The story of the 2024-25 MLB offseason has been rich teams getting richer.
The Dodgers, Mets and Yankees — for example — have spent more than a billion dollars on the top free agents this winter, while other teams like the Cubs and Red Sox have made splashy trades that could turn them into true contenders.
The Phillies are rich too — but they are simply staying rich. And that's partially because the market this offseason has been too rich for their blood.
"I would be surprised if we got into impactful free-agent type of signings from an offensive perspective," Phillies president Dave Dombrowski said in a Zoom call with media members Friday.
Which means no Alex Bregman, no Teoscar Hernández, and no Pete Alonso.
It also means the team's outfield is set after the surprising and perhaps unsatisfying Max Kepler signing.
The Phillies have also been, well, extremely choosy with their trade offers. Reports have circulated that the club was in the mix for Garrett Crochet, and made an offer for Athletics closer Mason Miller that included Alec Bohm, but none of their trade offers impressed enough to get a deal done.
As for the remaining prize in free agency, who does not qualify for Dombrowski's "offensive perspective" limitation — the Phillies are not in the mix for Japanese hurler Roki Sasaki.
"We have not been invited to talk to him at this point," Dombrowski said. "We sent in our original info, they know we would very much like to have a presentation, but we haven't been invited to the table."
The Phillies have four All-Star-caliber starting pitchers. They also have a lineup packed with six hitters who have been All-Stars during their career, all in their current primes. The team is stacked. It just isn't stacking more.
There are two discernible reasons for this strategy. The first is financial. Without spending tens of millions more, the team is going to avoid the kind of massive tax bill the Dodgers and Mets will be paying. This preserves long- and medium-term flexibility.
After the 2025 season, over $81 million could be coming off the books, with contracts expiring for J.T. Realmuto, Kyle Schwarber, Nick Castellanos and Ranger Suárez — along with club options for José Alvarado and Matt Strahm. Vladamir Guerrero Jr., Chris Sale, Framber Valdez, Luis Robert Jr. and Bo Bichette, just to name a few, could be part of a better 2025-26 free agent class. The Phillies are setting themselves up to be major players.
The other logical reason is they seem to really like the young players they have. Andrew Painter could be an anchor in the rotation. Aidan Miller could step up as an everyday corner infielder. Justin Crawford could be the reliable outfielder the team has been desperate for.
The Phillies are intent to allow their homegrown youth to to help continue this competitive window, in the same way that Cristopher Sánchez, Bryson Stott and Bohm have done so for this current version.
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It's not exciting. It's not confidence-inspiring. But it does seem pretty likely that a standing pat Phillies roster is good enough to make the postseason next season, and should be in the mix to win 90-plus regular season games.
And then, who knows.
It's impossible to approach roster building in December knowing what the Achilles heel could be in 10 months. But the Phillies are making it clear, while perhaps frustrating to those seeing $765 million being spent on Juan Soto up in Queens, that they want the good times to roll. And a short-term sacrifice appears to be the recipe they're cooking with.
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