PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Rob Thomson will return next season, complete with a contract extension through 2026. His coaching staff will remain in tact for 2025, as well.
In the simplest terms, the staff retention means the Philadelphia Phillies judge their postseason failures on a high-priced, free-swinging lineup that goes cold in October more than the personnel in place making the moves while trying to win a World Series.
Philly Rob and his dugout crew are back — but what about the rest of the roster?
Yes, Bryce Harper, Trea Turner, J.T. Realmuto, Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola and a handful of others are locks to return. As for Alec Bohm, Brandon Marsh, Bryson Stott and trade deadline pickups Austin Hays and Carlos Estévez, well, it could be an intriguing offseason for their Phillies' fate.
Just don’t expect a major shakeup for a team coming off a 95-win season and an NL East title before it was knocked out of the playoffs by the New York Mets in the NL Division Series.
“I do think it’s a good roster,” Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said Tuesday. “I think it’s a club that’s capable of winning a world championship. We’ve been close. We won 95 games. However, you’re also open-minded to making adjustments. I think that’s a necessity.”
Let’s go around the horn with what’s in store for the 2025 Phillies.
The Phillies ended the season with a $249 million payroll, topped only by the Dodgers, Yankees and Mets — three teams still alive in the playoffs.
Dombrowski said he had yet to talk with principal owner John Middleton — who has never been shy about lavish spending in the offseason — about financial flexibility this winter, but added, “I have no indication that we’re going to continue to be aggressive and try and have an aggressive payroll.”
Is there enough room to seriously pursue potential costly free agents such as slugger Juan Soto or ace Corbin Burnes? Probably not.
“I don't think we need to have more star players,” Dombrowski said. “We have as many stars as about anybody in baseball. I don't think necessarily that we need to add more. I think you have to be a little concerned. John is very accommodating and giving, but you're also in a position where you're still working with the payroll and trying to make things work going into the future with what you have.”
Turner remains the long-term answer at shortstop, and not just because of the nine years left on his 11-year, $300 million contract.
The Phillies think the 31-year-old Turner is most valuable at shortstop, even as he committed a combined 40 errors in his first two seasons. Turner also benefited from generous hometown scoring that saved him from a handful of even more errors. He has a woeful minus-26 defensive runs saved in his two seasons, leaving critics to push for a move to the outfield.
Oh, and Turner went 3 for 15 against the Mets, extending a postseason slump that included a 0-for-12 stretch in the final three games of last season’s NLCS.
“Trea will be our shortstop, yes,” Dombrowski said. “We rely on defensive metrics, but there’s also not a perfect way of describing the defensive aspects of the game. He did not have an outstanding defensive (year). He does have good range, he makes really good plays, at times. But he also makes too many errors, at points.”
Estévez and fellow pitchers Jeff Hoffman and Spencer Turnbull are the only players eligible for free agency.
Estévez, who surrendered Francisco Lindor’s decisive grand slam in a Game 4 loss, and Hoffman are both expected to receive big contract offers in free agency. Even with a bloated payroll, it seems unlikely both relievers will return next season.
“We like them both,” Dombrowski said. “It's hard to imagine that you end up bringing them both back under the circumstances because I would gather they're both going to get offered long-term, big-dollar contracts, which they're going to be looking for.”
Estévez and outfielder Austin Hays were both trade-deadline acquisitions that failed to help the Phillies in the playoffs. The Phillies could non-tender Hays and let him walk in his final year of arbitration eligibility.
“Picking up Hays I thought was going to be a benefit,” Thomson said. “It didn't work out that way because he had the kidney infection.”
Taijuan Walker’s four-year, $72 million deal before the 2023 season has turned into one of the worst free-agent deals in franchise history. The right-hander went 3-7 with a whopping 7.10 ERA. He was demoted to the bullpen and left off the postseason roster, putting his future with the franchise in serious doubt.
The Phillies sent Walker into the offseason with a detailed conditioning and throwing program to try to straighten him out.
“I would think he’ll come to spring training with us next year, but he’s not guaranteed a starting spot,” Dombrowski said.
Bohm seems sure to return even after the 28-year-old All-Star third baseman faded hard down the stretch to the point where he was benched for Game 2 of the NLDS. Bohm hit .280 this season with 15 homers, 97 RBIs and 44 doubles but ended the regular season in a 2-for-27 slump.
Benchings are the kind of public indignity that can lead a player's attitude to turn south.
“I think that is a priority of mine, to maybe not spend time with him, but be on the phone with him, text with him, stay in contact with him,” Thomson said.
The Phillies are hopeful prized pitching prospect Andrew Painter can contribute to the rotation next season. The 21-year-old right-hander pitched in the Fall League over the weekend, his first innings since he needed Tommy John surgery for an elbow injury suffered in 2023 spring training.
The 6-foot-7 Painter was the 13th overall pick in the 2021 amateur draft and signed for a $3.9 million bonus.
“We’re going to have to make a determination in how we use his inning next year,” Dombrowski said. “He’s not going to be a guy that we can throw out and count on pitching 180 innings at the major league level.”
Dombrowski said he was open-minded about signing All-Star left-hander Ranger Suárez to a contract extension. Suárez started 10-1 with a 1.81 ERA but dealt with numerous injuries in the second half and finished 12-8 with a 3.46 ERA overall.
“We like the Ranger the first half of the season better than the second half,” Dombrowski said.
Meanwhile, Harper and agent Scott Boras had hinted during spring training that a contract extension could be in line for the first baseman. But Dombrowski declined to share Tuesday if he had any talks with Boras about reworking the contract.
Dombrowski also declined to say if the Phillies were interested in extending slugger Kyle Schwarber, who has one year left on his four-year, $79 million deal.
The Phillies have a good enough core to compete for the playoffs for years. The final product for a World Series team remains to be seen.
“I think the Phillies have a window to be a good club for years to come,” Dombrowski said. “Will all these players be part of it? Most likely not.”
___
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB
