contribute to the Phils convincing wins in most of those games. Finally, I’m not sure how much his clubhouse presence really contributes to the Phils’ won-loss record each season. As a DH, his job is to hit. Considering the Ohtani’s, Ozuna’s and Stanton’s of the world, Schwarber’s ability to do the only job he is being paid $20 million a year to do pales by comparison. Schwarber still has trade value. The Phils should capitalize on that potential value and improve the team in areas that need significant improving. A DH by committee would already solve their DH inconsistency problem.
O.M.G. Some of these comments and trade proposals are totally ridiculous. Bryant, lol. Trade for a legitimate closer – like Estevez supposedly was? Realmuto has absolutely 0 trade value. No team is going to trade for a declining 30 something year old catcher who has already had knee problems and is making 24 million a year. They would get next to nothing for him, just like when declining overpriced veterans Darren Daulton and Carlos Ruiz were traded
Phillis, Many teams, especially those in contention, would pay a hefty price for Realmuto. The Phils have benefitted from his best days and, even though he still has some gas in the tank, the Phils may do better by turning the catching duties over to Marchan and a formidable backup catcher. Marchan did very well in his games with the Phils last season, and this portends good things to come. The Phils have greater pressing needs than at the catcher’s position.
No team is going to trade for a declining 30 something year old catcher who has already had knee problems and is making 24 million a year.
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I mention things like this once in a while. Sometimes, when a player’s value declines, you might be better off just riding it out instead of selling, eating some money, and then having to spend more money to replace him.
He’s still a good player, and I’d bet the Cubs would love to have him. But even if you moved him, and say eat $4M of his salary, you still need a catcher. Just like with Walker, and Casty to a lesser degree, the Phillies might be better off keeping them.
Joe, Marchan performed very well when he was with the Phils last season. His stats were actually better than his minor league numbers. This has happened before with the Phils when minor leaguers pressed into emergency major league service performed much better than expected and remained in the majors. Morandini and Kendrick are two notable examples. Schwarber, Realmuto and Walker would be pursed by multiple teams if they were placed on the trade block because they could all help certain teams short term. The Phils paying part of their salary for one year would be a sound investment because it would allow the Phils to acquire the players they need. If the Phils trade these guys this season, they’ll still get some return on their investment. That may not be the case by the end of the 2025 season.