Phillies Off-Season 2024-2025 (Hot Stove)

[zambonir]

I actually don't think that's a good deal for the Phillies at all necessarily. Obviously Bellinger has more positional value and defense but he was not especially better than Nick offensively last year (and has just as many bad seasons as Nick in his past. All of which would be fine if you could get the Cubs to throw in the $14 million and do it straight-up, but they wouldn't. They want to dump salary and if they don't get to dump salary they want something more.

And then you still don't actually have a full OF, Marsh still needs a platoon partner and/or you need a LF if Bellinger is going to play CF.

The Phillies should be interested in Bellinger but it would cost them some prospects. Or Bohm?

[EDmuch]

I hope that DD is not as obsessed with getting rid of Castellanos as many on this board seem to be.

[RolenRules]

Welcome to philliesphans.com!

It is an interesting proposal but I would not do it. I do think Ford is more of a sure thing than Tait. However, Castillo will be 32 and is expensive (around $24 mil in '25 and '26 and $25 mil in '27). He has been consistently good but also has some mileage on his arm.

[zambonir]

Ha, nobody loves Nick Castellanos more than Dave Dombrowski. But regardless we know he only wants to trade him on terms that work for the Phillies. He is no different than Bohm really, even if Bohm is the slightly better offensive player (and younger). If you trade him you have to make the team better without him, in however many moves that takes, with about the same amount of money freed up to do so (i.e. you would want the other team to pick up about $20 million of Nick's salary which is also what Bohm is going to make over the next two years).

[Ryles]

I attended a Berks County Law Foundation fundraiser yesterday where Rob Thompson was guest speaker. I got to ask him if there's consideration into flipping Stott & Turner on the field with Stott to SS & Turner to 2B. He gave me an adamant, "no". He cited Stott's stellar play at 2b as primary driver & mentioned that they invested heavily in Turner to be SS & have no plans on moving him from there. In response to another question concerning Schwarber in leadoff, he mentioned that he was seriously considering moving him away from leadoff to allow better protection to Harper in the lineup.

[biggsphils]

yea, I would keep Casty til his contract is up. Platooning him or trading isn't the answer. Your not gonna get much in return and then would need to fill 2 of. spots with decent hitters. Casty was one of the top 2 hitters in the 2nd 1/2 of the season after an awful 1st 1/2 .Just pray for a little more consistency.

[biggsphils]

I agree, but look what some of these starting pitchers are getting. What will it take to keep Ranger after next year ?

[julio]

I agree, but look what some of these starting pitchers are getting. What will it take to keep Ranger after next year ?

It's not clear they intend to keep Suarez after next year - or even that he won't be traded between now and Opening Day.

[allentown]

It's not clear they intend to keep Suarez after next year - or even that he won't be traded between now and Opening Day.

It's hard to understand why they wouldn't keep Suarez. He's only 28, 2024 was the best season of his career but not glaringly out of line with past results, he's a LH starter which they need, he pitched 150 innings -- not bad for a #4 SP. What's the problem? He won't be glaringly expensive compared to our other SP.

[julio]

It's not clear they intend to keep Suarez after next year - or even that he won't be traded between now and Opening Day.

It's hard to understand why they wouldn't keep Suarez. He's only 28, 2024 was the best season of his career but not glaringly out of line with past results, he's a LH starter which they need, he pitched 150 innings -- not bad for a #4 SP. What's the problem? He won't be glaringly expensive compared to our other SP.

I'm not suggesting there's a problem - but there have been mentions of him as possible trade fodder?

[Austinfan]

They have 3 starting spots locked up, Painter will probably start at least 15 games, then full-time in 2026.
They're stuck with Walker but might have to bury him if he can't rebound.
Ranger certainly has a spot in 2025, the problem is durability, can you justify an extension?
Last three seasons, 155, 125, 151 IP.
He'll be 30 in August, he's no spring chicken.

I don't think they'll move Ranger if they don't land a SP, but I think they'll let him walk next year unless all the young pitching prospects (Abel, Johnson, Chase, McGowan, Cabrera, Castellanos) flame out.

[zambonir]

Yeah it's hard to believe they want to trade for the likes of Gilbert or Crochet to make Suarez or Sanchez the 5th starter. If they do that, they are replacing Suarez one year early and trading him for something else they need. Or maybe they let it ride to the deadline and just see how it all shakes out (everyone's health, Painter, Walker) until then.

He's definitely available, and while I never put much stock in it, there was chatter about the Phillies being unhappy with his conditioning. But even without that his durability remains questionable.

Let's all practice getting the name of our pitching prospect who does not have the same name as our RF correct, okay?

[allentown]

We'll see what the baseball world thinks of McGowan in about a week.

If durability is an issue for Ranger, why are we so interested in Crochet? He has missed almost 2 full seasons to injury and has never pitched 150 innings, something ranger has done twice in MLB. Crochet is several years younger, but has yet to prove he can be a SP who can reliably give Ranger's 150 IP. And he will be a costly (in talent) trade addition, while Ranger is already ours.

[zambonir]

A good question!

[Callison]

I would really be interested to see what Bellinger could do with the Phils. Asking $14M of his remaining contractual $54M doesn't seem unreasonable. If not that, what will they do? Nothing is a deal killer. The less they do, the less of a player they get in trade.

But if you're gonna spend like that, why is there no conversation about Trout, still possibly the second best MLB player in the game? Where are the Phils with Trout, Z-dog?

[zambonir]

Is Trout even one of the 10 best players in the game currently? Or available (by his choice or the Angels)?

I don't see a fit for the Phillies, they can't take on a third contract like that without wanting terms the Angels will never meet (both in terms of money and return). And he's another DH waiting to happen. I'd rather keep Schwarber from 2025-2027. Or get Bellinger who can still field and would only be a two-year obligation.

[jimbomill]

I hope that DD is not as obsessed with getting rid of Castellanos as many on this board seem to be

Agreed - I like the way his second half improved last season.

[xyzabc25]

Granted Casty improved offensively in the 2nd half. His defense overall though was at the bottom among MLB
OF - OAA -8, FRV -14. It's tougher to win close games with those stats.

[zambonir]

It was more than the second half (about mid-May is when it started moving in the right direction, and we've seen the stats from June 1 on). I'm sure he generated more runs than he cost once he got going at the plate, and either way it doesn't add up to more than 1 or 2 wins all season. Of course it would be better if he was the DH and would be great to trade him too, but there's clearly not a combination where the Phillies shed salary, get something in return and can replace his bat. And our pitching (starters or pen) didn't seem to suffer from having a poor defensive SS or RF (plus Rojas in CF does help, though I don't know if Marsh will).

[Austinfan]

I think they see Crochett as similar to Wheeler on the Mets, a big strong thrower who's been dinged up but if he matures into his body could have a big upside. But you don't trade based on the upside, b/c his history also suggests a big downside.