The Phillies are making center fielder Johan Rojas available in trade conversations, reports Matt Gelb of The Athletic. That’s not especially surprising, as the 25-year-old spent the final two months of the season on optional assignment to Triple-A Lehigh Valley.
Rojas has appeared in each of the past three big league seasons. He has primarily worked as a fourth outfielder. He’s an elite athlete who hasn’t shown much with the bat. The righty-hitting Rojas owns a .252/.294/.340 slash in just under 700 career plate appearances. He rarely walks and hits a lot of soft ground-balls that limit his power upside. Rojas hasn’t been good against pitchers of either handedness, so the Phillies haven’t been able to maximize his production by using him as a short-side platoon player.
While there’s a limited offensive ceiling, Rojas is one of the sport’s best defensive outfielders. He’s among the fastest players in baseball and has a plus-plus arm. Both Defensive Runs Saved (+22) and Statcast (+21) have valued him more than 20 runs better than average in a little over 1700 career innings. Rojas ranks among the top 15 center fielders in MLB in both metrics over the past three seasons. That’s despite playing fewer innings at the position than all but Kevin Kiermaier and Daulton Varsho among those who ranked above him.
Despite the glove, it appears Rojas is falling out of favor in Philly. They acquired Harrison Bader at the deadline to bring in a better glove-first, righty-hitting center fielder. Bader is now a free agent, but it doesn’t seem the Phillies want to give that spot back to Rojas. President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski acknowledged yesterday that he’s looking for a right-handed hitting outfielder again this offseason even as they’re apparently making Rojas available to other clubs. He still has one minor league option remaining, so the Phils could send him back to Triple-A if nothing comes together.
A potential Rojas trade is part of a larger overhaul in the Philadelphia outfield. Nick Castellanos is almost certainly going to be traded or released. Gelb reported as much last month, and Dombrowski acknowledged yesterday that “sometimes a change of scenery can be beneficial for people” when asked about that situation. Max Kepler is unlikely to be re-signed, and the Phillies will want to get former first-round pick Justin Crawford into the mix early in the year. Dombrowski told reporters that the Phillies would be comfortable with Crawford as a center fielder, but most public scouting reports feel he projects better in left. He and Brandon Marsh are the likeliest options to start on Opening Day, yet they’ll need a right fielder and probably a righty-hitting fourth outfielder if they move on from Rojas.
Moving Bryce Harper back to the outfield is apparently not a consideration. For the past few seasons, Harper has said he’s willing to play right field if it enables the Phils to land a big bat at first base. Dombrowski downplayed the club’s interest in doing that.
“He’s actually (said) that for a couple years now, and we really appreciate the aspect of it, but we really look at him as a first baseman at this time,” Dombrowksi said (link via Scott Lauber of The Philadelphia Inquirer). “I’m sure he could go out there, but he’s played first well. He’s a good first baseman and continues to get better. We really like our club with him there, so I think he is more of our first baseman.”
Harper has been a full-time first baseman over the past two seasons. Public defensive metrics graded him highly in 2024, though his numbers fell back to league average this year. The Phils could get him a few more designated hitter at-bats if Kyle Schwarber signs elsewhere. Harper remains a solid athlete and probably would have the range to play a decent right field, but the Phillies have wanted to avoid using him out there since he underwent elbow surgery over the 2022-23 offseason.
Dombrowski also touched on the relationship between the organization and the two-time MVP. There was a bit of controversy when Harper took umbrage with the executive’s comment that his ’25 campaign was not “an elite season like he has had in the past.” Harper said in late October that he hadn’t heard from Dombrowski personally. That apparently has changed, as the front office leader said the sides have “had a nice conversation, and everything went well.”
In one other piece of Phillies news, the club announced the hiring of Edwar Gonzalez as an assistant hitting coach. They had a vacancy in that role after Dustin Lind departed to accept the lead hitting coach job with the Orioles. It’s an internal promotion for the 42-year-old, who has spent the past three seasons in the organization. Gonzalez had been the club’s assistant director of hitting development and has one season of experience on an MLB coaching staff, as he spent the ’22 season as an assistant hitting coach for the Marlins. He and Rafael Pena will work as assistants under top hitting instructor Kevin Long.
