Phillies 2026 News and Discussion

[EastFallowfield]

Stubbs DFA'd.

To fill Stubbs' spot on the 40-man roster, the Phillies selected the contract of infielder Christian Cairo and optioned him to Triple-A Lehigh Valley.

[andyb]

Note Cairo had a clause in his contract that essentially required being on the 40 or he could have gone elsewhere. Assume he is the primary middle infield reserve that gets called up if there is an injury to either Turner, Stott, or Sosa.

[Philsmania]

At least it's still a day game.

Eh, 4:05 PM, afternoon into evening. It will be cold.

[Philsmania]

And the roster and moves are updated on Phillies.com. Crawford now on the roster wearing #2 and Painter wearing #24.

[andyb]

Eh, 4:05 PM, afternoon into evening. It will be cold.

At least the forecast for tomorrow (73) is nice. Nola gets the 46 degree Saturday start.

[zambonir]

Yeah, but not 30 degrees! Looks like it will warm back up by the Nats series.

[flyers19rw]

Stubbs DFA'd

[Philsmania]

Yeah, but not 30 degrees! Looks like it will warm back up by the Nats series.

Let me see, per Accuweather 46 degrees at first pitch with a northwest wind, real feel 39....by evening 37 degrees, wind diminishing but still from the northwest and a real feel of 36. Not 30 degrees won't matter, it will still be cold!

[andyb]

Kerkering with a quick inning in the minor league games this afternoon. Imagine his IL stay will be short.

[zambonir]

Stubbs DFA'd

I don't imagine he's going anywhere (but Lehigh Valley).

[Philsmania]

Stubbs DFA'd

I don't imagine he's going anywhere (but Lehigh Valley).

That may well happen. As MLBTR explains, there is a glut of available backup catchers/AAAA catchers.

Phillies Shopping Garrett Stubbs

[zambonir]

Yeah. If anyone wanted him on their 26-man roster they would have traded for him already. Phillies weren't going to hold out for a great return if there was an MLB job waiting for him. I suppose it's possible a team could try and claim him and then get him through waivers with another DFA, but that's where his $575K AAA salary is deterrent. Justin Crawford will only be making $200K more than that in the bigs.

[dcsman]

I didn't take a SP until the 9th round of my primary league. The Phillies board League seems to have died on the vine

Does anyone else want to do one? I didn’t do it this year because I thought interest might be fading. I’d be interested though.

[Philsmania]

Since no one has said it yet...

HAPPY OPENING DAY!!!!!

[EastFallowfield]

Eileen (Kalas) said they paid her $20,000 a year to use the likeness of her husband, who died in 2009. They will pay her again this season, since they missed the deadline to break the contract for 2026.

They told her they will not pay her in 2027 but “expect” to continue celebrating wins by showing a clip of Kalas singing “High Hopes” on Phanavision.

Eileen Kalas said the Phillies won’t be able to play the song next season unless she’s paid.

Harry Kalas’ widow says Phillies ‘betrayed him’ and won’t let them play his song...

[VoteForKalas]

I'd be asking for way more than 20K per year.

[Philsmania]

Eileen (Kalas) said they paid her $20,000 a year to use the likeness of her husband, who died in 2009. They will pay her again this season, since they missed the deadline to break the contract for 2026.undefined> They told her they will not pay her in 2027 but “expect” to continue celebrating wins by showing a clip of Kalas singing “High Hopes” on Phanavision.

Eileen Kalas said the Phillies won’t be able to play the song next season unless she’s paid.

Harry Kalas’ widow says Phillies ‘betrayed him’ and won’t let them play his song...

She's probably right that the family should be compensated for the NIL but his sons don't seem to be making an issue of it. From reading Randy Miller's biography of Harry, Harry the K, I get the impression that the relationship with Eileen and the Phillies has never been good. Things got off to a bad start when Nancy Giles--who was close Harry's ex-wife Jasmine--recommended a divorce lawyer to Jasmine and Jasmine's lawyer subsequently made the divorce a drawn-out five-plus-year ordeal which delayed Eileen's own marriage to Harry. Plus, Eileen never accompanied Harry to any Phillies events in which families were invited. And, per Miller's book, she was something of a provocateur in the whole Harry-Chris Wheeler feud. So yeah, the relationship between her and the Phillies has always been icy.

[MichaelJackSchmidt]

The Phillies have a ton of money. Why not pay her?

[allentown]

She's probably right that the family should be compensated for the NIL but his sons don't seem to be making an issue of it.

If she is the executor or Harry's estate, she is the natural person to pursue this, not the sons.

[zambonir]

She's right that they could have just called it the Ghost Energy Deck at Harry the K's. Or vice-versa. Just like Uniqlo Field at Dodger Stadium.

Can't imagine this is great for Ghost Energy either, though I don't imagine a person who has ever consumed their product ever heard Harry Kalas call a game.

I would think the Phillies probably have a lot of different video or audio of Harry singing High Hopes that they own. I always thought it was a little weird that they went with the one they did - I believe it actually is a home movie (from a wedding?) and he's also clearly had a few. But now it will always be about this no matter what they do.

Her dismissing the statue (because it was paid for privately) or the press box (because fans can say it) actually does make it seem like she cares more about the royalty she got from the bar than anything else.