All your Phillies news and rumors updated regularly with links to more substantial articles:
January 8, 2026 at 3:30p – Phillies Schedule Meeting with Bo Bichette
Matt Gelb is reporting that the Phillies will be meeting in person with Bo Bichette and his representation in the coming days. Other reports came today that he has friends on the team and they have been in contact with him about joining the club. Bichette and new bench close Don Mattingly are close. I’m giddy.
The Phillies were not initially linked to Bichette because it was largely assumed that the World Series hero would go back to Toronto somewhere in the 10/$300m range. Well, Toronto brought in Kazuma Okomoto to play the infield and nothing close to that number has been reportedly offered. This changes the calculus a bit. If he is willing to take a shorter contract, the Phillies might be willing to play ball.
Taking the plunge with Bichette means that the Phillies would need to shed some payroll. The most obvious candidates would be not signing JT Realmuto while moving Alec Bohm and possibly Edmundo Sosa (depending on where his arb number comes in). If Bichette is looking for around $30m per season, these three would cover that amount without the Phillies breaking their likely budget number of $315m. Of course, we would then need a catcher, but that’s for another day.
January 8, 2026 at 1:45p – Phillies avoid Arbitration with EVERYBODY!
Every Phillies player eligible for arbitration has signed. Of the reported deals, the Phillies have managed to save a little money under projections to the tune of $1.8m. Every dollar counts considering this team is looking to keep its luxury tax bill down (plus some of us are still holding on to the dream of Bo Bichette, see above).
One thing to know is that these contracts become guaranteed when they are signed. Before today, they could have been cut with no financial repercussion. Further, had they gone to arbitration and an arbitrator picked a number (the camps each give a number, argue, then the arbitrator picks a side), that would NOT be guaranteed.
Here are the numbers out so far…
- Jesus Luzardo – $11m ($12m projected)
- Bryson Stott – $5.9m ($5.5m projected)
- Alec Bohm – $10.3m
- Tanner Banks – $1.2m ($1.3m projected)
- Jhoan Duran – $7.5m ($8m projected)
- Edmundo Sosa – $4.4m ($7.5m projected by Spotrac but $3.9m by MLBT. I had him at $5m to split the difference)
- Brandon Marsh – ($5.5m projected)
January 5, 2026 at 11a – Phillies Hire Don Mattingly
After months of speculation, the Phillies have hired Don Mattingly as their bench coach. Mattingly was the bench coach for the World Series runner-up Toronto Blue Jays last year but was not retained. This is interesting for a few reasons…
First, Mattingly is a former manager for both the Dodgers and Marlins, winning 3 division titles in LA and being named Manager of the Year with the Marlins in 2020. If you remember the Marlins of the late 2010s and early 2020s, they were a persistent thorn in the Phillies’ side, especially in Miami where Marlins Park was a house of horrors. I want a guy around who knows how to give good teams fits, especially with less talent.
Second, the job itself is there to mask the manager’s flaws. Whether you are for or against Rob Thomson, you have to admit the guy makes some interesting in game decisions when it comes to the bullpen, pinch hitting, and defensive switches. The hope is that while Topper manages the team for the long run and keeps everyone on the same page and an even keel, Donny Baseball will know what buttons to push in the 7th inning to keep a game from getting away. In the mid 2000s, Charlie Manuel credited Jimi Williams for the team’s success in this same roll when Chuck was mainly worried about hitting and keeping the players happy.
Third, Mattingly could be a conduit of information from the team to the front office. These two parts of an organization are not always in lock step, but this is not some ordinary hire. Don is the father of Phillies GM Preston Mattingly. You have to think this pick was not random. Now the elder Mattingly was also a well-respected player in his time and likely knows what to tell the front office and what not to, so this will hopefully not create a conflict of interest. They also can’t ask Mama Mattingly to fix any problems as Don and Preston’s mom Lori Sexton are long divorced.
Fourth, experience as a player. Former bench coach Mike Calitri was not a former Major League ballplayer. After a short minor league career that never got above A Ball, Calitri became a scout and worked his way up the ladder. He has now been promoted to Field Coordinator which is essentially the role that makes sure the minors and majors are on the same page. Mattingly probably should be in the Hall of Fame and has a name that carries a lot of cache. Players know that he knows what they know.
December 22, 2025 at 4:45p – Phillies Sign Zack Pop
Pop is a 6’4″ righty reliever who has been mostly bad in his time in the majors outside of 2022 when he managed only 4 walks and 2 HRs in 39 innings. He spent the last 3 years getting absolutely shelled though. Why did the Phillies offer him a major league contract then? Probably because he still has a big fastball, a low walk rate, and gets a decent amount of ground balls (as per baseball savant). They are hoping that some time with pitcher whisperer Caleb Cotham helps get him back on track. It should be noted that his career numbers are very good against righties with a career .660 OPS against.
The numbers of his contract are not out yet, but this can’t be much more than the minimum considering he was released by 2 teams last year and only pitched 6 innings (11 ERs!) without being hurt. It’s almost as if this move was designed to make the masses collectively groan.
December 20, 2025 at 12:30p – Phillies and JT Realmuto Not Close
All winter (though it’s not winter yet) the Phillies have been expected to resign catcher JT Realmuto. It hasn’t happened yet. There’s no word on whether the problem is length or dollars, but it’s come to the point that the team is pursuing possible free agents like Victor Caratini and trades. Caratini is interesting in that he is a solid left handed bat who isn’t a liability behind the plate and would cost less than half of Realmuto. As for trades, it’s rough. There’s one exception though, Shea Langeliers. The not-Oakland catcher is in his prime and broke out behind the plate 2 years ago. He’s a legit middle of the order presence. He would honestly fix everything. He probably cost Andrew Painter though. If the situation isn’t resolved this weekend, I’ll do a full write up on the Phillies 2026 catcher situation.
December 19, 2025 at 12:30 – Phillies Swap Avery Owusu-Asiedu for Kyle Backhus…Who?
I got you. The Phillies receive Kyle Backhus from the Arizona Diamondbacks. Backhus is a lefty reliever who was a rookie this past season. His delivery is funky as all hell as it starts like he is a side-armer but eventually comes 3/4. This causes serious arm extension making his low 90s fastball looks much better than it is (not unlike Vance Worley back in the day). Check out the only place he’s in the red. He will be 28 years old but still has 6 years of control (like Jonathan Bowlan below). Unlike Bowlan, Backhus still has minor league options left.
We gave up Avery Owusu-Asiedu, a 22 year old OF who had been moonlighting in High A. He has been in the Phillies system for 2 years with middling stats and was not among the Phillies Top-30 prospects. Why was this trade made? Because the Diamondbacks need roster spots and the Phillies have more space than anyone.
December 19, 2025 at 10a – Phillies Trade Matt Strahm
Phillies have acquired Jonathan Bowlan from the Royals for Matt Strahm. I guess Passan knew what he was talking about! Here’s what you need to know…
Bowlan is a righty reliever with starter experience and he’s HUGE! At 6’6″ and 240 pounds he’s got to be intimidating on the mound. The fastball is mid to upper 90s. Last year was his first real season in the big leagues and he was…fine. In around 40 innings he had a sub 4 ERA and a strikeout per frame. 6 HRs though isn’t ideal. Here’s his Baseball Savant Page.
The reason the Phillies made this deal is because he’s still technically a rookie making the minimum and under 6 years of control. That doesn’t make him young though, he’s 29. He basically erases Matt Strahm’s $7.5m salary from the books. It’s a good bet on a future arm and body type even if we are giving up a dependable now bullpen arm.
The Phillies are at around $301-$302m in payroll.
December 18, 2025 at 11:30a – Phillies “Will” Trade Matt Strahm
Jeff Passan is reporting that the Phillies will trade reliever Matt Strahm but gives no other details. That’s a pretty bold thing to float out there, but what we can glean from it is that the Phillies are actively engaged with other teams and are motivated to move him. It isn’t surprising for several reasons.
Yesterday the Phillies signed Brad Keller to give them a right handed setup man. While Strahm has been good against righties, he is a lefty and the Phillies already employ Jose Alvarado. Granted, you can’t have too many good relievers, but he also makes $7.5m next year and the Phillies are on a budget crunch. Before signing JT Realmuto, it looks like they are already right around last year’s payroll which was a club record.
The Phillies should be able to get someone decent in return for Strahm’s services. An effective lefty reliever for only $7.5m is a valuable commodity. Whether that means a solid prospect or a right-handed platoon outfielder, I don’t know.
The writing has been on the wall since the end of the season with Strahm. Not only did the team pick up Alvarado’s option despite his suspension this past year, but there was that whole awkward exchange with Dave Dombrowski. When asked about Orion Kerkering’s season-ending blunder, Strahm seemed to have his teammates back by claiming the team hadn’t done much infield practice. Old Dom took offense to this forgettable statement and vehemently denied the implication that the team wasn’t prepared. It was awkward in a lot of ways. It seemed pretty clear that Dom either already didn’t like Strahm or at least didn’t anymore. Anyway, he is likely gone.
December 17, 2025 at 12:00p – Phillies Sign Reliever Brad Keller
Phillies get their right handed reliever in the form of Brad Keller for 2/$22m. After being a non-roster invite to spring training for the Cubs last year, Keller killed it. He is a former starter, but once he moved to the pen, his fastball jumped from 95 to 97mph and the results followed. After a career of ERAs in the 4s and 5s, that dropped to a miniscule 2.07 last season with a FIP to match. He only gave up 4 HRs in 70 innings, struck out about a batter per inning and had a sub-1 WHIP. Here’s his Baseball Savant page (red is good… Very good).
This move was NEEDED. The bullpen simply did not look good on paper (I was writing about it when I saw the news). This changes that by giving Jhoan Duran a real right-handed setup option. Orion Kerkering is simply not that guy right now. This also gives the Phillies the opportunity to move one of Matt Strahm or Jose Alvarado.
By my count the Phillies are at around $309m in payroll at the moment.
December 16, 2025 at 1p – Phillies Outfield is “Pretty Much Set”
That wind gust you just felt was the collective sigh of every Phillies fan thinking that there might be something else up for the outfield only to have their hopes dashed by Dave Dombrowski. With the Adolis Garcia signing, Old Dom says that the outfield will be Garcia in right, Marsh in left, and a whole lot of Justin Crawford in center. As disappointing as this is, it lines up with my thoughts that the Phillies are not planning to spend too much over the final tax threshold. Harrison Bader is not walking through that door.
The trade market consists of Jarren Duran and Byron Buxton, but both are prohibitively prospect-expensive. Other than Bader, Crawford was/is probably the best option even if he is apparently fast but not very skilled at the position.
December 16, 2025 at 11:30a – Phillies Still in on Imai
Jared Diamond of the Wall Street Journal is reporting that the Phillies (and a bunch of other teams) are still very much in on Tatsuya Imai of the NBL. Imai is a pitcher in a tier just below the Dodgers Japanese arms, but no slouch himself. He’s wiry but still has a big fastball and just had a 1.92 ERA at 27 years old. The Phillies don’t NEED another starting pitcher, but if you are thinking about the future, it wouldn’t be bad to have one. It would also mean Taijuan Walker is expendable and the Phillies can finally put a face to their attempted aggressive expansion into the Far East.
Yesterday, the Phillies signed Adolis Garcia, bringing their tax payroll up close to $300m. I’ve been banging the drum that they are only going to barely eclipse the final tax threshold ($304m) by a little bit all off season…with one very big exception. The Phillies will break the bank for a Japanese player. They almost did for Yamamoto 2 years ago and will bite the bullet financially for a season to do it now (the books clear up considerably next season).
December 15, 2025 at 11:40a – Phillies Sign Adolis Garcia
The Phillies just signed Adolis Garcia to a 1/$10m contract. He was released earlier by the Rangers when they could not find a trade partner. Garcia is 33, right-handed, and was a World Series and playoff hero for Texas as recently as 3 years ago. However, he had a rough last two seasons at the plate (sub .700 OPS). Even in his best years, he doesn’t hit for average, doesn’t walk, and strikes out a lot. Wait, so why did we sign him? The man has power and can play a mean right field. Even in a down year where he missed 26 games, he still had 19 HRs and 28 doubles. Strangely, he is a career reverse split guy. It was even more pronounced last year with a .601 OPS against lefties.
The idea with signing Garcia is that he is a huge change of pace. He is a beloved teammate guy who adds a different flavor to a very vanilla clubhouse (read into that phrasing all you want). This seems very “Max Kepler” at first glance though and has the chance to be just that. That especially goes for the salary. By the end of last year, we were lamenting spending that Kepler money when it could have been used anywhere else. With a possible JT Realmuto re-signing still on the horizon, this will put the Phillies right up against their budget of around $298m. I don’t see them going too far over the final tax threshold though.
There’s also the issue of whose position is he taking? Justin Crawford is going to make this team. Is Marsh in CF? Is he on the block? Is he part of a platoon? There is a lot to sort out here.
December 14, 2025 at 8:30p – Phillies in on Luis Robert Jr
Ken Rosenthal is reporting that the Phillies have interest in Luis Robert Jr, the centerfielder for the Chicago White Sox. You may remember that Robert was not only not traded at the trade deadline, but the White Sox picked up his $20m option after the season. You may also remember that he was one of the worst statistical players in the majors last year.
So why are we interested? Well most of what Robert does is get at bats against righties like most of baseball. He’s TERRIBLE at that. One of the worst in the league. However, he happens to crush lefties which is expected as a right handed hitter. He also plays pretty solid CF defense. These are two things the Phillies desperately need.
$20m for a platoon bat? Sounds crazy, I know. The Phillies are not going to trade anything of real value for him. They also aren’t going to pay him $20m. Not only would that be insane, but they just don’t have the extra cash. The only trade for Robert that makes any sense to me is a trade straight up for Nick Castellanos and his $20m salary.
The problem is, why in the hell did Chicago pick up his option? They did it with the hopes that he would start hitting righties again and improve his value. They probably aren’t interested in a Castellanos swap unless they think he has a better chance to gain his own value back. I wouldn’t bank on a trade, but he’s someone to watch.
December 12, 2025 at 9p – Bryse Wilson?
The Phillies have signed former starter turned terrible reliever Bryse Wilson. There’s no word yet on whether this is a major league or minor league deal, but I can assure you that it’s not a big deal. Wilson wasn’t just bad for a bad team last year, he was terrible for a terrible team last year. He had a 6.65 ERA for the White Sox. This wasn’t a blip either, he gives up a ton of HRs, a ton of walks, and a ton of hits and he has been doing this his whole career. He has a solid statistical year in 2023 for the Brewers, but advanced stats suggested he was now average than actually good that season.
Ok, is there anything to like? Well, he’s 28, is huge (255 pounds), and has pitched over 100 innings before. Also, he’s not Jordan Romano. I think that’s what everyone believes is happening here. It’s not. There’s no way they gave him real money and have any expectations. So everyone getting mad about this, RELAX. It’s just not a big deal.
December 10, 2025 at 3p – Rule 5 Draft Results
The Rule 5 Draft is an opportunity for players who have been buried in various farm systems to go directly to the majors for a selecting team. The caveat is that the player must stay on the 26 man roster the whole season or be offered back to the original team. This year, the Phillies lost former top prospect Griff McGarry to the Washington Nationals with the 3rd overall pick. McGarry is someone who has serious spin rates, but very little control. He would have occasional bouts with control and get everyone’s hopes up, but would always revert back to his serious problem with strike throwing. He was always someone to dream on, but it just wasn’t working here.
With the 12th overall selection, the Phillies selected Zach McCambley, a right-handed reliever from the Marlins. McCambley will be 27 next season and is from Netcong, NJ. He was drafted in 2020 out of Coastal Carolina. Last year, he split time between AA and AA with solid results. In 63 innings, he piled up 83 Ks to only 22 walks. Even better, he only surrendered 3 HRs. His fastball sits in the mid-90s with apparently a big slider and solid cutter.
The Phillies also made a trade for Rays pitcher Yoniel Curet, sending reliever Tommy McCollum to Tampa. Curet is wild, but so was Cris Sanchez and Jose Alvarado when they came over from Tampa. He is a 23 year old righty who carved up AA before getting crushed in AAA and in the Dominican Winter League. In 55 innings across the minors he only surrendered 2 HRs while striking out 62 and walking 31.
December 10, 2025 at 2:30p – Phillies In On Brenton Doyle
Doyle is the 3rd year centerfielder for the Colorado Rockies. With a regime change in Colorado, Doyle looks to be on the chopping block. According to Ari Alexander, the Phillies are among several teams including the Mets, Padres, and others are in on his services. There may be a lot of interest, but his value can’t be too much considering how terrible his year was. Here’s his deal…
Doyle broke out in 2024 hitting above average and being a GREAT centerfielder. Unfortunately for all involved, 2025 happened. His hitting stats all cratered and his once superlative defense became pedestrian. Doyle is a right handed hitter who can’t hit other righties to save his life. Against lefties though, he was pretty solid last year.
Why are the Phillies interested? Well, one of two possibilities in my book, both of which are platoons. First, they could look to split the CF duties with Justin Crawford to give Crawford a bit of a cushion against lefties. Second, Crawford plays full time in right while Marsh goes full platoon in CF. This way he isn’t teamed with the hitter black hole that is Johan Rojas. In a very limited CF market, this would be considered getting creative. The idea is that he would be MUCH cheaper than Harrison Bader at an estimated $3m according to Spotrac.
December 9, 2025 at 10:20p – Ketel Marte Market Heating Up
Jon Heyman seems to think the Diamondbacks are getting closer to dealing their fantastic second baseman with the Red Sox, Mariners, and Blue Jays in the forefront but with the Rays and Phillies lurking. Marte is 32 and has 6/$103m left on his deal. That means he’s old, but affordable.
He’s a switch hitter who is pretty damn equal from both sides of the plate. Arizona is going to want a ton for him, probably an amount that will keep the Phillies away. Word is they want pitching. Would we trade Andrew Painter and Bryson Stott for that kind of upgrade? Probably not. Maybe they’d take Gage Wood instead, but I doubt it.
December 9, 2025 at 11:30a – Phillies Re-Sign Kyle Schwarber and extend Rob Thomson; Edwin Diaz to the Dodgers
The deal is 5/$150m and damn that is a lot! I’ll have a full break down later, but this leaves the team with around $20ish million to spend with the bulk of that likely earmarked for JT Realmuto. This is a ton to pay for a guy who can only play DH but whose skillset will age well. Think Nelson Cruz who was bashing 40 HRs deep into his 30s. Schwarber will be 33 to start the season and this deal will take him through probably the end of his career at age 37. The Phillies desperately needed power (only Harper is a threat for 20+ HRs) and damn near no one has the power of Kyle Schwarber.
Also in the news is Rob Thomson getting a 1-year extension. Topper was a lame duck going into this year and that is basically a vote of No-Confidence in baseball managerial circles. IT seems like the job is Thomson’s for as long as he wants it. I am not a fan of Topper, but he keeps the team under control during the regular season and keeps a long view. His in game management needs help though. That’s why Don Mattingly has been floated as a new bench coach. Topper needs someone to stop him from making the same wrong decisions.
Edwin Diaz leaves the Mets and goes to the Dodgers for 3/$69m (nice). No word yet on the likely deferrals that are involved. I wonder if they keep Roki Sasaki in the bullpen or use him as trade bait? He probably goes back to the rotation, but it’s interesting to think about their options.
December 6, 2025 at 5:15p – Phillies in on Cody Bellinger
In some ways it makes perfect sense that the Phillies would be in on the former MVP and recently reformed Bellinger. He could help both their power and centerfield situation. He would probably cost around $25m to $30m a year over 4-5 years. However, he has red flags all over the place and it’s not just because he forgot how to play baseball a few years ago.
Bellinger’s splits page is so over the place. First, he’s a left handed hitter who crushes lefties. I know what you’re thinking, that’s great! Except he sucks on the other side. In 480 ABs, he managed a .244 average and a .741 OPS. He’s always been a bit reverse splitty, but never this drastic. You can see how he could fall off a cliff again. Then there is the home/road problem. He killed it in Yankee Stadium last year, hitting .302 with a .900+ OPS. On the road it was like he was only hitting righties. That makes for some crazy variance. How would he do in Philly? Who knows, but there’s no chance he does as well as in the Bronx.
While he sounds like a perfect hitter between Schwarber and Harper, if Bellinger comes to Philly, that means Kyle is probably gone.
December 3, 2025 at 2:15p – Free Agency Rumors: Ranger and Kyle
Evidently, the Phillies have engaged Ranger Suarez about returning. There are no reported offers on the table at the moment, but the sides are in touch. Does this mean the Phillies are trying to bring everyone back??? No. Ranger will probably cost somewhere in the Kyle Schwarber range and there simply is not enough money to go around for both. I am sure the Phillies have been in touch with everyone just in case plans A through E fall through and have contingencies. This is no secret considering Scott Boras represents half the big names out there. He knows what the Phillies can and can’t do and who they are looking at.
The rumor is that the Reds are still very much in on Schwarber. The other rumor is that they do not want to increase payroll from last year. Well, they were at $140m last year and are at $120m this year. Do the math. Unless Kyle wants to take a huge pay cut or the Reds want to trade Brady Singer ($13m), Tyler Stephenson ($7m), and Gavin Lux ($4.5m) AND dump a 1/4 of their payroll into a DH, they are not likely going to outbid the Phillies or Mets for him. After all, the biggest free agent signing in Reds history is 4/$64m (Nick Castellanos and Mike Moustakas)
November 29, 2025 at 10p – Schwarber and Phillies Not Close to Deal
If you are anything like me, then you don’t really take “not close to a deal” as real news or even a rumor. I’m entertaining this to show some context for the week ahead. Todd Zolecki reported this for two reasons. First, the Phillies want you to know that they are negotiating with their star. Second, his agency wants everyone to know that with the Winter Meetings coming up, their boy is still taking bids. It also tells me that the Phillies are not offering the house for him.
I have been steadfast in my thinking that Kyle’s market is not what everyone thinks. Yes he’s an awesome guy who hit 56 dingers last year. He’s also a 33 year old DH. I saw someone predict him at 4/$160m. On what planet? The only way he gets that high is if the Mets want to roast their rivals. So far though, the only teams actually linked to him are the Phillies, Reds, Orioles, and Pirates. Lol! Those other 3 are not going to be the ones to pay him like that. That’s simply not what they do. Anything can happen at the Winter Meetings, but so far there is really nothing to worry about
November 25, 2025 at 2p – Diamondbacks listening on Ketel Marte
Jon Morosi is reporting that Arizona is shopping Ketel Marte who has quietly been one of the better players in the National League over the last 3 seasons. Why do they want to trade him? Because his value is sky high right now, he just turned 32, and he signed a very weird early extension last year that pays him through his age 37 season. There is 6 years and $103.5m left on the deal, but would be a very team friendly $18.4m in tax each season for an acquiring team. Think of it like trading for Bryan Reynolds of the Pirates, but the complete opposite.
Why am I telling you this? Because the Phillies are interested. I know I listed his negatives above, but again, Marte has been damn good the last few years and has big time value. The Diamondbacks will ask for Aiden Miller and maybe even offer to take the Nick Castellanos contract to seal the deal. That’s probably a non-starter though. Could it get done for Aroon Escobar and filler? Not likely. Someone will top that easily. Would be willing to deal Justin Crawford, Alec Bohm/Bryson Stott, plus a young pitching prospect? That’s a lot, but…
November 23, 2025 at 6p – Nimmo Traded to Texas
Normally I reserve this section for Phillies news and rumors, but Mets Enemy #1 for me has been Brandon Nimmo for years. Nimmo goes to the Rangers in exchange for Marcus Simien. This is a move to lower the tax for the Rangers and lower total dollars owed by the Mets. Simien has 3/$72m left on his contract.
In Simien, the Mets are getting a 35 year old former MVP second baseman who has struggled at the plate the last 2 years. Don’t let the high WAR fool you, he’s been in a long term decline. Maybe he has some more juice left in him, but he also might be cooked.
November 21, 2025 at 4p – Contract Tender Deadline
7p UPDATE – Correction, everyone who was arbitration eligible was tendered. Michael Mercado and Daniel Robert were non-tendered. Around the league, the most interesting non-tender was Adolis Garcia of the Rangers. The former World Series hero was rough at the plate last season but plays a mean right field with his cannon arm. How bad could he be? Worse than Nick Castellanos at the plate. Yikes!
5:30p UPDATE – Everyone was tendered. Not unexpected.
Players not under contract have until today at 6p to be tendered a contract or become a free agent. These are the players who are still under team control either by arbitration or pre-arb, but have yet to agree to a deal for 2026. It is important to know that the team and player do not have to agree to a number today, just be offered a contract. Garrett Stubbs has reportedly agreed to a deal, and Jesus Luzardo, Edmundo Sosa, Jhoan Duran, Brandon Marsh, and Bryson Stott will all likely be tendered. Rafael Marchan is up in the air. It’s a long shot, but Alec Bohm could possibly be non-tendered due to a likely 8 figure salary through arbitration.
November 20, 2025 at 10a – Minor Updates
- The Phillies protected Andrew Painter, Gabriel Rincones, and Alex McFarlane by adding them to their 40 man roster. The only semi-surprise was Griff McGarry not being protected.
- Contract tenders are due Friday. Most won’t agree, but I think there is at least a chance the Phillies either trade Alec Bohm this week or cut him outright.
- Phillies signed Liover Peguero who is presumably a non roster invitee to Spring Training, Peguero is an infielder from the Pirates organization who used to be highly regarded but never hit well in AAA.
November 19, 2025 at 12:00p – Kazuma Okamoto Officially Posted
Kazuma Okamoto has been officially posted by the Yomiuri Giants. Okamoto is 29 and considered the best pure hitter in Japan even if star slugger Munetaka Murakami steals all the headlines. Teams will have until January 3 to come to an agreement with Okamoto. He is expected to score a deal around $100m. Full write up on all of the Japanese players coming over this winter later today.
November 19, 2025 at 12:05am – Taylor Ward Traded to Orioles
Cross Taylor Ward off your Phillies winter wish list. The corner outfielder who bombed 36 HRs last year for the Angels has been traded to Baltimore for pitcher Grayson Rodriguez. It’s a crazy fall for Rodriguez who the Orioles must not think will ever regain his top of the rotation form after injuries ruined his 2025 season. The options to improve the Phillies troubled outfield are dwindling, though Ward will likely be available again at the deadline if Baltimore falls out early again. The kicker with Ward is that he’s projected to make almost $14m in his final year of arbitration.
November 18, 2025 at 3:25p – Tatsuya Imai Officially Posted
Tatsuya Imai has been officially posted by the Seibu Lions. He had a 1.92 ERA in Japan last year and while that’s an ace statistic, the righty is considered a step below Ohtani, Yamamoto, and Sasaki as a prospect. The Phillies desperately want to break into the Japanese market and were big players on Yamamoto 2 years ago. If they strike out on big free agents, the 27-year-old Imai would be a great pivot. He has until January 2nd to sign with an MLB team. Kazuma Okamoto is now the last big Japanese player waiting to be posted. UPDATE: Imai was officially posted on the 19th with Okamoto
November 18, 2025 at 11:10a – Phillies Shopping Lefty Relievers
Matt Gelb of The Athletic reports that the Phillies are considering trading from their left-handed bullpen depth in order to free up some extra cash. Jose Alvarado is making $9m and Matt Strahm is set to earn $7.5m in 2026. Before making any moves, the Phillies have a little under $50m to spend in free agency. Of course, it isn’t as though the Phillies have some kind of robust bullpen that doesn’t need this kind of depth, but for once they actually do have possible help coming from the minors.
Philly Front Office 