The Philadelphia Phillies put together another tremendous regular season, winning 96 games and claiming the NL East crown ... only to fall completely and predictably flat in their NLDS loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers. The offense scored more than three runs just once in a 3-1 series loss. For all the star power and postseason experience on the roster, Philadelphia has a maddening habit of coming up small when the lights get bright.
Now the offseason arrives with more questions than answers. This team is good, but good enough? Clearly not. Kyle Schwarber, the presumed NL MVP runner-up, is a free agent. So are JT Realmuto, Harrison Bader and Ranger Suárez, which leaves several gaping holes in the depth chart. If Dave Dombrowski isn't careful, the Phillies could end up taking a huge step back next season. That can't happen when Bryce Harper and Trea Turner have such finite windows to contend.
Dombrowski has built his reputation on big swings. He's not afraid to drop the huge contract in free agency. To execute the blockbuster trade. That reputation has been tested in recent years as he tiptoes around the luxury tax, but with so much money coming off the books, now is an optimal time for Dombrowski to remind folks of what makes him such an accomplished and respected executive. The Phillies need to push their chips in.
Here are a few paths for Philly to move the needle.
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Phillies can trade for Red Sox OF Jarren Duran
It sure feels like Jarren Duran has reached the end of the road with the Boston Red Sox. His defense was sufficiently put on blast in the AL Wild Card series. The Red Sox are overstuffed in the outfield. Roman Anthony is a foundational piece. Ceddanne Rafaela's glove makes him invaluable in centerfield. Wilyer Abreu is younger and slugs better. Jhostynxon García is coming through the pipeline quickly.
If the Red Sox decide to trade Duran with a couple years of club control left, teams will line up around the block. Why not the Phillies, who so plainly need help in the outfield? Max Kepler and Harrison Bader are free agents. Nick Castellanos is unplayable. Brandon Marsh is the only starting lock for next season. The Phillies will probably call up top prospect Justin Crawford, but they need some pop from that group. Duran can supply it.
Duran finished this season with a .774 OPS and 114 OPS+, leading the AL in triples (13). Just a year ago, he was at an .834 OPS and 132 OPS+. He can hit 20-plus homers, steal 20-plus bases and, while his glove is far from elite, Duran makes up for it with an absolute cannon for an arm. He'd be a great replacement for Castellanos in right, and really any defender is a sizable upgrade at this point.
Phillies can trade for Guardians OF Steven Kwan
The Cleveland Guardians are about to welcome their next wave of prospects to the MLB stage, which makes Steven Kwan, arbitration-eligible through 2027, eminently available. Kwan is a central figure in the Guardians locker room and a true fan favorite, but Cleveland has no intention of paying him long term and that organization is basically the MLB version of a hydra in that every piece (with the exception of José Ramírez) is fungible on some level.
Most Phillies fans probably yearn for a bit more slugging than Kwan provides. He finished this season with a .705 OPS and 96 OPS+, thwacking 11 homers in 625 at-bats. Kwan is far more interested in generating contact and getting on base. He doesn't strike out much, he puts the ball in play and he has enough speed to optimize Cleveland's unique brand of baton-passing offensive chaos. Kwan won't jack up the Phillies' home run numbers, but he will give them a measure of stability. Put him in front of Kyle Schwarber or Bryce Harper, and they'll often have a runner to drive home. Put Kwan behind them, and the 28-year-old can pick up a lot more RBI than he did in Cleveland.
Kwan is a Gold Glove candidate every season in left field, having won it three years in a row (with 2025's results still pending). The Phillies' outfield benefitted a ton from Harrison Bader's bat, but it also benefitted from his glove down the stretch. Between Kwan, Marsh and a potential Crawford call-up, the Phillies would have a ton of defensive range and arm strength out there. Ideally there'd be a bit more pop in the mix — the Phillies can always trade for Kwan and sign (or trade) for a bigger bat, too — but Kwan is a sensational leader and a worthwhile target for the Phils.
Phillies can trade for Rays DH Yandy Díaz
The Tampa Bay Rays are always looking to balance the budget and Yandy Díaz, 34, is entering the final year of his contract, which makes him a natural trade candidate. Tampa will absolutely attempt to win games next season, but the Rays go about it differently than most high-profile contenders. That Rays team is very much built from within, so odds are Díaz's replacement is internal.
That opens the door for Philadelphia to take a stab. If Kyle Schwarber ends up departing for greener pastures, Díaz is cheaper (financially) and won't require a long-term investment. The gap in production really isn't too vast either. This was a dominant campaign at the plate for Díaz, who hit .300 with an .848 OPS and 136 OPS+. He set new career highs in home runs (25) and RBI (83). While Schwarber reached new heights in 2025, it's hard to earnestly expect the same results in 2026.
Díaz would essentially replace Schwarber as the Phillies' DH. He can still step in and play first base on occasion, but the defense is pretty lousy, especially compared to Harper's Gold Glove-quality efforts at the position. There is an argument to be made in favor of sticking Díaz at first and living with the consequences, as that would free up Harper to rejoin the outfield, killing two birds with one stone for the Philly front office. That said, the Phils would be better off DHing Díaz, keeping Harper at first base and adding extra help in the outfield. Dombrowski needs to go all-out here.
Phillies can trade for Pirates OF Oneil Cruz
Everyone wants to get Paul Skenes out of the Pittsburgh Pirates organization, but it's time we start talking about saving Oneil Cruz. The 27-year-old popped up in trade rumors around the deadline this summer, much to the chagrin of tired, beaten-down Pirates fans. Cruz is still controllable for a few more years and he's a dazzling talent, so of course Pittsburgh might consider selling out.
Cruz is not a fully formed product at this point. He has incredible tools, standing 6-foot-7 and 240 pounds with blazing speed and a cannon for an arm, but he also makes boneheaded errors and incurs a metric ton of strikeouts. But that's why we need to get him out of Pittsburgh: The Pirates' developmental staff continues to fail its hitters. Put Cruz on a real team, with veterans to teach him and a quality coaching staff in place, and there's a chance his career takes a major turn for the best.
The Phillies need help in the outfield. Cruz makes his share of blunders out there, but he covers a lot of ground and has probably the strongest arm in MLB. (And that's with all due respect to Mason Miller.) Cruz finished last season with 20 home runs, 38 stolen bases and a .676 OPS. But he's in the 98th percentile for hard-hit rate (56.6), the 100th percentile for bat speed (78.8) and the 100th percentile for exit velocity (95.8). If he can refine his approach and start making contact just a little more consistently, Cruz's ceiling rests somewhere between Jupiter and Pluto. This is a swing worth taking for the increasingly desperate Phils.
Phillies can trade for Orioles C Adley Rutschman
There won't be many Realmuto upgrades available to the Phillies, but one potential solution is Baltimore Orioles catcher Adley Rutschman. With Samuel Basallo on the rise in Baltimore, Rutschman trade rumors became rampant late in the season. Still only 27 years old, Rutschman finished ninth in MVP voting just a year ago. This past season was a bit more challenging, however, in large part due to injuries. Now the O's at least appear willing to consider a breakup.
While Realmuto is an incredible backstop and a seasoned postseason performer, the ceiling is much higher with Rutschman, especially considering his cheap and controllable contract, not to mention his age and room for growth. He will need to get healthy and stay healthy, but reading too far into 2025's abysmal numbers (.220 AVG, .673 OPS, 90 OPS+) feels shortsighted. It's a mistake.
Prior to this season, Rutschman was a Gold Glove-caliber catcher who generated a ton of contact from both side of the plate as a switch hitter. He's never going to slug a ton, but Rutschman keeps strikeouts to a minimum and works deep into counts. The Phillies will need to add more raw power elsewhere — this shouldn't be their only move in the offseason — but Rutschman, when he's right, occupies a spot on the short list of MLB's best catchers. If the Phillies can replace Realmuto with an All-Star catcher who's seven years younger and comparably well-rounded in his skill set, that's a positive step.
Phillies can trade for Angels OF Mike Trout
Alright, it's never going to happen and, frankly, it probably shouldn't happen. Mike Trout is way too expensive and he's beginning to decline, even beyond the injuries. The Los Angeles Angels made the savvy decision to push Trout to DH as an act of preservation, but that only caps his value since he's not defending in right field. Trout managed 456 at-bats this season, with a .232 average and .797 OPS while swatting 26 home runs. On his current trajectory, that's probably not worth $37.1 million annually through 2030.
That said ... Trout is a Philly-area kid, and he's still a damn fine hitter. We're talking about the greatest of his generation. He deserves a little benefit of the doubt and a lot of respect. Trout's metrics pop like fireworks on a clear night: He's in the 85th percentile for hard-hit rate (49.3), the 93rd percentile for barrel rate (15.8), the 98th percentile for walk rate (15.6). Trout stuck out a ton this season, but he still hammered the baseball on a regular basis and drew plenty of walks, finding ways to get on base and create problems for the opponent. He even got unlucky, with an expected average of .246 and an expected slugging of .490 — both well above his actual numbers. Perhaps next season the baseball gods will favor Trout a bit more.
Remove money from the equation for a second, and Trout is a perfectly acceptable replacement for Schwarber in the DH slot. If the Phillies want to get bold and move Trout back into right field, he's still a fine defender. He's "old" and he gets hurt a lot, but Trout is just 34, so it's not like he's completely cooked. There's still gas left in the tank, clearly. It's a matter of keeping the car running so he can use that gas.
The Phillies aren't going to sacrifice all this newfound flexibility on Trout's contract. This would require the Angels absorbing a lot of dead money, presumably in return for a nice haul of prospects from Philadelphia. But since we are just having fun and throwing around outside-the-box concepts, why not speak the Trout-Phillies connection into existence one last time.