27 minutes ago, Diehardfan said:

I’d love to get rutschman. he’s coming off of down here. However, the Orioles made it pretty clear that they weren’t gonna give him an extension. They’ve basically drafted catchers the last couple years. And they’ve been moving in that direction. I think the issue is kind of like what Jt Realmuto, there’s not a great catchers market in free agency. Which means his value is gonna be higher than really what it should be after what he did last year and with the amount of time he has left on the contract. I’m curious to see what type of prospects are required. The Orioles really need pitching. I think painter is off limits. I think wood is likely close to that since they just drafted him

3 hours ago, e-a-g-l-e-s eagles! said:

Actually thought Bowden did a good job on this. Particularly catcher and 3b he made some good options. Might not love them but they make sense for the Phillies. He also thinks the Phillies should sign Tucker cause he’s 28 and gives them a star OF bat they’ve needed

Catcher

Realmuto, headed for free agency ahead of his age-35 season, hit just .257 this past season with 12 homers and 52 RBIs. He still calls a great game, and his pitching staff loves to throw to him. He can still shut down the running game thanks to his elite pop time, which puts him in the 99th percentile of all catchers, but his blocking and framing numbers are quite poor. If he does return, it needs to be on a one- or two-year deal at the most and with a pay cut. (He’s making nearly $24 million this year.)

The trade market could provide the Phillies with an avenue for an upgrade at catcher, with potential younger targets who can help both in the short- and long-term. The Rockies will have a new head of baseball operations and that person will be looking to wheel-and-deal. Hunter Goodman is only 26 years old and was their only All-Star last year. He hit .278 with 31 homers this year for Colorado, and if the Phillies were willing to do a quantity-for-quality-type deal, perhaps the teams could match up.

Other trade target possibilities include the Royals’ Carter Jensen or Blake Mitchell, the Dodgers’ Dalton Rushing, the Marlins’ Agustín Ramírez (who has big power but must overcome major defensive issues), or maybe even the Mariners’ Harry Ford, who is blocked by superstar Cal Raleigh. Of course, any of these trades would require the Phillies to sacrifice top prospects and major-league talent to even have a chance of coming to fruition.

Third base is a spot on the roster where change needs to be made — both for Bohm’s sake and the Phillies’. Bohm has a career .328 OBP and is a 10- to 15-home run hitter, numbers the Phillies could upgrade with the right player acquisition this offseason. In free agency, Alex Bregman will be available, and in addition to his reliable bat and consistent glove, he’d bring strong leadership skills and postseason success with him.

Bo Bichette, another impending free agent, could be worth a look after a bounce-back season. A move from shortstop to third base is probably what’s next for him. He’s led the American League in hits twice and was only edged out this season due to injury. He would be a huge upgrade at the hot corner for Philly.

Another option for third base could be Munetaka Murakami, who has played for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows in Nippon Professional Baseball and is expected to be posted this offseason. He’s a legitimate 30-home run hitter who gets on base at a high rate, but he’s a below-average third baseman defensively. He can also play first base, where he is adequate, if the Phillies wanted to move Harper back to right field. However, a high-profile Japanese player has never signed with Philadelphia.

Arguably the best option for the Phillies at third base would be to promote top prospect Aidan Miller, who turns 22 in January, to be the everyday third baseman. This past season, he posted a .382 OBP in Double A with 25 doubles, 13 home runs and 52 stolen bases before finishing the season with a cameo in Triple A. The 2023 first-round pick has played mostly shortstop in the minor leagues but a move to third base shouldn’t be too challenging. Getting younger is going to be important for this team next year, and promoting Miller would move that needle in the right direction.

Maybe JT can have a sit down with Harper. Let him know, it’s ok to take a little off your swing. It’s ok to choke up when you are behind in the count. Minimize your swing for the fences swing to 2-0, 3-1, 3-0 counts. Never gonna happen but we can wish right?

46 minutes ago, iladelphxx said:

I would sign 3 of those guys at those numbers, and could probably be cajoled into signing as many as 5 of them

Let's play this offseason out:

- Ranger walks

- Schwarber, Realmuto re-signed

The best bats available in FA:

Tucker, Alonso, Naylor, Bellinger, Suarez

What name or names on that list are good enough to not only offset the anticipated regression of Harper/Turner/Schwarber but also put the team over the top?

And what if they do not add anyone on that list?

2 hours ago, eagle45 said:

Let's play this offseason out:

- Ranger walks

- Schwarber, Realmuto re-signed

The best bats available in FA:

Tucker, Alonso, Naylor, Bellinger, Suarez

What name or names on that list are good enough to not only offset the anticipated regression of Harper/Turner/Schwarber but also put the team over the top?

And what if they do not add anyone on that list?

Bregman + Bellinger

On 10/15/2025 at 3:54 AM, Diehardfan said:

Hopefully the big move is trading Nola and keeping Ranger. The Dodgers are going to the WS and the Phillies should have beaten them. They need to keep those three with Wheeler. Especially, if he can't come back.

Nola won't fetch much but hopefully they do just as you say

4 hours ago, DrPhilly said:

Nola won't fetch much but hopefully they do just as you say

I look at it as trading him for Ranger. Worth it to me

So the excuse this year was that the Dodgers starting pitching was exceptional. How does he explain games 4-6 in the 2022 World Series? How does he explain games 3-7 in the 2023 NLCS? How does he explain the 4 games against the Mets last year? His team folds against good pitching but he doesn't want to say it. Its always these exterior forces at work against his club. What a joke.

36 minutes ago, vsptroops said:

So the excuse this year was that the Dodgers starting pitching was exceptional. How does he explain games 4-6 in the 2022 World Series? How does he explain games 3-7 in the 2023 NLCS? How does he explain the 4 games against the Mets last year? His team folds against good pitching but he doesn't want to say it. Its always these exterior forces at work against his club. What a joke.

Runnin it back, Hope people stay away next year, don;t be fools as someone once said

1 hour ago, vsptroops said:

So the excuse this year was that the Dodgers starting pitching was exceptional. How does he explain games 4-6 in the 2022 World Series? How does he explain games 3-7 in the 2023 NLCS? How does he explain the 4 games against the Mets last year? His team folds against good pitching but he doesn't want to say it. Its always these exterior forces at work against his club. What a joke.

Again it’s why i blame Dave Dombrowski more than anyone. He’s delusional about why they are losing and he’s spent like 90 mil poorly which if you spent just half of that better they are much better than what they are. He is the one that keeps running it back thinking they are close. Thomson is what he is. Fire him or don’t but whatever manager is brought in is restricted because Dombrowski spends poorly and won’t admit he’s wasted resources that should’ve easily been able to get them over the top. Legitimately

$10 mil Romano

$4 mil Ross

$10 mil Kepler; 2025 stats similar to Kody Clemens at $1.1 mil

$18 mil for Walker; 2 outs in playoffs in 3 years

$20 mil for Castellanos to go 2-15 (better with risp than most of team)

$24.5 mil per season to nola for 7 years; arguably our worst playoff stater vs Mets, imploded early vs. dbacks in game 6 and only used for 2 innings in 2025 postseason

$86.5 mil (+tax) better spent may have won the series and be much better off. He’s biggest issue cause Middleton has given him a ton of resources and he’s built bad bullpens 3 of 4 years and lineup consistently has same hole at cleanup. I went into why giving snell a 3-4 year deal was better than giving Nola a contract at that time. There’s moves that were solid for Dave like Duran, bader and luzardo. But there’s far more bad and misspent money.

Difference between the Dodgers and the Phillies, when the Dodgers make a bad decision with money, they’ll just throw more money to fix the problem and add more guys. They won a World Series and then went and got Blake snell and tried to fix their bullpen. The Phillies hadn’t won anything and they were basically running it back with mid-signings and luzardo trade (which only happened cause he pissed away $18 mil on Walker who was atrocious so they needed another starter)

Same hitting coach, huh? A-holes. Where the bleep is the owner in all of this? How the hell can he watch the same crap happen 4 straight postseasons and say yeah let's do it again

2 hours ago, e-a-g-l-e-s eagles! said:

This guy has no damn clue

1 minute ago, Diehardfan said:

This guy has no damn clue

See why i said my bigger issue is with Dombrowski. He continues to make the bigger decisions that affects this organization. Can say Middleton for allowing Dave but really Middleton has given Dave the top 3 most resources in the game to succeed. Dave has pissed away a lot of it

8 minutes ago, e-a-g-l-e-s eagles! said:

See why i said my bigger issue is with Dombrowski. He continues to make the bigger decisions that affects this organization. Can say Middleton for allowing Dave but really Middleton has given Dave the top 3 most resources in the game to succeed. Dave has pissed away a lot of it

Much of that money is tied up in Turner and Harper and soon Schwarber, they have no flexibility and it is just going to get worse

Just now, Joe Shades 73 said:

Much of that money is tied up in Turner and Harper and soon Schwarber, they have no flexibility and it is just going to get worse

Don’t forget nola too. He’s got 5 years left on that albatross contract.

Just now, Joe Shades 73 said:

Much of that money is tied up in Turner and Harper and soon Schwarber, they have no flexibility and it is just going to get worse

31 minutes ago, e-a-g-l-e-s eagles! said:

Don’t forget nola too. He’s got 5 years left on that albatross contract.

Thanks for reminding me

8 minutes ago, Joe Shades 73 said:

Thanks for reminding me

Why should i have to deal with that pain alone lol