PHILADELPHIA — The Phillies have watched the Mets and Braves begin to reshape their rosters the past couple weeks.
The Mets just traded Brandon Nimmo and $5 million to the Rangers for Marcus Semien, ending Nimmo’s 10-year career in New York. The Braves re-signed Raisel Iglesias to a one-year, $16 million contract, and also acquired infielder Mauricio Dubón from the Astros. The Nimmo deal surprised New Yorkers because he was the longest-tenured player in the organization. But when a team fails to meet expectations, changes are often made. In the Mets’ case, their late-season collapse kept them out of the postseason following a surprising run to the 2024 NLCS.
“I think it’s a recognition that what we did last year wasn’t good enough,” Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns told reporters on Monday, “and running back the exact same group wasn’t the right thing to do.”
The Phillies have been comparatively quiet compared to their NL East rivals, although any official in any front office will say they can’t react to a rival’s move by forcing a move of their own.
The Phils have prioritized re-signing free agents Kyle Schwarber and J.T. Realmuto. The club and Schwarber are not close to a deal, according to sources. It isn’t a surprise at this time of year. Schwarber’s agents want to capitalize on his monstrous 2025 season in which he finished second for NL MVP behind Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani. There’s no reason to rush it.
But the lack of progress can be frustrating, while others wonder how long the Phils can wait.
The feeling here is that Schwarber will remain in Philadelphia. This feels somewhat similar to Realmuto’s free agency in 2020-21. Realmuto’s agency at one point asked for more than $200 million, creating some level of pessimism inside the organization.
It would be surprising (stunning?) to see the Pirates, who are reportedly interested in Schwarber, make a credible offer to him, much less one big enough to convince him to leave Philadelphia. The Reds continue to be mentioned because Schwarber grew up a Reds fan, but it’s difficult to imagine the Reds making an offer that blows the Phillies’ out of the water.
The Phils have been mentioned as potential suitors for other big free agents like Kyle Tucker, Bo Bichette and Pete Alonso — it happens almost by default because the Phillies are consistently among baseball’s biggest spenders — but there are indications they could not seriously pursue those players, if they re-sign both Schwarber and Realmuto — unless they clear payroll elsewhere.
The Phillies have tried to trade Alec Bohm. He is arbitration-eligible for the third year and will likely earn a raise from the $7.7 million he made in 2025. Bryson Stott and Brandon Marsh would be attractive to teams looking for Major League talent. A reliever like Matt Strahm could be dealt, although he has been their most reliable lefty in the Phillies’ pen the past three years. He will make $7.5 million in 2026.
Nick Castellanos will make $20 million next year. It would be very surprising to see him in a Phillies uniform in the spring, but the Phils will have to eat most of his contract to trade him, otherwise they could just release him.
Castellanos would make sense for teams like the Royals and Marlins, but it’s unclear how much interest they have.
Expect things to pick up in the coming weeks, though. The Winter Meetings are in two weeks in Orlando, Fla.
