Phillies 2025-2026 Hot Stove Discussion

[fish]

I don’t doubt that he’ll evolve into a dynamite reliever, but I had look him up to remember who he even was. Pretty crazy that’s all the Mariners gave up Ford for. Even if he has to move to the outfield it’s about as hard to find a productive right handed outfielder as it is a good catcher.

[andyb]

Definitely like that trade from the Nationals perspective. Their current catcher got a long term deal for medium money but really regressed (because of injuries but maybe just because he peaked early like many catchers do). Ferrer throws hard but really does not miss many bats. Certainly has the potential to be a good reliever but the stuff without an out pitch really suggests middle reliever to me.

Bad teams also don't need closers. They need more high ceiling prospects.

[EDmuch]

O's get Ward. Nationals get Ford. While we wait to hear from Schwarber and JT.

[zambonir]

Clearly the Phillies are confident about JT, and they probably won't let anyone outbid them for Kyle either.

I wonder if Nats want Ferrer to become a starter? He's only been a "closer" for what, two months?

[Philsmania]

Unless the Mariners know something about Ford, yes, it looks like they got hosed.

[David_Criss]

Ford is someone I was hoping the Phillies could add. No question the Nats won that trade. Like EDmuch said, we can sit and wait if we can pay a lot more to run it back once again.........

[zambonir]

It's still early. They chose not to wait around for Hoffman or some of the RHB OFs last year and look what that got them.

[Philsmania]

It's still early. They chose not to wait around for Hoffman or some of the RHB OFs last year and look what that got them.

It does seem that again, they are being more reactive than proactive.

[zambonir]

I would say they were proactive last year. They went out got Romano on December 9 (Hoffman didn't sign for another month, and Estevez on January 31) and Kepler on December 20 (a month before Profar and Santander got locked down). They also obviously never intended to sign anyone to a multi-year deal. They just didn't pick the right guys. Maybe that will be true again but they are clearly still prioritizing the incumbent players for now. They also acquired Luzardo before Christmas.

JT waited a long time to sign the last time too. I think Schwarber will move faster, a la Nola.

[zambonir]

What I’m hearing on the eve of MLB’s winter meetings: Pirates make offer to free...

"almost certainly more than $100 million." lol.

It is closer to Cincinnati, I guess.

Perhaps more importantly this says Bader is looking for a three-year deal.

[EastFallowfield]

So the Pirates are making an offer they know won't be accepted for PR purposes?

[zambonir]

That sounds about right. The audience for that PR could also be just one person (Skenes). But it also tells the reps for other player they might be an option. And without knowing the number it's not necessarily a joke of an offer. Nor a final offer. They're just unlikely to win a bidding war.

Nor can they really compete with the Reds (who even made the playoffs last year in addition to being his hometown).

[zambonir]

Gelb:

The Phillies have felt it was respectful to allow Schwarber and Realmuto, two players so essential to the franchise’s operation, the chance to solicit offers. The implicit agreement was the Phillies would engage when appropriate. They told both players to come back to them before committing to anything else.

Schwarber, according to league sources, could have a resolution within the next two weeks.

Where Phillies’ offseason stands: Kyle Schwarber and J.T. Realmuto — and the...

[julio]

No... the club asked Schwarber and Realmuto to come back to them before committing to anything else. Not "told."

There's also the "allowing" the players to solicit offers from other clubs.

Either Gelb doesn't understand the relationship between the Phillies and their former employees...or else he's not much of a writer...or else he's shilling for management here.

The Phillies are not in charge here. The club, and the players, through their agents, are negotiating as equals. The Phillies - and the sportswriters who cover them - need to recognize that. If Gelb was more-or-less quoting what the Phils' front office told him... well, that statement reeks of paternalism.

Words matter. Maybe not to people casually posting on a message board (although I disagree with that!), but Gelb is supposedly a professional.

[zambonir]

I think you're making a bit too much of it, and the key word is "implicit agreement," not "told." It doesn't really matter if the Phillies "told" or "asked" because both sides already knew it was going to happen. Schwarber or Realmuto's agents could have also "told" the Phillies to make an offer first (which also would have been an ask). It there does turn out to be a bidding war or if the players tell Phillies to make their best offer or else, we'll hear about it then.

Gelb is a good reporter and probably has talked to the agents and other GMs as well. Most of baseball seems to believe the Phillies are still the frontrunners for their guys.

[andyb]

There is just no way popular players that have been here for years and are on good terms with the team were not going to give the Phillies a chance to match any offer. There is a small piece of me of course that thinks the Phillies should have figured out a way to get a home team discount if they intended to retain them. It appears that will not happen and the Phillies will either pay market rate or let them go. Neither of those outcomes are necessarily bad, but one wonders if they could have played it better if we end up retaining them.

[Matt_Winkelman]

The talk all season was that Schwarber’s camp in particular wanted a 5 or long year deal at the big money and the Phillies did want to bid against themselves. Essentially told his camp that if that kind of deal was out there they would pay that, but they weren’t just going to give that. If there had been a discount available he would already be signed. Now if the market values him enough to get the deal the Phillies will pay it. My guess is that they give him 5, but at a lower than he was looking for AAV.

JT I just think they wanted to play it out, and his return is more due to lack of alternatives

[zambonir]

We kept hearing Phillies and Schwarber were far apart at various times. Clearly neither side budged during the exclusive window. I reckon Phillies still believe the market won't necessarily be against them after the way it went for Alonso last year (and same with JT, they still think they might be able to get him for two years + an option instead of three outright).

[zambonir]

Dombrowski and Thomson confirm

Mutual interest between Phillies, Don Mattingly in bench coach role

“I think it’d be awesome,” manager Rob Thomson said Monday. “He’s a perfect fit for our ball club — just his intelligence and presence and experience.”

Mattingly appears poised to become Philadelphia’s bench coach after he and the club work through final, contractual details.

It is a somewhat unusual arrangement given general manager Preston Mattingly is Don’s son. Dombrowski said he discussed the situation and comfort level with them.

“We feel very comfortable,” Dombrowski said. “We have a great relationship communication-wise with the clubhouse, so I’m not worried about anything coming from the clubhouse up to us that shouldn’t. That is not a concern. … (With) Don and Preston, you’re talking about two people that have immense credibility. So there’s nothing that’s going to come down there. Confidentiality is still confidentiality.”

That never really struck me as the issue. More that the bench coach could be perceived to have more power/influence than the manager (and be the obvious interim replacement if things went bad). But, if they're all comfortable it's not quite the same as when Charlie had to look over his shoulder several times.

[julio]

10 posts were split to a new topic: Kyle Schwarber!