This story was excerpted from Todd Zolecki’s Phillies Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski and Co. are in Las Vegas this week for the GM Meetings, where organizations lay the groundwork for the winter.
Bringing back Kyle Schwarber and J.T. Realmuto leads the Phillies’ to-do list, but they will need to do more than re-sign Schwarber and Realmuto if they want to win the World Series.
If they want to revamp the offense, they can and should reshape the outfield.
They should leave Las Vegas with a better sense of the possibilities.
They already know their shortcomings. Phillies outfielders ranked 19th in baseball this season with a .710 OPS. They had a .708 OPS in 2024.
Since 1992, Phillies outfields had worse production than the 2024 and ’25 clubs in only ’14 (.684), ’15 (.707) and ’16 (.677). Those groups included Odúbel Herrera, Ben Revere, Cody Asche, Aaron Altherr, Peter Bourjos, Grady Sizemore and others.
This year’s group included Nick Castellanos (.694 OPS) and Max Kepler (.691 OPS). Castellanos and Kepler were supposed to be everyday players on the corners, but they finished the season platooning together in right.
Neither is expected back in ’26.
There could be clarity on Castellanos’ situation before the end of the week. The Phillies have tried to trade Castellanos in each of the past two winters, but they were unsuccessful. It should be easier to part ways (and swallow his contract) as he enters the final year of a five-year, $100 million deal.
Castellanos was benched in June in Miami for inappropriate behavior in the dugout after Phillies manager Rob Thomson removed him from a game for defensive purposes. Castellanos again expressed his frustrations with Thomson in September.
In four seasons with the Phillies, Castellanos has slashed .260/.306/.426 with a .732 OPS and a 100 OPS+, meaning he has been a league average offensive player. His -32 outs above average were seventh lowest over those four seasons, out of 267 qualified players.
This season, Castellanos finished last out of 145 qualified players with -0.6 fWAR and -1.0 bWAR.
If Castellanos isn’t back, it would leave three players listed as outfielders on the Phillies’ 40-man roster:
This list doesn’t include infielder/outfielder Otto Kemp, who is on the 40-man, but played only 12 games (eight starts) in left field, including Game 2 of the NLDS. It doesn’t include No. 3 prospect Justin Crawford, who isn’t on the 40-man. Dombrowski strongly suggested last month that Crawford will have an inside track to make the Opening Day roster. It doesn’t include first baseman Bryce Harper, who said a couple of times this year that he would return to the outfield if the Phillies acquired the right bat (i.e. a significant impact bat) to hit in the middle of the lineup.
Dombrowski said last month such a return for Harper is unlikely.
The list also doesn’t include free agents Harrison Bader and Schwarber, who played eight games (four starts) in left field.
There are multiple ways the Phillies could go here:
• They could re-sign Bader, who last week declined his side of a $10 million mutual option. That would give them another right-handed bat and a true center fielder.
• Crawford could make the Opening Day roster and play left or center.
• Crawford and Marsh could play left and center if Bader isn’t back.
Ultimately, the Phillies will need to look outside for help. There are big free agents out there, like Kyle Tucker and Cody Bellinger, who seem unlikely unless Schwarber signs elsewhere.
There are also more complementary/platoon free agents like Rob Refsnyder and Austin Hays on the market, too.
Then there are potential trades. Would Byron Buxton finally waive his no-trade clause to get out of Minnesota? The Red Sox have a surplus of outfielders, so Jarren Duran could be on the move. The Phillies expressed interested in Cleveland’s Steven Kwan in July, but the Guardians asked for too much.
Dombrowski is scheduled to talk with reporters later today. Perhaps he will offer a few clues then.
