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Phillies Designate Buddy Kennedy For Assignment

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The Phillies announced this morning that they’ve designated infielder Buddy Kennedy for assignment. President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski had already signaled earlier in the week that Kennedy, who’s out of minor league options, wouldn’t make the team’s Opening Day roster. He’s been discussing potential trades of the infielder already. Today’s DFA doesn’t change that. He can still be traded for the next five days, though if no deal is reached by that point, he’ll be placed on outright waivers and made available to the other 29 teams.

Kennedy, 26, has played 54 big league games with three teams — D-backs, Tigers, Phillies — across the past three seasons. He’s a career .203/.295/.313 hitter in a small sample of 149 major league plate appearances. Kennedy hasn’t gotten any real extended shot at playing time in the big leagues, however, despite a strong Triple-A track record. He’s played in parts of three seasons at the top minor league level and turned in a .281/.392/.435 batting line. He’s walked in a massive 14.4% of his plate appearances against an 18.2% strikeout rate that’s significantly lower than league average.

A fifth-round pick out of the same Millville High School that produced Mike Trout, Kennedy is a right-handed hitter who’s played all four infield positions and left field in his professional career. The vast majority of his time has been spent at third base (3470 innings) and second base (1285 innings), but he’s played 110 innings at first base, 93 innings in left field and 10 innings at shortstop. Kennedy had no platoon splits at the plate in 2024 and has been productive against both lefties and righties in each of the past three seasons (2023-24 in particular).

Marlins Acquire Tyler Phillips

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1:42pm: The Phillies announced that Phillips was traded to the Marlins for cash.

11:31am: The Marlins are set to acquire righty Tyler Phillips from the division-rival Phillies, reports Robert Murray of Fansided. Philadelphia designated Phillips for assignment on Sunday. It’s not clear if Miami has agreed to a small trade or is simply claiming the right-hander off waivers, but he’ll join the Marlins’ big league roster either way, as he’s out of minor league options.

Phillips, 27, made his MLB debut with the Phillies last year, appearing in eight games (seven starts) and logging a 6.87 ERA in 36 2/3 innings. He averaged 93.7 mph on his sinker, fanned 17.5% of his opponents, issued walks at a minuscule 4.4% clip and kept a solid 42.3% of his batted balls on the ground. He’s whiffed 14 of the 50 hitters he’s faced this spring (28%) and notched a massive 63% ground-ball rate, but he’s also been tagged for nine runs and walked seven batters in 10 2/3 innings.

Though Phillips had a tough first look in the majors and a shaky 5.08 ERA in Triple-A, he’ll come to the Marlins having logged 122 2/3 minor league innings in 2023 and 155 1/3 innings between Triple-A and the big leagues last year. For a Marlins club that has seen a large swath of injuries this spring, he’ll add some needed rotation depth and a potential long man in the bullpen.

Miami lost Braxton Garrett to UCL surgery early in camp. Ryan Weathers went down with a forearm strain just last week. Edward Cabrera struggled in camp while pitching through a series of blisters on his right hand. Ballyhooed prospect Eury Perez is still on the mend from last April’s Tommy John surgery.

At present, the Marlins project to open with a rotation including Sandy Alcantara, Cal Quantrill, Max Meyer, Connor Gillispie and Valente Bellozo. The first three are locked into place, but neither Gillispie nor Bellozo has a long big league track record or Meyer’s prospect status. Phillips provides length in the ’pen and a possible alternative in the event that the Fish opt to send Gillispie or Bellozo to Triple-A Jacksonville for further minor league work.

Mickey Gasper, DaShawn Keirsey Make Twins’ Roster; Twins Exploring Bullpen Market

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March 25: Castellano has cleared waivers and been returned to the Phillies, per Nightengale.

March 24: The Twins optioned infielder/outfielder Austin Martin to Triple-A St. Paul this morning, per a team announcement. They’ve also informed catcher/infielder Mickey Gasper and outfielder DaShawn Keirsey Jr. that they’ll break camp on the Opening Day roster, per Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. That sequence likely locks infielder Edouard Julien into the final spot on the position-player side of the roster.

Gasper, 29, came to the Twins in a December trade sending lefty reliever Jovani Moran back to the Red Sox. He has just 18 MLB plate appearances to his credit, but Gasper is a .317/.422/.498 hitter in 70 Triple-A games and a .276/.401/.455 batter in 176 Double-A games. He’s had a big camp, batting .308/.417/.487 with more walks than strikeouts. Gasper’s status was briefly up in the air after an infield collision yesterday resulted in a laceration on his ankle that required six stitches. He’s patched up and been cleared to start the season on a big league roster for the first time in an eight-year professional career.

Like Gasper, the 27-year-old Keirsey is a 2018 draftee who’s making his first Opening Day roster. He hit .275/.375/.375 this spring and is coming off a .300/.368/.476 performance in Triple-A last year. Keirsey is a plus runner and outfield defender who can handle all three slots. He made a brief big league debut last year, getting into six games and going 2-for-13 with a homer in that debut effort.

The pitching side is largely set, but Minnesota does appear to have one bullpen vacancy, at least in the short term. Righty Brock Stewart was already on the mend from arthroscopic shoulder surgery and also suffered a hamstring strain in camp. He’ll start the 2025 season on the injured list alongside Michael Tonkin, who’s dealing with a shoulder strain.

On top of Stewart’s injury, the Twins have already informed Rule 5 pick Eiberson Castellano that he won’t make the club. He’ll presumably be placed on waivers soon if he hasn’t been already. Bobby Nightengale of the Minneapolis Star Tribune adds that they’ve also told non-roster relievers Scott Blewett and Anthony Misiewicz that they won’t make the club. Both will head to Triple-A.

Both Nightengale and Dan Hayes of The Athletic suggest Minnesota could look to bring in a reliever who’s not currently a part of the organization. There’s space to place a waiver claim or scoop up a veteran who’d been a non-roster invitee with another club but has since opted out. Jalen Beeks, Adam Ottavino, Drew Pomeranz, Ross Stripling and Jake Woodford are among the names who were recently granted their release after triggering opt-out clauses. Righty Tyler Phillips was DFA by the Phillies over the weekend, too.

Ranger Suarez To Begin Season On Injured List; Taijuan Walker To Rejoin Rotation

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March 24: Suarez will indeed open the 2025 season on the injured list, per Zolecki. Walker will be the Phillies’ fifth starter. President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski tells the Phillies beat that Suarez could potentially pitch in the majors sometime in April if he continues his current progression with no setbacks.

March 23: Ranger Suarez has been dealing with a bad back over the last week, and it seems like the Phillies will give the left-hander some extra time to recover by placing him on the 15-day injured list to begin the season.  Manager Rob Thomson more or less confirmed the move today, as MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki noted that Thomson told reporters post-game that the Phillies “expect Ranger to go on the IL,” but stated in an interview during the game that Suarez would definitively be placed on the 15-day.

The move seems largely precautionary, as Thomson said “We don’t want this thing to linger. So if we do officially IL him, we don’t think it’s going to be long.”  Zolecki notes that Suarez might just miss a single start if he spends only the 15-day minimum on the sidelines, due to the three-day backdating available for IL placements and the fact that the Phillies have three off-days within the first 12 days of the regular season.

Back problems hampered Suarez last year, effectively bifurcating what initially seemed like a breakout season for the left-hander.  Suarez had a sparkling 1.83 ERA over his first 98 1/3 innings of the 2024 campaign, and then a 6.54 ERA in his final 52 1/3 innings once his back started causing problems.  Suarez skipped the All-Star Game to spend the break resting his back, but Philadelphia ended up placing him on the 15-day IL anyway, which kept Suarez out of action for a month.

This early-season IL trip might well help Suarez get in front of any injury problems early, as trying to pitch through his bad back might’ve only worsened the issue last year.  The Phillies aren’t really losing much by resting him early, plus Taijuan Walker is on hand to step into the rotation.

Walker has looked good for much of Spring Training, though his last start saw the Yankees tee off for six earned runs over 3 2/3 innings of work from the right-hander.  As always, spring results aren’t necessarily as important as process, and Zolecki writes that Walker’s four-seamer has added over three miles miles per hours of added velocity, plus Walker’s splitter has also looked better.  In a sense, there’s nowhere to go but up for Walker after a dismal 2024 season that saw him post a 7.10 ERA in 83 2/3 innings.

Buddy Kennedy Will Not Make Phillies’ Roster

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The Phillies have made a decision on their final bench spot. President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski informed reporters, including Matt Gelb of The Athletic, that Kody Clemens made the team. This means that Buddy Kennedy, who is out of options, will not. Dombrowski says that there’s a bit of trade interest for Kennedy and they will try to work out a swap, but he’ll be designated for assignment on Thursday if they can’t work something out.

Like essentially all clubs, the Phils are expected to carry 13 pitchers on their roster, the maximum allowed. That means there are 13 spots for position players, leaving a four-man bench behind the nine regulars. One of those spots will go to backup catcher Rafael Marchán. With the Phils expected to platoon Brandon Marsh and Johan Rojas in center, one of them will take another spot. Edmundo Sosa had another locked down by his ability to provide strong defense around the infield, while also kicking in some roughly average offense. Marchán and Sosa are both out of options.

That left Clemens and Kennedy battling for the final spot. Since both of them are out of options as well, whoever didn’t get picked would end up off the roster entirely. Neither player has hit much in the big leagues thus far. Clemens has a .200/.246/.373 batting line and Kennedy has hit .203/.295/.313. Those leads to respective wRC+ numbers of 68 and 72. Both have hit better in the minors but neither is a guarantee to produce in the bigs.

Defensively, the two have fairly similar skill sets. Both have played all around the infield but neither is really considered a viable shortstop. Both have significant second base innings in the minors, with Kennedy playing a bit more third and Clemens a bit more at first.

That put them on roughly even footing coming into camp, but Clemens has had the better showing in recent weeks. Spring stats are always to be taken with a grain of salt but Clemens has a line of .308/.357/.500, compared to Kennedy’s .162/.347/.432 showing. Kennedy also hits right-handed, the same as Sosa, while Clemens gives the club another left-handed bat.

Though Kennedy is getting squeezed off the Philly roster, he could find interest elsewhere. Dombrowski says they’ve been getting some calls, which lines up with Kennedy’s popularity on the waiver wire. In late 2023 and early 2024, he went from the Diamondbacks to the Athletics, Cardinals and Tigers via waiver claims. He got nudged off Detroit’s roster in June and flipped to the Phillies for cash.

As mentioned, he can bounce around to various different positions. While his bat still hasn’t clicked in the majors, he put up a line of .290/.404/.456 in the minors over the past two years, with that production translating to a 121 wRC+. He has less than a year of service time. Though he’s out of options, any club willing to give him a roster spot would therefore gain six potential years of control.

Photo courtesy of Chris Tilley, Imagn Images

Royals Outright Nick Pratto, Nelson Velazquez; Phillies Claim Carlos Hernandez

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The Royals have cleared three spots on their 40-man roster, according to a report from Anne Rogers of MLB.com. The club placed first baseman Nick Pratto, outfielder Nelson Velazquez, and right-hander Carlos Hernandez on waivers. Hernandez was claimed by the Phillies, while both Pratto and Velazquez cleared waivers and have been outrighted to Triple-A. The Phillies subsequently announced they’ve designated right-hander Tyler Phillips for assignment to make room for Hernandez on the roster.

Hernandez, 28, is a hard-throwing righty who signed with the Royals out of Venezuela and made his pro debut back in 2017. He climbed the minor league ladder before eventually making it to the majors during the 2020 campaign, although his five-appearance cup of coffee was one to forget with a 4.91 ERA and 6.40 FIP in 14 2/3 innings of work. Nonetheless, he served in a swing role for Kansas City the following year and found success in that role, pitching to a 3.68 ERA and 4.08 FIP across 85 2/3 innings of work. That seemed to hint at a fairly bright future in store for the right-hander, but things didn’t work out that way as Hernandez struggled badly over the next two years with a 6.21 ERA in 126 innings of work as he struck out just 19.8% of opponents while walking them at a hefty 11% clip.

Those struggles were enough to spur a full-time move to the bullpen for Hernandez in 2024, and the results were a clear improvement. On the surface, his numbers looked excellent as he pitched to a 3.30 ERA with a 3.50 FIP in 30 innings of work. With that being said, it can’t be ignored that Hernandez also allowed three unearned runs, struck out just 20.9% of his opponents, and struggled badly at Triple-A when not in the majors with a 5.40 ERA in 26 2/3 innings of work. Most concerning was his walk rate, which ballooned to a career-high 12.4% last year. Those issues left Hernandez without a guaranteed roster spot headed into Spring Training, and with no minor league options left the Royals had no choice but to place him on waivers when his 6.97 ERA in 10 1/3 spring innings did not justify a spot in the club’s bullpen.

That gave the Phillies the opportunity to swoop in an add a high-velocity arm off waivers, though they had to part ways with Phillips in order to do so. The 27-year-old made his big league debut with Philadelphia last season and struggled to a 6.87 ERA in 36 2/3 innings of work split between seven starts and one relief outing. The Phillies will have one week to either trade Phillips or attempt to pass him through waivers. If he goes unclaimed, the club can outright him to the minors as a non-roster depth option. Meanwhile, Hernandez figures to enter the club’s bullpen as a possible long relief option alongside Joe Ross and Taijuan Walker, though the latter could be ticketed for a return to the rotation if Ranger Suarez opens the season on the injured list.

As for Velazquez and Pratto, both are young hitters who have shown promise at points in their careers but have struggled to find consistency at the big league level. Velazquez was acquired from the Cubs at the 2023 trade deadline in exchange for right-hander Jose Cuas and impressed in 40 games down the stretch with the club before stumbling to a lackluster .200/.274/.366 slash line in 64 games last year. Pratto, meanwhile, was the club’s first-round pick in 2017 and once a consensus top-100 prospect, but he’s failed to hit in the majors so far with just a .216/.295/.364 slash line across 144 games at the big league level. Both players will now serve as non-roster depth for the club this year and try to play their way into another big league opportunity at Triple-A.

Phillies Option Garrett Stubbs; Rafael Marchan Will Be Backup Catcher

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The Phillies announced Thursday that they’ve optioned catcher Garrett Stubbs to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. In doing so, they all but confirmed that switch-hitting Rafael Marchan will be their backup catcher.

Stubbs, 31, is the far more experienced of the two and performed better in limited spring action, but Marchan is out of minor league options. Going with Stubbs, who’s in his final option year, would’ve required removing Marchan from the 40-man roster. A 26-year-old switch-hitting catcher with sound defensive skills would hardly have been a lock to pass through waivers. The Phils opted to preserve their catching depth by giving Marchan the opening day roster nod.

Sending Stubbs to Triple-A is possible right now, but if he’s called to the big league roster for a couple months — say, in the result of an injury to Marchan or J.T. Realmuto — the situation could become more complicated. Stubbs has 4.120 years of MLB service. He’s 52 days shy of reaching five years. If he were to accrue those 52 days in 2025, he’d reach the point where he cannot be optioned unless he consents to the move. Having a pair of backups who can’t be optioned could prove problematic and result in a situation where the Phillies likely have to part with one of their backups. We’re a ways from reaching that point, but it’s a possibility at some point in 2025.

For now, the Phils will hope Marchan can continue at the pace he’s displayed in his fleeting MLB looks across the past three seasons. He’s tallied 121 plate appearances in that time and slashed .279/.333/.477. That’s plus production for any hitter but massive output for a catcher, though Marchan’s Triple-A work doesn’t necessarily support the notion that he can maintain that. He hit quite well in Lehigh Valley in 2023 but struggled at a .229/.340/.297 pace with the IronPigs in 2024.

Overall, Marchan is a lifetime .238/.328/.328 hitter in 216 Triple-A games. Despite the lackluster Triple-A performance, with Realmuto entering the final season of his contract, the Phillies understandably don’t want to risk losing a controllable, switch-hitting catcher whose defensive skills they appreciate and who has hit well in limited MLB work. Keeping him on the roster always seemed the likeliest outcome.

Stubbs has been the Phillies’ primary alternative to Realmuto in recent seasons, though he hasn’t garnered more than 187 plate appearances in any season. He’s a .222/.305/.324 hitter in 433 plate appearances with the Phillies but draws above-average grades for his throwing and solid marks for blocking balls in the dirt. Stubbs is a .272/.369/.404 hitter in a near-identical sample of Triple-A plate appearances to Marchan.

The Athletic’s Matt Gelb chatted with Stubbs and president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski about the decision. Dombrowski acknowledged that it was a difficult conversation to have with Stubbs, who is beloved in the clubhouse, draws praise from the staff for his game-planning and receiving, and is being sent down for factors largely out of his control.

Offseason In Review: Philadelphia Phillies

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After winning the NL East for the first time in 13 years, the Phillies had their quietest offseason since Dave Dombrowski took over as president of baseball operations. Some will say the Phillies didn’t need to make any major moves, considering that almost all of their key contributors are returning for another year. Others will argue they are playing a dangerous game by largely running it back, allowing the Mets and Braves to gain precious ground. Is this team moving in the right direction heading into 2025?

Major League Signings

2025 spending: $22.5MM
Total spending: $22.5MM

Trades & Claims

Option Decisions

  • None

Notable Minor League Signings

Notable Losses

The Phillies have enjoyed continued success under manager Rob Thomson, so it came as no shock when they began their offseason by extending the skipper through 2026. The team was also quick to confirm that Thomson’s full coaching staff would return in 2025, although they later lost assistant pitching coach/director of pitching Brian Kaplan to the Diamondbacks. Philadelphia’s pitching staff was arguably the best in baseball during Kaplan’s tenure working under Caleb Cotham (2022-24). The Phillies will hope that Cotham’s new second-in-command, Mark Lowy, has just as much success. In an additional personnel move, the Phillies promoted assistant GM Preston Mattingly to vice president and general manager. Those roles were previously held by Sam Fuld, who will remain with the organization in a new role on the business side of operations. 

At the same press conference in which Dombrowski announced Thomson’s extension, the POBO spoke the words that became the defining refrain of the Phillies’ offseason: “We just have to be open-minded to exploring what’s out there for us, talk to some clubs and see what ends up happening. That process hasn’t started. Sometimes you trade good players for good players” (per MLB.com's Todd Zolecki). 

Needless to say, that quotation led to much speculation about the Phillies making a major trade to shake things up. In particular, Alec Bohm was the subject of several trade rumors. The Royals, Mariners, Angels, and Athletics were all reported to have some degree of interest in the third baseman at one time or another. Coming off an All-Star campaign, Bohm’s value hasn’t been higher since he finished runner-up for the 2020 NL Rookie of the Year. However, there seemed to be a disconnect between how highly the Phillies valued Bohm and how badly any potential suitors were hankering after his services. For instance, the Phillies reportedly asked for Mason Miller from the A’s in exchange for Bohm, which quickly shut down any negotiations between the two teams (per The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal). 

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Matt Strahm Resumes Throwing, Questionable For Opening Day

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Phillies left-hander Matt Strahm was shut down for close to a week due to soreness in his throwing shoulder, but restarted his throwing progression this weekend.  Scott Lauber of the Philadelphia Inquirer writes that Strahm threw from 90 feet yesterday and 75 feet today, and Strahm already feels like he is close to being ready for the Phils’ Opening Day roster.

Strahm said he felt discomfort in his shoulder early in camp, but nothing seemed amiss until his velocity was down during his second spring outing.  An MRI revealed both inflammation and a bone bruise in his throwing shoulder, but no structural damage.  After some medication and two examinations from the team doctor, Strahm was given the green light to resume throwing, and his shoulder was feeling good following the two long-distance games of catch this weekend.

It isn’t yet clear whether or not Strahm will be fully ready to pitch by the time camp ends, or if the Phillies could place Strahm on the 15-day injured list just as a precaution.  Philadelphia’s early-season schedule could work against Strahm in this sense, as the Phillies have three off-days in the season’s first 12 days.  As Lauber notes, a minimal 15-day IL stint would therefore translate to only nine missed games for Strahm, when also factoring the three days of backdating available on any IL placement.

The Phils aren’t likely to take any risks with Strahm, arguably the team’s key bullpen arm.  Since coming to Philadelphia during the 2022-23 offseason, Strahm has been outstanding for the Phillies as both a fill-in starter in the first few months of the 2023 campaign and then as a shutdown reliever.  Working exclusively out of the pen last season, Strahm delivered a 1.87 ERA, 33.3% strikeout rate, and 4.6% walk rate over 62 2/3 innings.

Even a fairly brief IL stint might have some impact on Strahm’s future contractual status.  Initially signed to a two-year, $15MM contract, the Phillies were already impressed enough to sign Strahm to a new extension last March, locking him up for $7.5MM in guaranteed money this season, and a club option worth at least $4.5MM for 2026.  That option vests at a $7.5MM guarantee if Strahm pitches at least 60 innings and passes a post-season physical, so missing nine games could hamper Strahm’s chances of hitting that 60-inning threshold.

Poll: Should The Phillies Extend Kyle Schwarber?

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Just over a week ago, reporting indicated that the Phillies and slugger Kyle Schwarber have engaged in “broad” conversations about an extension. That came not long after Schwarber expressed a desire to stick in Philadelphia beyond the life of his current contract, which expires at the end of the coming season. While no updates about the status of talks between the sides have been made public since then, it was just over a year ago that the Phillies agreed to an extension with pending free agent Zack Wheeler after reports of mutual interest between the sides gave way to radio silence as the sides hammered out a deal. Things have been similarly quiet regarding Schwarber’s teammate and fellow possible extension candidate J.T. Realmuto, as the sides reportedly have mutual interest in an extension as of last month with few details having emerged since then.

Getting back to Schwarber, it’s understandable why the 32-year-old would have interest in sticking in Philadelphia long-term. Aside from the team’s on-field success, which has seen them capture the NL pennant in 2022 and follow that up with 90- and 95-win campaigns the past two years, Schwarber himself has found an impressive level of consistency in Philadelphia. Across three seasons in a Phillies uniform, he’s slashed .221/.344/.488 with a wRC+ of 128 while never posting a figure below 120. That’s not only a substantial improvement over his career 119 wRC+ prior to arriving in Philly, but the results are also far more consistent on a year-to-year basis: his wRC+ figures prior to joining the Phillies ranged from as low as 91 in 2020 to as high as 146 in 2021.

Aside from the success both Schwarber and the team have enjoyed over the past three seasons, Schwarber may be hoping that avoiding the open market could afford him longer-term stability. The veteran has always been a lackluster defender, and in 2024 he spent virtually the entire campaign at DH. There’s been talk of Schwarber getting more reps in the outfield (or perhaps even at first base) this year, but the market has proved harsh in recent years for players like Schwarber regardless of whether he’s viewed as a bat-first corner option or a pure DH. Veteran DH J.D. Martinez resorted to taking one-year deals with the Dodgers and Mets during both the 2022-23 and ’23-24 offseasons, and he remains unsigned in March for the second consecutive year. Other defensively limited players like Pete Alonso and Anthony Santander ended up with contracts that fell below expectations this winter, while Schwarber’s longtime teammate Anthony Rizzo has seemingly struggled to get any sort of tempting offer this winter.

That’s not to say Schwarber is necessarily doomed to the same fate of underwhelming offers on the open market, of course. Teams are almost always willing to pay for truly elite talent in free agency, and Schwarber’s 131 wRC+ over the past four seasons is good for 25th in baseball over that timeframe. Those numbers are only slightly ahead of Alonso, who ranks 29th with a 129 wRC+, but it’s worth noting that Alonso faced questions about his future production after back-to-back down seasons. Meanwhile, Schwarber’s 2024 was nothing short of excellent as he slashed .248/.366/.485 with 38 homers and a career-high 3.4 fWAR. Another strong season from Schwarber in 2025 would surely line him up for a healthy contract in free agency, even if his age and defensive profile would likely inhibit his ability to land a lengthier contract.

There’s both pros and cons to the idea re-upping with Schwarber from the Phillies’ perspective as well. Schwarber offers rare left-handed power and exceptional consistency for a player with his skillset, but it’s not hard to see why an aging Phillies club might prefer to go with a younger alternative with strong defensive skills rather than continue to trot out a team that relies on both Schwarber and Nick Castellanos as regular fixtures of the lineup in 2026. Schwarber’s strikeout-heavy approach could be cause for concern in theory, but the club is more than capable of balancing that out with more contact-oriented hitters like Bryson Stott, Alec Bohm, and Trea Turner.

Perhaps the strongest argument for keeping Schwarber in the fold is the lack of clear upgrades available in free agency next winter. Unless the Phillies opt to splurge on an aggressive pursuit of either Vladimir Guerrero Jr. or Kyle Tucker, they’ll be hard pressed to find a better hitter on the market next winter than the one they already have. Josh Naylor, Eugenio Suarez, and Cody Bellinger (if he opts out) are among the best hitters in the next tier of free agency next year, and while all three are solid players, none of them come close to offering the reliable offensive impact that Schwarber has given the Phillies over the past three years.

Is that impact enough to live with the high strikeout rates and lack of defensive value on what would likely be a two- or three-year extension? Have your say in the poll below:

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