With spring training moving right along for the Philadelphia Phillies, expectations will be high coming into the campaign.
Despite a tough early exit last year in the postseason, the Phillies are running it back for the most part with their core from the last several years.
However, while Philadelphia has had a lot of success in recent campaigns, the core of the team is starting to get older. In 2025, with a couple of key players heading into the last year of their deals, the window might be closing a bit on the Phillies.
With this in mind, they were focused on making some good moves to help support the talent that was already in place.
By all accounts, Philadelphia has had a strong offseason on paper, and have addressed a lot of their needs coming into the winter.
David Schoenfield of ESPN.com recently gave out his final grade for the Phillies this offseason. With winter coming to a close, they received a strong grade of a ‘B’ for their efforts.
Coming into the winter, it felt unlikely that Philadelphia was going to really be in the mix for any of the star free agents.
With Zack Wheeler’s contract taking a massive jump, the payroll was already going to be high for the Phillies no matter what.
However, despite not making a significant splash, they had a strong winter. In free agency, they brought in former All-Star closer Jordan Romano and outfielder Max Kepler. Furthermore, they traded for Jesus Luzardo to be the new fifth starter in what looks like one of the best rotations in baseball.
Of the moves, the Romano one will be the decision to watch closely. While the right-hander has All-Star potential, Philadelphia did lose both Jeff Hoffman and Carlos Estevez this winter.
While the right-hander has a big upside, he is coming off a poor season with the Toronto Blue Jays in which he dealt with injuries.
Arguably, the best move was the trade for Luzardo overall. The young left-hander has a really high upside and him being the fifth starter in the rotation is scary. Also, that isn’t just a short-term move, as he could be a potential replacement if Ranger Suarez leaves in free agency next winter.
Overall, it has been a strong winter for the Phillies. However, they have lofty goals and expectations and anything less than a World Series is a failure for them.
Whether or not they did enough to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers remains to be seen, but the team has positioned themselves well.