There are multiple reasons why the Phillies have not advanced at all in the playoffs since their run to the World Series in 2022. The most cited culprit is the offense, the group of players that goes dormant almost every October once the bright lights come on and the pitching gets tougher. But there is a good argument to be made that the bullpens that were built each year to help supplement a terrific starting rotation have been equally as responsible for the earlier and earlier and earlier exits
the Phillies have suffered.
This offseason, the task at hand is once again to create a bullpen that has enough firepower to last an entire season and still have some effective arms once the postseason begins should the Phillies find themselves playing once again. At the end of 2026, there seemed to be only two reliable arms that Don Mattingly would call upon when the games got close. Dave Dombrowski bears some responsibility for this, but he at least had tried at the beginning of last year to build a group that would be resiliant.
What lies ahead for the Phillies this offseason? Can they muster up enough players that would choose to come here to build something close to a reliable bullpen?
How to improve the Phillies: catcher
How to improve the Phillies: infield
How to improve the Phillies: outfield
How to improve the Phillies: starting rotation
Who they have
The hierarchy right now for the major league bullpen probably sits somewhere like this:
Jhoan Duran
Jonathan Bowlan
Alex McFarlane
Tim Mayza
Caleb Kilian
These are the five that I feel most comfortable saying will begin 2027 in the bullpen with a pretty iron grip on a job. There are others here that are available as options:
Then you’ve got the minor leaguers that are currently Rule 5 draft eligible, but do possess some skills that are of interest:
Notice what you don’t see a lot of?
Left handed relief pitching is going to be a priority for the team this offseason. I’d assume that that will be a target they spend a lot of time on as they poke around the markets. Hopefully, they find some that have minor league options as well.
Free agent market
My goodness, where does one begin?
The free agent market for relief pitching is rife with options. Many of those options are not going to be ones the Phillies are interested in for a myriad of reasons. Instead, let’s focus on things the Phillies could be interested in. We have seen a trend when they have traded for relievers at the deadline where they are looking for velocity. They have traded for pitchers like Jhoan Duran, Carlos Estevez and Gregory Soto since 2022, three arms that have the ability to throw a baseball at high speeds. They have signed Brad Keller and David Robertson, guys with (at the time) strikeout stuff. They definitely have a type. So if we’re to scour the free agent market in search of who would be the options they would want to bring in, we can start there.
John Stolnis did a great job at looking at left handed options the team could be looking at this offseason, so there’s no reason to rehash that topic. We’ll zero in on the right handed options that might make some sense.
Bryan Abreu – The assumption here is that the team isn’t really looking for closer types. They already have one in Duran that is arguably one of the five best relievers in the sport right now. Signing someone like Abreu would give them a pitcher from the right side that has shown quality strikeout stuff in the past, but maybe had a bit of a blip in 2026. Abreu’s rates all went in the wrong direction – walk rate up, strikeout rate down – which is a bit concerning, but not truly fatal. He was still getting chase on the mound thanks slider/four-seam combination that has the quality to induce it. Last year’s struggles may even have cost him some money and/or years on the free agent market, making him more of a target for a front office that isn’t really keen on giving on long deals.
Pete Fairbanks – Speaking of rough seasons. Brought in as a possible “one year, let’s trade him at the deadline” candidate for Miami, Fairbanks proceeded to have one of the worst seasons of his career from a baseball card perspective. From the point of view of looking at peripherals, Fairbanks feels like the perfect candidate for the “Dombrowski Special” where he signs a veteran reliever for one year and $10 million. He had some issues (too many walks, too much hard contact) that would maybe have teams look at him a different way, but has the potential to rebound with maybe some better healthy and/or a few tweaks to his arsenal.
Jason Adam – Having two different injuries at the end of two different seasons makes the prospect of signing Adam a bit hazy. He ruptured his quadriceps tendon at the end of 2025, then had a right shoulder strain in the middle of 2026. Those are some serious injuries, but Adam did come back healthy from both issues. When he was healthy, he had good looking numbers on the scoreboard, but under the hood, things are iffy. He struck out almost half the number of batters he did the year before while also seeing his home run rate jump. Could it be the tic he lost in velocity? Maybe, but there would probably be enough success in his past that the team could take a stab at him.
Jonathan Loaisiga – This might be one of the better under the radar buys for a team looking into a reliever. Loaisiga will not have the same whiff or strikeout rates as others, buttake a look at that Savant page. That’s a lot of red from a guy that entered 2026 on a minor league deal. Whatever tweaks the Diamondbacks made to Loaisiga’s game worked wonders as he amassed a pretty impressive 2.42/2.88 ERA/FIP season. Consider also that the pitching coach for Arizona (prior to getting let go) was Brian Kaplan, a former assistant to Caleb Cotham. There may be some shared ideas that Loaisiga could carry over were he to choose Philadelphia as his destination. This feels like a good buy at a not exorbitant price.
Blake Treinen – If the Braves can have a free agent piece from the Dodgers, maybe the Phillies can get their own. Of course, they’d be getting the inferior option were they to get Treinen, but again, maybe that would also drive price down. Treinen vacillated between good and bad in his last two years with the Dodgers, walking too many and giving up too many home runs. He’d be coming here as a solid middle inning pitcher as opposed to the late game monster Evan Phillips might be with the Braves, but considering the needs the Phillies have in the bullpen, solid might be good enough.
Trade market
Now, here is where things can get interesting. Usually, teams don’t really want to make big trades for relievers until they see whether what they have built in the offseason is working or not. That way, at the trade deadline, they can adjust on the fly and make a move then. This, though, is a more unusual offseason thanks to the impending threat of a lockout. Teams have indicated that they might be more inclined to trade veterans in an effort to protect younger players that could end up being more valuable if a salary cap is instituted. So, there might be an unusual amount of veteran relievers on the trade block than usual.
That doesn’t mean we will see a blockbuster involving someone like, say, Mason Miller getting moved. Usually, when you see someone of Miller’s talent moved, it is for younger, more cost controlled players that were just mentioned as being possibly even more valuable post-CBA finalization.
Predicted outcome
There will be relievers.
Oh yes, part of this offseason’s moves, whenever they might happen, will be relievers entering the Phillies fray. One would have to assume that based on their comments, they are looking to get a few different relievers to add to the mix while also maintaining a spot or two to have the ability to cycle back and forth between Lehigh Valley if needed. That would indicate to me that signing one veteran to a major league deal is almost guaranteed, but having multiple options on minor league deals is an avenue that is being heavily explored. If any of these relievers that they are talking to have minor league options, that would probably vault them to the very front of the line in negotiations.
Me personally, I’d like to see them roll the dice and sign Jonathan Loaisiga and Steven Okert, then flood their roster with minor league deals of higher upside plays, looking specifically at guys that are maybe coming off injury. Names like Hunter Harvey, Robert Stephenson, players of this ilk that might be fine with playing in Lehigh Valley with some kind of out clause to try and rebuild value that the Phillies can either use or discard if necessary.
