Continuing the series, let’s move to the outfield.
How to improve the Phillies: catcher
How to improve the Phillies: infield
Ah, the Phillies outfield. Long a wasteland of offensive ineptitude, 2026 saw the unit begin with questions in all three spots and end with….questions in all three spots. Try as they might, they just can’t seem to get themselves to make a roster have three outfielders at the same time that one would feel comfortable with in any situation.
How dire did it get?
“Bryan de la Cruz
was hitting fifth in a playoff game” dire.
With the offseason approaching, the team is left with more questions yet again and finding itself having few answers from outside the organization. Fixing this years long issue will require creativity and usage of resources that they may not feel comfortable with. Yet if they do not, there will likely be still more questions as the season goes on.
Who they have
A lot of the “who they have” section will probably be decided after the deadline passes on whether or not the team should offer arbitration to eligible players. Three outfielders that the team currently has under team control – Brandon Marsh, Bryan de la Cruz and Derek Hill – can be tendered a contract by the team, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they will be tendered a contract. It’s likely that Hill will be as his rather meager projection is more than palatable ($1.5 million) for someone who profiles well as a fourth outfielder. Giving an offer to de la Cruz doesn’t make much sense as it would unnecessarily lock up a roster spot on a guaranteed deal, but who knows.
The real question is what are they going to do with Brandon Marsh. Offering him a contract to be a platoon player would cost the team ~$9 million, but nontendering him means losing him for nothing. His crash and burn to a promising 2026 season muddies the water a bit on that question of whether or not to bring him back, but it has become a very real puzzle piece that they need to figure out.
Then there is Justin Crawford. Is he a center fielder? Is he better suited to left field a la Chandler Simpson? Is he trade bait? Figuring out where to actually play him will go a long way to determining what they will chase in free agency or the trade market.
Oh, wait, what’s on the farm you ask?
<tumble weed passes by>
Free agent options
Welcome to the land of opportunity!
“What opportunity?”, you ask. Why, the opportunity to either finally address a long festering issue with the Phillies’ roster by acquiring a real, honest to goodness solution to their outfield problem once and for all, the opportunity to patch over the issue once again with cheap, hope for the best band aids or the opportunity to once again do nothing at all and roll with what is currently on the roster.
Teruaki Sato – This list probably begins and ends with Sato. The Phillies have been looking to tap into the Japanese market for years, even offering Yoshinobu Yamamoto more money than what he eventually signed for with the Dodgers, only to come up short in each venture. This year, there is a feeling that they will not be denied. There have been multiple reports of Preston Mattingly personally going overseas to scout Sato, an indication of just how serious they are about bringing him aboard.
Seiya Suzuki – If the Phillies are truly interested in bringing in a consistent performer in an outfield corner, the Phillies could do worse than offering Suzuki a deal. He’s as metronomic as it gets at the plate, posting a wRC+ of 118 or higher in each season since he has come stateside. Twenty home runs hit in all but one season as well. He’s right handed and would be as perfect as it comes. The problem? He’s probably a DH and the team has one of those. Granted, he is coming off of his best season as a right fielder defensively, which is huge for him and his trying to create a market as an outfielder, but as someone that will play most of 2027 as a 32 year old, does anyone really believe he’s going to remain a solid option with the glove? Are the Phillies willing to shell out serious money to be on that?
Randy Arozarena – If Suzuki was consistent, what does that make Arozarena? He too has posted a wRC+ higher than 114 in each of the seasons he has played since his debut and is coming off a season in which he put up a 151. He hits for power, he has a decently patient approach and even steals some bases. He’ll play all of 2027 as a 32 year old and is a great option to give the Nick Castellanos to……as long as they don’t care about defense. Because boy oh boy is Arozarena a butcher with the glove. He makes Castellanos look positively average in the grass.
Ian Happ – If there was a “Big Three” as far as outfield free agents, Happ would definitely be the third. He provides a decent amount of skill at the plate – power, patience, on base ability – while not killing a team with his glove. His 107 wRC+ this year was his lowest in five years and brings up a question about his long term capability. One would have to assume he’ll be after a multi year deal, but as he’s the same age as Suzuki, the Phillies need to wonder if they’d want to attach themselves to that kind of player for a long time. Being a switch hitter makes him maybe slightly more appealing than Arozarena, but that would splitting hairs. He’s a good player, but for how much longer?
Taylor Ward – By now, you know the story with Ward: he’s right handed, can stand in left field and gets on base a lot. Except that once he was finally (mercifully?) traded this August, he kind of cratered. Like, cratered in a way (.125/.238/.148 in 101 plate appearances) that one has to at least wonder if there is anything wrong with him. He’ll still get a solid contract, but boy howdy did he hurt his market.
Jake Bauers – The post-World Series glow with Bauers is going to get him paid. He was really good this past season with Milwaukee and an even more good postseason. The thing with Bauers is: do you really think he’s even an outfielder? He played some left and right with the Brewers this year, but looked much better suited to being a first baseman. He might be able to shift around with the Phillies like he did with the Brewers, particularly with the stated plan of getting Schwarber more time at 1B and Harper some time in the outfield. This might be something to consider.
Ramon Laureano – We are entering the land of “one year deals” with these next few. Each one could have something good to say about them as well as something bad. For Laureano, he’s right handed! Woo! His biggest problem is health. He never seems to be able to stay on the field.
Cedric Mullins – If you’re going to sign Mullins, might as well just see if Justin Crawford can continue to develop.
Lane Thomas – Listen, if you want Lane Thomas, just sign Taylor Ward. It’s probably a better usage of that kind of money anyway. Granted, bringing Thomas aboard would be cheaper than Ward, but the latter, over the past three seasons, has been significantly better at the plate than the former. They both hit lefties well, though Ward has better power, which means Thomas would be a better choice if the desire is to have him strictly as a platoon bat.
Adolis Garcia – I mean….
Trade options
Is anyone going to trade an outfielder? The position just posted its second worst wRC+ in the last twenty years, so one would think that if any team had a player that was even remotely capable of playing good outfield defense and being competent at the plate, that team would hold onto him like grim death.
Predicted outcome
For the first time when considering what the Phillies plan to do with addressing a team need at a position, I really, truly don’t know what they are going to do.
Back in 2023, it was clear that the Phillies needed a shortstop, so seeing all the available options that year made it pretty clear they weren’t leaving free agency without someone. They ended up with Trea Turner. When they have needed a starter or a reliever, they have done so.
Now that they have a chance to do something about the outfield, I just don’t know which direction they are going to go. Will they go with only defense, offensive production be damned? Are they going to do the inverse, forgoing the leather in favor of helping an offense that could use an outside boost? It’s just so unclear what they plan on doing.
My crazy idea is to peddle Gage Wood for a similarly close to the majors outfield bat, preferably a right handed one. The natural inclination is to look west at the Dodgers, who seemingly have a plethora of outfield bats bottlenecking at the Triple-A level. While I wouldn’t exactly trust that the Phillies can develop a player at the major league level as a bat, that was before they decided to re-do their hitting instruction program. Now, I’m a little more optimistic. Of course, that would mean parting with someone is considered depth for their rotation, something they don’t have a lot of, which would make it a crazy idea in the first place.
My prediction would ultimately be that they keep Crawford and Hill in some capacity, trade Marsh and sign two other outfielders, one being a starter and the other being a quasi-starter. Who that starter is will remain TBD, but I’ll say it’s Sato.
