Phillies 2025-2026 Hot Stove Discussion

[RolenRules]

Phillies could have signed E. Suarez as well! 1 year $15m as per your post in the non Phillies hot stove thread.

Phillies off-season moves have been rather predictable for the most part IMO. The only time they went off-script was in their failed pursuit of Bichette.

The Phillies could have had Bader and E. Suarez instead of Garcia and Bohm, at only a modest additional outlay of $$. I think they might regret the missed opportunity come October.

[fish]

The Phillies could have had Bader and E. Suarez instead of Garcia and Bohm, at only a modest additional outlay of $$. I think they might regret the missed opportunity come October

It’s a coin flip- I’d be more willing to bet on a god/career year from Bohm and that whatever good Suárez and Bader do next year it’s in partial season streaks (same goes for Garcia though).

If they are riding on an inducement of youth they need to commit to enduring the speed bumps that come with it and give guys a real chance, at least in so far as it doesn’t tank their season. After all, they haven’t had a problem riding veterans who’ve not played well.

[RolenRules]

I agree that we need to get younger and I'm all for having Crawford in one of the outfield spots. I hope he can handle CF. As far as Bohm, I acknowledge that he is 5 years younger than E. Suarez, but Bohm is probably gone in 2027.

[Austinfan]

Which is fine. Miller should be ready by then.
Losing Sosa is a bigger problem, who in the organization is a capable utility IF?
Which is why they may keep Stott, since he can play SS, and Miller as well, you'd just need a 2B/3B type.

[zambonir]

Bohm, to his credit, is better defensively than Suarez. But since they are both essentially playing on one-year deals and Bohm has actually had trouble staying healthy even being younger, I would pay an extra $4.8 million for the guy with 3.6 WAR and 49 HRS over the guy with 1.5 WAR, especially since you'd also get a return on Bohm (of some kind). I just don't believe Bohm has another level of offensive production to come.

They could have done it with or without the Bader/Garcia choice (I'm fine not signing Bader since Garcia is just as good as RF, they are trying to play Crawford in CF and Bader is still no more likely to hit than Garcia).

OTOH, Suarez's power comes with an appalling OBP and walk rate - more of the same in an offense that already added Garcia, and Bader wasn't a disciplined hitter either.. While Bohm is not exactly an on-base machine, his bat-to-ball and RISP skills are not nothing. He wasn't better with RISP last year though, because of course that is not really a skill.

Certainly if Suarez had taken every AB Bohm got last year the Phllies would have scored a lot more runs (Bohm had 59 RBIs with no consistent spot in the order, but mostly 3-4-5; Suarez had 118 hitting 4-5-6 and 87 of those were for Arizona). I imagine his production in Seattle (.682 OPS) scared off most teams and kept him from getting a multi-year deal though it was probably more a slump and the trade than a sign he's done.

[andyb]

I’d be more willing to bet on a god/career year from Bohm

God year from Bohm? Finally hits .300 with 40 HR? I'll take that too.

[Philsmania]

If the Phillies had signed Suarez (or Bichette) that would have put the Phillies over the same barrel with Bohm that they are over with Castellanos. Everyone else in baseball would have known that the Phillies needed to get rid of him and, as a result, to do that, the Phillies would have had to end up paying him almost all of his salary to play for someone else.

[zambonir]

I don't think so. Castellanos stinks. Bohm is good (just not very good, or great). Casty made $20 million. Bohm makes $10.2. You might not be getting someone's Top 10 prospect or another major league regular for him, but you wouldn't have to pay a dime (or if you do, you're getting a better return).

With Nick, the Phillies aren't expecting any real return, just hoping someone might take on 10-25% of the money.

[Matt_Winkelman]

My understanding is they had trades lined up that would have cleared his whole salary, but the return would have been more modest, probably someone slotting in that 8-15 range of the Phillies system.

I think the answer is the Phillies didn’t like Suarez’s combination of declining defense and poor OBP on a guy is at an age where the floor can fall out.

[zambonir]

FWIW Suarez is not going to play 3B in Cincinnati.

As Rolen Rules noted, originally there was a path to Bader/Suarez instead of Garcia/Bohm, but the Phillies set their course for the latter (at a time when both of the FAs were asking for bigger deals). And while Bichette was a reason to change course. Suarez wasn't.

[Philsmania]

Speaking of Castellanos, how much longer are they going to wait before they do something with him? I doubt anyone realistically sees him showing up (or them wanting him to show up) in Clearwater next week.

[andyb]

Suarez really was not going to make us better and we basically have Bohm on a 1-year contract with our best prospect poised to replace him (or Turner moving to 3B) in the lineup. It just did not make sense in the long term and Garcia/Bader was about timing and wanting Crawford to play CF. Bichette would have improved us substantially. Suarez would not considering the defense.

[zambonir]

I think the offense-for-defense trade might have been worth it, but only if Suarez really still has 40 HRs left in him again. So, not without risk, as well as cost (I still think that $4-5 million might go to another Turnbull type).

Yeah presumably Casty is not going to be asked to report, if he's not traded he'll hit waivers soon after the 11th if not before. He lives in South Florida so if he gets traded to or catches on with an Arizona team will just be a minor inconvenience for him to head West.

[fish]

Speaking of Castellanos, how much longer are they going to wait before they do something with him?

He’s got to be realllly cheesed by now that he wasn’t cut loose sooner to try to find a new org before spring training. Can’t wait for that storyline of quotes from him.

[zambonir]

He can cry 20 million tears. Plus he has to be in a ballpark to actually talk to the press. I don't blame the Phillies for trying to get anything they can or, tbh, for squeezing him a little. They were willing to lose Weston Wilson to do it too.

But - as per the Yankees article I posted earlier as well as other names we know are unsigned - the Phillies are never going to get anyone to pick up even $2M of Nick's salary so long as Grichuck, Slater, Marte, Pham, Hoskins and Goldschmidt are all availabe, especially when they also figure he'll be available for $800K in two weeks. The ones on that list who might cost more are also going to be worth it.

[Docs]

Plus he has to be in a ballpark to actually talk to the press.

Or T.O.’s driveway

[zambonir]

If he lived in New Jersey, sure! When Bryce Harper demands a trade or an extension that could happen.

[xogfog]

I wonder if the Phillies will bring back WW, since Baltimore dropped him,

[andyb]

He is probably good enough to be claimed on waivers and we no longer have a 40-man spot available. Plus we signed somebody better to a minor league deal (Moore) already.

[zambonir]

The MLBTR write-up said the O's are known for trying to churn DFA guys until they can get sent to AAA, since he can't refuse the assignment. We burned them one of those times on Jake Cave, even though the O's had tried to make him less attractive with the high split salary (but that didn't matter to the Phillies, who have done the same thing with Stubbs and Pop).

If they really wanted Wilson they could have gotten rid of Nick or a fringe pitcher to keep him in the first place. Kemp has basically already beaten him out. And he probably wouldn't have been on the NLDS roster had Rojas been healthy. Add in Miller in AAA, and, like Andy said, Moore as depth, and there's no need.