We live in a strange world in which the Phillies $200 million offer across seven years to Bo Bichette wasn’t enough to land the two-time all-star shortstop. Well, it actually was more than enough, but for whatever reason it wasn’t the deal Bichette was looking for as he took the shorter deal worth $126 million across three years with the Mets.
The Phillies were seemingly the front runners to land Bichette up until the Dodgers landed Kyle Tucker which then suggested the Blue Jays would be pivoting to re-sign Bichette. Regardless, the Phillies were still pushing hard to acquire Bichette and that was apparent after the $200 million contract offer was made public when it was all said and done.
With money to spend and holes to fill on the roster, acquiring Bo Bichette was plan A. However, there didn’t appear to be a formidable plan B considering there hasn’t been much buzz between the Phillies and any other free agent. Merely hours after Bo Bichette signed with the Mets, the Phillies pivoted to re-signing catcher JT Realmuto to a three year deal worth $45 million. They had money to spend and it had to go somewhere for them to at least come out on the other side of the offseason without getting worse.
The Realmuto contract is the second significant move Philly has made thus far, the other being the five year deal worth $150 million to re-sign Kyle Schwarber. Retaining two fan-favorite veterans that have been around for all of Philly’s recent success is certainly important, but the Phillies have yet to actually improve their roster from a year ago. After losing starting pitcher Ranger Suarez to the Red Sox in free agency, the clock is ticking on Dave Dombrowski and the rest of the front office.
There should be more interest between the Phillies and these free agents
Cody Bellinger remains as one of the top free agents on the open market and would fit well on the current roster. The current outfield group consists of some combination of Brandon Marsh, Adolis Garcia, Nick Castellanos, Otto Kemp, and prospect Justin Crawford. Bellinger presents himself as a major upgrade in that outfield, but it still seems like either the Mets or the Yankees are the favorites to land him.
After Kyle Tucker and Bo Bichette signed short term, high AAV deals, it seems more likely that Bellinger will get a similar contract, and the Phillies may not be interested in such a deal. While there’s still time, the Phillies should have already emerged as likely suitors for Bellinger after missing out on Bichette, but that doesn’t appear to be the case yet.
After losing Ranger Suarez, they should also probably be more involved in the markets of pitchers like Framber Valdez and Zac Gallen, but once again, there doesn’t appear to be any buzz between Philly and any impact starting pitchers.
JT Realmuto is not a terrible backup plan after whiffing on Bo Bichette, but the backup plan has to consist of Realmuto and then some. They obviously have more money to spend if they were planning on giving Bichette $30 million a year and will be paying just $15 million a year for Realmuto. The encouraging thing for Phillies fans is they haven’t been ruled out on any remaining free agents. But like I said prior - the clock is ticking, and it’s more important that they improve heading into 2026 than it has been in any recent season considering the door is slowly closing on their current championship window.