1 week Ago By ASSOCIATED PRESS
PHILADELPHIA — Rob Thomson will return next season, complete with a contract extension through 2026. His coaching staff will remain intact for 2025, as well. In the simplest terms, the staff retention means the Philadelphia Phillies judge their postseason failures on a high-priced, free-swinging lineup that goes cold in October more than the personnel in place making the moves while trying to win a World Series.
Philly Rob and his dugout crew are back — but what about the rest of the roster? Yes, Bryce Harper, Trea Turner, J.T. Realmuto, Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola and a handful of others are locks to return.
As for Alec Bohm, Brandon Marsh, Bryson Stott and trade deadline pickups Austin Hays and Carlos Estévez, it could be an intriguing offseason for their Phillies' fate. Just don't expect a major shakeup for a team coming off a 95-win season and an NL East title before it was knocked out of the playoffs by the New York Mets in the NL Division Series. "I do think it's a good roster," Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said Tuesday.
"I think it's a club that's capable of winning a world championship. We've been close. We won 95 games.
However, you're also open-minded to making adjustments." Let's go around the horn with what's in store for the 2025 Phillies. Payroll The Phillies ended the season with a $249 million payroll, topped only by the Dodgers, Yankees and Mets — three teams still alive in the playoffs.
Dombrowski said he had yet to talk with principal owner John Middleton about financial flexibility this winter, but added, "I have no indication that we're going to continue to be aggressive and try and have an aggressive payroll." Is there enough room to seriously pursue potential costly free agents such as slugger Juan Soto or ace Corbin Burnes? Probably not. Turner's woes Turner remains the longterm answer at shortstop, and not just because of the nine years left on his 11-year, $300 million contract.
The Phillies think the 31-year-old Turner is most valuable at shortstop, even as he committed a combined 40 errors in his first two seasons. He has a woeful minus-26 defensive runs saved in his two seasons, leaving critics to push for a move to the outfield. "Trea will be our shortstop, yes," Dombrowski said.
"We rely on defensive metrics, but there's also not a perfect way of describing the defensive aspects of the game." Free agents Estévez and fellow pitchers Jeff Hoffman and Spencer Turnbull are the only players eligible for free agency. Estévez and Hoffman are both expected to receive big contract offers in free agency.
Even with a bloated payroll, it seems unlikely both relievers will return next season. "It's hard to imagine that you end up bringing them both back under the circumstances," Dombrowski said, "because I would gather they're both going to get offered long-term, big-dollar contracts, which they're going to be looking for." Estévez and outfielder Austin Hays were both trade-deadline acquisitions that failed to help the Phillies in the playoffs.
The Phillies could non-tender Hays and let him walk in his final year of arbitration eligibility. Get local news delivered to your inbox!.
