It seemed just not too long ago that we were all enjoying the thrills of the conclusion of the 2024 World Series. But in just a blink of an eye, we are already more than halfway through the offseason. For the current players who are officially on the Philadelphia Phillies roster, they are likely gearing up for another competitive season while in search of another postseason berth.
However, a fair number of other former Phillies players still in free agency may not be as lucky as they haven’t found a new home yet for the upcoming season. Although there are still a few weeks left before the start of spring training, time is starting to run short for free agents in the market. As a result, let’s take a look at five prominent ex-Phillies who are still without a job heading into 2025.
5 former Phillies players still without a job heading into the 2025 season
Whit Merrifield
As one of the hot commodities last offseason, who would have thought veteran star utilityman Whit Merrifield would have trouble finding a place to play just one year later? Don’t forget he was also the Phillies’ biggest free agent signing in 2024. Unfortunately, things just didn’t turn out the way that both Philadelphia and Merrifield would have expected.
Despite coming off an All-Star season in 2023 with the Toronto Blue Jays, Merrifield was a complete flop with the Phillies last year as he posted an abysmal .199 average, .572 OPS with just four doubles, three home runs and 11 RBI in 53 games played. Things didn’t get any much better following his release from Philadelphia, as he landed with the Atlanta Braves for the remainder of the 2024 season. With the Braves, Merrifield batted .248 with a .684 OPS, five doubles, one home run and four RBI in 42 games and didn’t end up seeing any action during the Braves’ postseason run.
Those who somehow still see any value in the 35-year-old utilityman will need to bet on the fact that he will regain his dominant form seen during his 2023 All-Star campaign. Otherwise, with his offensive stats trending downwards in two of the past three seasons, Merrifield could be in tough to land an everyday role with any team going forward.
Héctor Neris
Héctor Neris began his professional baseball career when he was signed as a free agent out of the Dominican Republic by the Phillies back in 2010. Neris eventually made his debut with Philadelphia in 2014, pitching a scoreless inning against the Houston Astros in August of that year.
The rest of his tenure with the Phillies spanned eight years from 2014 to 2021, as the right-handed pitcher became an integral part of their bullpen core. In 405 total relief appearances, Neris compiled a 21-29 record, 84 saves, along with a solid 3.42 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, 151 walks and a whopping 520 strikeouts in 407 2/3 innings pitched. He was so reliable that he even took over as their main closer for a couple of seasons and performed admirably in the role.
Despite the success, the Phillies still couldn’t manage to get to the next level, as they failed to reach the postseason throughout Neris’ tenure with Philadelphia. He ultimately left the Phillies during the 2021-22 offseason to sign with the team he made his MLB debut against the Astros.
Neris was rewarded with that move right away as he helped his new club capture the 2022 World Series title in just his first season away from Philadelphia. Not only that, but he followed it up with the best season of his career in 2023 when he amassed a 6-3 record with a stellar 1.71 ERA and 1.05 WHIP, giving up just 41 hits with 77 strikeouts in 68 1/3 innings of work over 71 appearances.
However, Neris’ numbers quickly fell back down to earth last year after splitting his time with the Chicago Cubs and Astros organizations for the 2024 season. Despite posting a respectable 10-5 record, he constantly had trouble with his command, leading to frequent runners on base. As a result, he amassed a bloated 4.10 ERA and 1.40 WHIP with 55 hits, 28 walks and 64 strikeouts in 59 1/3 innings pitched over 62 outings.
With plenty of solid relief options still available in the free agent market, Neris will likely need to wait a little longer before he can ultimately land a contract for the upcoming season. But at age 35, his opportunities could actually be starting to diminish if teams aren’t convinced that he could bounce back from a disappointing 2024 campaign.
Jeff Hoffman
After spending many seasons struggling to find an identity and trying to establish a career in the major leagues, Jeff Hoffman finally had his fortunes changed when he decided to join the Phillies on a minor league deal during the 2022-23 offseason. With Philadelphia’s bullpen struggling to start the 2023 MLB season, Hoffman got his turnaround opportunity when his contract was purchased and he was called up to the big league club in early May of 2023.
From there, the rest is history. Not only did he stick with the Phillies, but he ultimately evolved into one of the best relievers in all of baseball over the past two seasons.
Some may find it surprising to see Hoffman still available in the free agent market. After all, he was coming off the best season ever for his MLB career in 2024. Last year with the Phillies, he amassed a 3-3 record with 10 saves along with an impressive 2.17 ERA and 0.97 WHIP, while giving up just 16 earned runs on 48 hits with 16 walks and 89 strikeouts in 66 1/3 innings pitched over 68 relief appearances. His exceptional performance was deservingly recognized as he earned his first-ever All-Star nod in the process.
Despite many ruling out the possibility of his return to the Phillies for the 2025 season, Hoffman was still highly expected to be a hot commodity this offseason. Many top media outlets have him ranked among the top five relievers in free agency, with Baseball America, Just Baseball and NBC Sports Boston even having him in the top three. But perhaps, with arguably the top relief option in Tanner Scott still available, Hoffman is just likely waiting for the market to work itself out before landing his next big deal.
On top of that, what could still be lingering in his mind is the possibility that he is still weighing his options on whether he can get the opportunity to be a starter again. That is because teams had expressed interest this offseason in potentially using him as a starter, per ESPN’s Jeff Passan. In any case, Hoffman will eventually land somewhere, just for how long, how much and in what role.
Austin Hays
With the Phillies looking for a legitimate outfield upgrade in preparation for their 2024 postseason run, they took a huge gamble by acquiring outfielder Austin Hays from the Baltimore Orioles at the trade deadline. On paper, it seemed like a smart low-risk, high-reward move as Hays was coming off an All-Star season in 2023 in which he hit a solid .275 with a .769 OPS, 76 runs scored, 36 doubles, 16 home runs and 67 RBI in 144 games with the Orioles.
With the influx of young talent, including first-round pick Colton Cowser, along with some ill-timed injury issues, Hays saw his playing time decrease drastically with Baltimore in 2024. Over 63 total games played, he managed to put up just a .255 average and .711 OPS with 18 runs scored, 13 doubles, three home runs and 14 RBI. Despite that, the Phillies took a chance with Hays as they strongly believed that if given the opportunity to play every day once again, he should eventually rediscover his offensive power stroke in due time.
Unfortunately, that expectation never came to fruition as his injury woes ended up following him to Philadelphia. Hays ended up seeing only 22 games of action with the Phillies as he was hindered by a hamstring issue and a kidney infection during the bulk of his tenure. Nevertheless, he showed glimpses of being a power run producer by batting a respectable .256 with a .672 OPS, along with eight runs scored, five doubles, two home runs and six RBI. However, a gaudy 19:0 strikeout-to-walk ratio really stood out along with his ailments, limiting his overall effectiveness.
With the Phillies moving on and adding Max Kepler this offseason via free agency, the potential reunion with Hays is out of the question. But still only 29, there should still be teams that are willing to give Hays a chance to show what he is capable of providing once again. Whether that will be in the capacity of a starter or a bench player is up in the air, but given his offensive potential shown during his 2021-2023 seasons, it should be at least enough to give himself another serious look.
Carlos Estévez
Elite reliever Carlos Estévez was the Phillies’ biggest trade deadline acquisition in 2024. With the incumbent and usually-reliable José Alvarado constantly struggling in his new role as the team’s closer during the past year, Philadelphia decided to make the big move in bringing in Estévez from the Los Angeles Angels to help stabilize the back end of the bullpen heading into the stretch run. In doing so, the Phillies had to sacrifice two promising pitching prospects, George Klassen and Samuel Aldegheri, to get it done.
For the most part, Estévez did do an admirable job as the Phillies’ closer during the final two months of the regular season. He ended up posting a 3-2 record with six saves, along with a solid 2.57 ERA and 1.19 WHIP, while giving up just six earned runs with seven walks and 18 strikeouts in 21 innings pitched over 20 relief appearances. In doing so, Estévez helped Philadelphia clinch their third consecutive postseason berth.
However, Estévez came up just a bit short when the team needed him most during the MLB playoffs. Despite compiling a decent 3.38 ERA and 1.13 WHIP over three games against the New York Mets during the 2024 NLDS, he will nonetheless be remembered most by the Phillies’ faithful as the one who gave up the go-ahead grand slam in Game 4 to Francisco Lindor that ultimately ended the series and Philadelphia’s postseason run at the same time.
With the Phillies having already inked elite closer Jordan Romano to a one-year deal this offseason, it has inadvertently ruled out a potential return of Estévez for 2025. However, some sources have indicated that the Phillies have still expressed interest in Estévez, even with their bullpen core practically set.
Whether or not he ultimately comes back is still in question. But one thing is for sure, as one of the top closing options still remaining in the free agent market, Estévez will get paid eventually. He has been connected to a handful of teams this offseason, including the New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs and, most recently, the Toronto Blue Jays have reportedly been added to the list of teams to have shown interest in the big righty.