On Thursday, the Philadelphia Phillies officially signed outfielder Max Kepler to a one-year, $10 million contract. It was reported on Friday that Kepler, one of the most underrated outfielders in the game, will be playing mostly left field for the Phils.
Initial off-season rumblings had the Phillies going big this winter when it comes to player acquisitions (reports said they were willing to shake up their roster), but after reportedly trying hard for Juan Soto without getting particularly close to signing him and after seeing the going prices of other free agents, they are now talking about making just a few additional minor acquisitions.
“The Phillies are not expected to be in the market for any of the high-profile free agents this winter, Dave Dombrowski said. They also haven’t been invited to join in the recruiting process for free agent starter Roki Sasaki. They ideally would like to add one more back-end starter,” MLB insider Bob Nightengale wrote on X.
The Phillies aren’t expected to make more major moves
The Phillies signed Kepler and also added former closed Jordan Romano to their bullpen. After losing two relief pitching stalwarts in Jeff Hoffman and Carlos Estevez, more was expected, at least on that front.
This isn’t to say that the Phillies will be fully out of the market. They could still entertain the possibility of trading for starting pitching or bullpen help, and of course, if they find a good opportunity, they will likely move third baseman Alec Bohm, too.
The idea, per Nightengale, would be to add another pitcher for the back of the rotation to upgrade the Taijuan Walker spot.
At this point, and officially out of the Sasaki sweepstakes, don’t expect the Phillies to make any more major moves. They still have a rock-solid foundation and can easily contend in 2025, though.