Phillies continue to remain silent as NL East rivals start making moves

The Braves and Mets have started throwing punches in the NL East. The Phillies, at least for now, are watching from the corner.

New York kicked things off by trading Brandon Nimmo and five million dollars to Texas for Marcus Semien. Nimmo was their longest-tenured player and the one guy Mets fans could actually rely on to show up every day.

They dumped him anyway after face-planting out of playoff contention and watching 2024 blow up in their faces. Now, the Mets decided they are ripping out floorboards.

Atlanta followed by re-signing Raisel Iglesias for sixteen million and swinging a deal for Mauricio Dubón. It is not headline-grabbing stuff, but the Braves are forever tinkering and reshuffling because that is how they operate. Fail, adjust, reload, repeat.

The Phillies, meanwhile, have been quiet.

Not patient. Not calculating. Just quiet. Front offices will always insist they do not respond directly to what rivals do, but there is a difference between avoiding panic moves and acting like clock watchers.

Philadelphia’s offseason so far has basically been one priority: keep the band together by re-signing Kyle Schwarber and J.T. Realmuto.

On Schwarber, both sides are far apart. Not surprising, though. When you finish second in MVP voting behind Shohei Ohtani and launch baseballs into orbit for six straight months, your agents are going to swing for the financial moon.

That kind of negotiation drags. That kind of negotiation also tests patience.

Kyle Schwarber’s situation feels almost identical to Realmuto’s first time through free agency. Back then, JT’s camp wanted north of two hundred million. The Phillies were annoyed. Fans were annoyed. Everyone assumed he would bolt before he turned around and signed for five years and a hundred fifteen million in late January.

Same playbook, however I really don’t think the Phillies can afford to be that patient this time around with Schwarber.

I know it is still early, but it feels like the Phillies are waiting to see what Schwarber decides before they do anything else. That is a dangerous game. If these negotiations drag deep into winter, the entire market could shift around them while they sit still.

Other NL East teams are already reshaping their rosters. Can the Phillies really afford to spend December and January staring at the Schwarber situation? I am not so sure about that.

The Pirates are not winning a bidding war for Schwarber. The Reds are a cute rumor because Schwarber grew up a Reds fan, but Cincinnati is not blowing the Phillies out of the water with an offer.

If Philadelphia wants him back, and all signs point to yes, they will outlast the noise.

Here comes the tension point.

If the Phillies re-sign both Schwarber and Realmuto, chasing big names like Kyle Tucker, Bo Bichette, or Pete Alonso becomes nearly impossible unless they make real payroll space. They are being mentioned as “potential suitors” for every superstar because they always are, but there is a difference between being mentioned and being in.

I am heavily leaning towards saying “fuck it” and setting all my chips in the NPB market to rebuild this roster. You can see the top three names on the list by clicking on the link below. All of the sudden, it feels like that’s the best route to go in 2026.

It’s time for the Phillies to go all-in on the NPB market to rebuild the 2026 roster

Obviously, payroll is the elephant in the room and the Phillies know it, which is exactly why Alec Bohm, Bryson Stott, and Brandon Marsh have already floated through the rumor mill.

Bohm is arbitration-eligible and likely heading north of eight million. The Phillies have shopped him. Stott and Marsh would be attractive to teams looking for cheap, controllable MLB talent. Matt Strahm could be moved too, although he has quietly been their most dependable lefty in the bullpen for three straight years.

Then there is Nick Castellanos. He is set to make twenty million next year and nothing about his situation feels fixable. If the Phillies can attach some cash and dump him to a team like the Royals or Marlins, great. If not, a straight release feels more realistic than any fantasy that Castellanos will be back in a Phillies uniform next spring.

The NL East is shifting. The Mets are tearing down and remodeling. The Braves are already retooling around yet another inevitable run. The Phillies have decisions to make, and silence is going to get very expensive if things do not start moving soon.

The Winter Meetings are two weeks away in Orlando. The Phillies cannot afford another offseason where the rest of the division goes wild and they stand in the corner waiting for everything to sort itself out.

The clock is already ticking.

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