Phillies 2026 News and Discussion

[dcsman]

we should probably see if it can be fixed over the next 6 weeks and if not become a seller at the deadline.

Who are we selling?

Wheeler? Duran? Marsh?

[andyb]

Definitely people with expiring contracts like Bohm (who won't have much value). But then it is likely the guys with a few years of control as the guys with long or expensive contracts will be harder to move and likely have trade protections.

Duran, Stott, Sosa, Garcia, Kerkering, Marsh, Banks, Mayza, Alvarado

Sell decisions would be a mix of who is playing well, what their contract looks like, and what they could bring in return.

[Philsmania]

Sanchez would be super-tradeable with the low AAV and years of team control. Heck, even the Pirates with a loaded farm system could afford him. Scenes and him 1-2 in a rotation? Zoinks,.Scoob!

[zambonir]

Alvarado Garcia and Sosa (and I guess Mayza) are all pending FAs, though obviously their value varies. Maybe you move Stott if there's interest (and Miller is back in action). But I have a hard time imagining them doing anything other than a reset. Nola concerns aside you gotta assume the rotation will be better, short-term and next year.

If they get serious about shaking it up bigger, they'll find a way. But that means eating money or taking back someone else's similar problem. I don't know that I'm prepared to write off Turner just yet. Of course if they did go full rebuild (which trading Sanchez would also signal) Harper and Schwarber would accept a trade.

But tanking really isn't a strategy anymore. The last time the Phillies didn't do it fast enought but things were different then. A sell-off would be mostly to get under CBT thresholds and have two years of better draft picks tops.

[andyb]

Sanchez would have lots of trade value. AAV is $16.47 million after this year so not quite that low any more.

As a team that can handle high salary though and DOES want to compete every year we are just not going to trade our best long term contact. Probably put Luzardo in that category too. On the hitting side we would love to trade Schwarber and Realmuto in the right deal. 10/5 rights might get in the way with several though. Harper and Realmuto and Nola have them while Turner has a full no trade through 2033. Schwarber does not get his rights till the end of 2026 so he might be the only tradeable big contract without additional compensation.

Bottom line is this team will not do a full rebuild. But judicious trades of players that have less than 3 years of control and tradeable contracts should be on the table.

[andyb]

A sell-off would be mostly to get under CBT thresholds and have two years of better draft picks tops.

Not exactly true. We'd be selling players we could replace with free agents to add to our farm system. The actual draft and 10 spots is really not that important unless we are really bad (like top 5 picks bad). It would be more important to get some other system's 3rd best prospect than to improve our draft position 10 spots.

[flyers19rw]

I’m going to get ripped for this but, IMO, some of these players have bad attitudes in that they won’t make changes in their approach to the game for the betterment of the team. Too many hitters refuse to play small ball when it’s called for. I understand that a player wants to do what has been successful for them but when it’s no longer working, adjustments need to be made. This is not being done.
On defense, there’s too much matador style stuff being played. Much of defense is done with the legs not the arms. Players need to get in front of the ball not constantly reaching for it. If a player can’t get in front of balls, they need to play a different position.
This is where I put some blame on Thomson. I don’t believe that he has what it takes to challenge the big guys on the roster about doing what matters most for the team. A little bit of Dallas Green attitude from him might help. I’m not for a full blown tantrum but some of these guys don’t seem to get it that there’s no “I” in team. Maybe Harper needs to go back to the OF? Maybe Realmuto needs to take some days off? Maybe Turner needs to go to CF? Maybe some guys need different addresses.
Amaro hit it on Sunday’s broadcast when he said that this team has too much talent to be in last place. It’s time for these guys to belly up to the bar and produce like they can or be shipped out of town. Right now they are an embarrassment to the fans; management; each other and themselves.

[zambonir]

Well, what I was trying to say is that the rebuild would not last more than a year (not counting this one). Take the high pick you didn't actually plan on this year, and then one year where it's not win-at-all-costs. But chasing the lottery for several years isn't gonna happen. They can get out of the high taxes merely by not being aggressive in free agency next off-season. I can't see Middleton wanting to do much more than that. Or trading Schwarber. It is certainly a much trickier thing to decide which older players can actually be part of a winning team from 2028-2030.

[zambonir]

Nobody wants them to play small ball. And some guys actually have cut their chase rates/been more disciplined, but it has made them more passive and worse at hitting instead of having the desire effect. I don't think anyone is refusing to make adjustments either. They're just no succeeding at doing so.

I think the coaching staff does bear the blame for the drop-off on defense. They got the credit when it got better.

[zambonir]

Got my answer anyway. Kerfeld dates back to Gillick. Dunno about the other guys.

Not sure this is actually great management either. The politics/optics of it aside, they're not going to see things as they really are, only as they are with people watching.

before the Cora saga, Dombrowski invited three trusted scouts — David Chadd, Charley Kerfeld, and Brad Sloan — to meet the Phillies in Atlanta over the weekend and encouraged them to hang around the dugout and clubhouse before games. It’s evident he wanted their firsthand input into how to fix what’s wrong.

There’s not much Rob Thomson can do about the Phillies’ roster. But he might end...

[Austinfan]

Face it, this is DD's MO, gamble on veterans, strip the farm system and go for the gusto.
When it works, he's a genius, when it doesn't, apres moi le deluge.
I think DD may retire rather than preside over a 3-5 year rebuild.
This isn't a bounceback situation, all you have to do is look at the ages, Schwarter, JT, Harper, Turner ain't getting better, same with Wheeler,Nola. That's a lot of money tied up in players on the downside of their careers.

Now I think Sanchez and Luzardo will bounce back, and Painter has oddles of upside.
But unless Crawford is a .380 OPB leadoff man, Reyes/Ricones are a 20+ HR platoon, Miller is an al star IF, etc., there ain't much hope for 90+ wins the next few seasons.

They are maxed out financially, Walker and Casty will be off the books, but last thing they need is another over 30 FA.
The farm system has improved from putrid to average the last five years, but given their bad contract/FA decisions, they need a lot more than "average," they need top 10, maybe top 5.

If they had an influx of young talent, they could eat 3-4 veteran contracts before they'd have to give big extensions. But without a miracle emergence, they'll have OK prospects and declining veterans and they're not going to go NY Met crazy with money.

[andyb]

You can say a lot of things that are correct, but you are just dead wrong that they are maxed out financially. The pursuit of Bichette is not that of a maxed out team. Repeat after me: it's not my money (other than ticket prices of course).

They can spend money. They just won't win regularly without spending it wisely though.

[flyers19rw]

Playing small ball when it's called for is not doing it all of the time. There are occasions when a bunt or hit and run would make a difference when a team is in a hitting slump. This club doesn' t do that. Chase rate is one thing; working a count is another. The Phillies are in the bottom tier of taking walks for the league. They'd rather slug. Still most of their HRs are with no one on base.
Amaro is right about the amount of talent on this club and its performance. The two don't connect. Either the talent isn't really there, which is doubtful, or the players are not performing at the level that they should. The manager and his staff needs to get these guys on a winning path or some of these people need new addresses.

[Philsmania]

Greg Luzinski chimes in on Kevin Long.

https://x.com/LuzinskiGreg/status/2048482198425071856

Maybe he shouldn't say anything but, at the same time, he may have a point. There's a lot of chatter that the veterans--notably Harper and Turner--are advocating on Long's behalf to management but, yeah, look at all the position players--"hitters", if you will--who seem to lose it when they get to Philadelphia.

[MichaelJackSchmidt]

Thomson has been fired

[zambonir]

I think that one gets its own thread

[zambonir]

I think DD may retire rather than preside over a 3-5 year rebuild.

His contract is up after next season, he can just hand the keys over to Mattingly if the team isn't thinking about bigger changes (which it doesn't seem like they will be unless it happens before the next permanent manager is named).

[Philsmania]

This is kind of a desperation move. I feel bad that Topper is taking the fall for the missteps of the people over him.

[zambonir]

When does it ever not go that way though? Charlie didn't deserve to be fired either. Even Sandberg, a bad manager who was brought in as the obvious heir, was not really to blame for what he inherited.

They say every GM (or PBO) should get no more than two managerial firings, but what's funny is this is the first Phillies manager Dombrowski has actually hired directly. And Gillick never hired or fired even one.

[Philsmania]

When does it ever not go that way though? Charlie didn't deserve to be fired either. Even Sandberg, a bad manager who was brought in as the obvious heir, was not really to blame for what he inherited.

They say every GM (or PBO) should get no more than two managerial firings, but what's funny is this is the first Phillies manager Dombrowski has actually hired directly. And Gillick never hired or fired even one.

I've heard the rule say that a GM in any sport (or POBO in baseball) usually only gets one chance before they end up on the hot seat themselves. Lee Thomas managed to get two hires (Leyva and Fregosi) before he ended up on the hot seat himself after hiring Francona (his third). After inheriting Francona, Wade's first hire was Bowa but then found himself on the hotseat and on the way out himself the year after he fired Bowa and hired Charlie. Gillick never made a change but don't forget how he placed three former managers--Jimy Williams, Davey Lopes and, for a couple of weeks, Art Howe--on the coaching staff in the offseason preceding 2007, a clear shot across Charlie's bow. Sandberg was Amaro's hire before he was doomed. Klentak had his hire in Kapler before he got fired a year after Kapler was.