He logged into a video news conference with a Phillies-issued iPad from his condo on Clearwater Beach, and it was not hard to cut through the symbolism of it all. J.T. Realmuto never had to surrender the iPad. He was headed back to work Tuesday afternoon, to the Phillies’ complex in Florida, after officially signing a three-year, $45 million contract that morning. Almost seven years to the day the Phillies flipped three prospects for Realmuto — one of the finest trades in franchise history — there was something perfunctory about extending the relationship.
No position player has been with the Phillies longer than Realmuto; he beats Bryce Harper by three weeks. The catcher’s arc has traveled from pandemic-barred fans chanting “Sign J.T.!” outside the ballpark to becoming a symbol of the franchise’s stagnation.
The Phillies have improved their win total in every regular season since Realmuto arrived in 2019, but they have regressed in October. They won 96 games in 2025 and have retained those responsible for about 77 percent of that team’s plate appearances, while losing a trusted mid-rotation starter. They added to the bullpen.
Are they better?
The fact that the Phillies explored a seven-year deal with Bo Bichette provided some insight into the front office’s thinking: They thought it could be better. They saw a roster they liked, but one worth rearranging in a significant way. It was always going to be difficult for the Phillies to be better; the sheer number of their free agents meant they could not re-sign everyone. They dropped $150 million into Kyle Schwarber and watched as Ranger Suárez departed for $130 million. The Phillies have spent the fourth-most money of any team in free agency this offseason. Their payroll, as of now, is about $5 million higher than it was a season ago. It is the third-highest in MLB.
“I think,” Dave Dombrowski said Tuesday, “we’re content where we are at this point.”
The bar was high for improvement; that is important to acknowledge. If it’s difficult to conclude the Phillies are better, it’s just as hard to say they are measurably worse. The bullpen, especially last June and July, was a real weakness. Now, the Phillies will carry one of the best units they’ve assembled in recent years into 2026. That is a legitimate improvement.
But the club’s vulnerable points look more exposed. It’s sensible to provide Justin Crawford a longer runway in the majors, but what happens if Crawford isn’t productive enough? What happens if an outfielder suffers an injury? The Phillies, for now, will enter 2026 with Johan Rojas and Otto Kemp as their reserve outfielders. Maybe it’s not a reunion with Harrison Bader, but acquiring a better fourth outfielder as insurance is rational.
Rookie Justin Crawford is expected to be the everyday center fielder. (Kim Klement Neitzel / Imagn Images)
The rotation looks even shorter. As it stands, the Phillies do not have a set No. 4 or 5 starter. They have three healthy pitchers guaranteed rotation spots: Cristopher Sánchez, Jesús Luzardo and Aaron Nola. Two of them, Sánchez and Luzardo, finished in the top seven of National League Cy Young Award voting. Nola, entering the third year of a seven-year, $172 million deal, is an unknown after a career-worst season.
The Phillies hope top prospect Andrew Painter and veteran Taijuan Walker, owed $18 million in the last year of his contract, fill out the rotation. Neither is a slam dunk. Both will have to show well in camp, although even if they do not, it’s unclear what recourse the Phillies even have. At this point, both have to be in the initial rotation as Zack Wheeler continues his recovery from thoracic outlet syndrome.
The Triple-A Lehigh Valley rotation, as of now, consists of Alan Rangel, Jean Cabrera, Tucker Davidson and Bryce Wilson. What happens if there is an injury to a pitcher this spring? The Phillies already have 157 1/3 innings to cover by losing Suárez. Maybe it’s as simple as Nola returning to his typical workload and Painter emerging as a reliable big-league starter. Maybe not.
A large part of the club’s rotation-building is tied to optimism about Wheeler. He is long tossing; Wheeler was out to 90 feet, and last week had what was “a very heavy workload for him,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. Wheeler will be behind the other pitchers in camp, but by every indication, he will not be too far behind.
Whether the Phillies needed to implement more change for change’s sake is a matter of perspective. There is a certain fatigue that comes with a familiar group falling short again and again. The challenge for the Phillies, now, is preventing that sentiment from creeping into the dugout. They will enter 2026 as one of the favorites to win the World Series. In 143 years of Phillies baseball, this is only the fourth time they have strung together at least five consecutive winning seasons.
To maintain it, the Phillies have attempted to throw money at every problem. That spending has its limits; the Phillies could not match a Mets offer that made Bichette the fourth-highest paid player in the sport for 2026. The Dodgers can improve the best roster in baseball with Kyle Tucker and Edwin Díaz, making them an unfair comparison for every other club.
The irony of it all: The Phillies will probably be in the Bichette market again next offseason, presuming he opts out of his Mets deal to return to free agency. He’ll be one of the youngest free agents, still, and one of the best-available bats again. The Phillies will shed $82.6 million from their payroll in impending free agents alone. They’ll be in the market for a big-name starter and hitter.
But they will not fill every hole through free agency. If it all feels a little stale, it’s because the Phillies have failed to bolster the roster through their farm system. These are the rookie pitchers who have made at least five starts for the Phillies over the past five seasons: Spencer Howard, Tyler Phillips and Mick Abel.
And, since 2021, there have been 220 rookies across MLB with 200 plate appearances in a season. Only three of those rookies — Bryson Stott, Matt Vierling and Kemp — were Phillies. In that same timeframe, 137 rookie position players had a season worth at least 1 WAR, according to Baseball-Reference. The Phillies had two of those: Stott and Rojas.
The Phillies hope Andrew Painter slots into the back end of their rotation. (Mike Janes / Four Seam Images / Associated Press)
It’s too much to pin this on Crawford, Painter and Aidan Miller, the infield prospect who could factor into the club’s plans by the summer. The Phillies would be ecstatic if two of them emerge as decent contributors in 2026. Dombrowski, the club’s president of baseball operations, said the quiet part aloud this week.
“Not that there’s not enthusiasm with the rest of the players,” Dombrowski said. “But it’s just there’s always, with those young guys, a different feeling.”
It’s just been so long that it is such a foreign idea to Phillies fans. And, after slight renovations, it is why this offseason might generate one big shrug.