The Phillies announced this morning that they’ve designated infielder Weston Wilson for assignment. The move makes room for veteran catcher J.T. Realmuto, whose new contract with Philadelphia is now official, on the 40-man roster.
Wilson, 31, has appeared in 100 games for the Phillies over the past three seasons while being used in an up-and-down bench role. He’s slashed a respectable .242/.328/.428 (109 wRC+) across 245 career trips to the plate in the big leagues, with eight stolen bases and nine homers. That’s decent enough production from a bench player, and Wilson has paired it with decent versatility. While he’s primarily played left field in the majors, he’s also received time at second base, third base, first base, and right field. He’s also seen time at shortstop in the minors previously, though that was not the case this past year.
That combination of versatility and a solid resume in the big leagues might make Wilson seem like a very attractive bench piece, but a tough 2025 season casts doubt on that assessment. When looking exclusively at this most recent campaign, Wilson hit just .198/.282/.369 (81 wRC+) in the majors across 54 games. Underlying metrics, including a 10.3% barrel rate, an unusually low .236 BABIP, and a .333 xwOBA that significantly outpaces his .288 wOBA all suggest that Wilson may have some poor fortune baked into those weak numbers, particularly given that his strikeout (27.2%) and walk (9.6%) rates were both improved relative to 2024.
Those signs that positive regression could be on the way, in conjunction with Wilson’s career 130 wRC+ against left-handed pitching, make it easy to think that Wilson could hold down a bench role at the big league level. That didn’t allow him to hold onto his roster spot in Philadelphia, however, as Otto Kemp and Edmundo Sosa are both ahead of him on the team’s depth chart when it comes to right-handed utility players. In previous years, the Phillies would’ve surely held onto Wilson and kept him on the roster as optionable depth, but Philadelphia used Wilson’s last option year in 2025 and would now need to pass Wilson through waivers in order to send him to the minors anyway.
They’re getting that process underway now. They’ll have one week to either work out a trade involving Wilson or put him through the waiver wire. Should Wilson clear waivers, the Phillies would likely outright him to the minor leagues where he could serve as non-roster depth for the club headed into 2026. Given Wilson’s solid numbers at the big league level, however, it seems likely that a team will be interested in rolling the dice on him. That could come in the form of a simple waiver claim, or perhaps a minor trade if a team is interested enough in Wilson to try and work out a deal with Philadelphia directly.
I like this dude but even his minor league numbers are falling off. I kind of doubt anyone will claim him so the Phillies should get their AAA depth from him.
Bad week for WWs. Someone check the chocolate factory.
And I read the title as “Willie Wilson”
Weston Wilson was just DFA’d.
The next guy to go figures to be Castellanos.
Will they find a trade partner, to assume a bit of the $20M owed Nick in 2026, or will they just release him?
I think they’ll find someone who’ll chance $3M to $5M on Nick.
I think they will be lucky to get 2 mil from a team unless it’s part of a package deal. The fact they haven’t i hope means that they are working on something that could be big. Maybe like a Casty and Bohm deal clearing 30 million for Bellinger.
Bohm was never going to be traded. He is the Phillies everyday third baseman, and their second best right handed hitter!!
Is he clutch? Is he consistent? Is he worth holding onto?
Bohm isn’t as good as his numbers seem to state.
Bohm wasn’t getting traded because no one wanted him.
ct, Bohm may be the Phils’ top clutch hitter. Harper used to be, but he’s tapered off. Schwarber is terrible in the clutch. In fact he was ranked #5 for leaving runners on base in 2025. Bohm, just like Castellanos, is the victim of bad press. He’s better and has much more upside potential than Arenado or Bregman, and he only costs 1/3 the price of the other two. The Phils would have to change their name to the Phools if they got rid of Bohm.
enjoy, Don’t be ridiculous. At $7 million a year, Bohm would be a welcome addition to most MLB teams.
Not sure about “most”. The dude is still living off the rep of one decent season out of five in which he’s inexplicably given bulk playing time. “Most” teams already have a replacement level body in their org that could replicate his numbers for far less than seven mill.
Dude stinks!
He’s making $10MM this year, bud, and it has nothing to do with bad press lol.
He’s a player who hits for average with no power at a power position. Time to bring up Miller and for Pete’s Sake (good bar on front street) sign a righty bat that can play CF and let Crawford split time with Garcia in right.
bill, If the Phils give Castellanos and $17 million to another team for prospects with no future, and trade Bohm who is only making $7 million a year, how does that free up $30 million for Bellinger? I don’t understand your math. If Team-1 pays Team-2 money in a trade, Team-1 is still on the books for that amount in terms of yearly payroll and luxury tax.
By the way, Bellinger has reportedly already turned down a contract for 5-years at $31 million per year with 2 opt-outs by the Yanks. So, the Phils would probably have to offer him $30+ million for the 6 or 7 years he is looking for and add opt-outs, which the Phils refuse to do, which is why they lost Bichette to the Mets.
Someone will sign Casty after he is released. That will save the Phils almost $1M, which with the luxury tax is worth double.
Stupid. Just drop Nick C instead.
Seems like there were other options to drop, too. Maybe they have all that faith in Otto.
Give it time.
Weston Wilson had an interesting rookie year. He hit a home run in his first plate appearance, and he was the first rookie in Phillies history to hit for the cycle.
Same game as Lorenzen threw the no-no.
Takes a number of lifetimes to be a hall of famer in any sport.
So long, Wes. I’ll always remember those electric 2023 and 2024 cups of coffee.
sounds like an Athletic of West Sacramento to me.
They’ll work out a deal with some team. He’s not dissimilar to Kody Clemens who gave the Twins some production.
Handwriting has been on the wall for him. The reality is that he is only about a year plus younger than Bryce and cannot be looked upon as either a sure thing as an impact ute, or a guy with more upside. So they need the spot for someone younger that might add more over time.
I agree.
Hope the Nats take a chance on him.
As it stands, the Phils are still a weaker team than they were at the end of 2025. They need to shore up this team before the season starts. One player who could be acquired, has a low salary, and would be an immediate spark plug would be Jazz Chisolm who the Yanks are currently trying to trade. He can play 2B, 3B and CF, has speed, and can hit for power and average. The Phils became the Phools when they wasted their entire bank roll on a DH and left nothing to improve the team where they really needed to. I can hardly wait for the media to start predicting Philadelphia to win the world series in 2026. Of course, the Philly writers do that every year for the Eagles and 76ers as well, regardless of the shape of the teams.
Nope. That guy comes with bad juju. He fits the current team culture on zero levels. Stott is worth 3 Chisholms just by not running his mouth.
I think they’ve gotta seriously chat with the Pirates, Marlins, Rockies, etc… some of those meh teams and see if you can’t send Casty, a prospect or two and save 2-5M off his deal.
Ironically if he just shut his mouth, they’d probably be sticking him in LF this season.
I don’t understand what the Phillies are doing this offseason. Wilson has a career batting line of .242/.328/.428, will make the league minimum and is two years younger than Adolis Garcia, who got $8 million with a career batting line of .237/293/.441.
This is really similar to last year’s decision to sign Max Kepler and move on from a much cheaper Kody Clemens. Spending $8 million to get a similar batter, who is older and less versatile.
Definitely one of the more random players to hit for the cycle in recent memory
Right now unless something unforeseen happens I’m okay with Bohm at 3rd. They need a solid right handed bat. Then once again they need arms. This starting rotation is not as good as last year. Maybe there is a player that can be pried away.
Better than Bo B