The offseason has kicked off as league and team executives got together this week in Las Vegas for the General Managers Meetings. Philadelphia Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski spoke to the media on Tuesday, shedding some light on the offseason ahead. One of the big topics on everyone's mind is the state of the outfield.
The Phillies are essentially starting from scratch with their 2026 outfield plans. As Dombrowski put it, they're "pretty null and void" in the outfield right now, per MLB.com's Todd Zolecki.
It won't be easy to rebuild the outfield with the type of players fans would love to see in red pinstripes. The slim chance that they pursue Kyle Tucker, or even Cody Bellinger, would likely only happen if they weren't able to re-sign Kyle Schwarber.
Dave Dombrowski, Phillies facing slim pickings to rebuild their outfield in free agency
Last December, the Phillies signed Max Kepler to a one-year, $10 million contract. He was supposed to be the everyday left fielder. We all know how that turned out. He won't be back.
That signing about sums up the state of outfield free agency again this winter.
“When you look at what our alternatives were, I don’t really know where we were going to get a better all-around player,” Dombrowski said about Kepler's signing last winter (subscription required), per The Athletic's Matt Gelb. “I mean, he did well defensively. Was he an All-Star? No, but he did a solid job. And sometimes you have to realize that’s what you’re going to get — solid jobs. You’re not going to get all All-Stars. They’re not easy to find.”
As Gelb notes, only 26 right-hand-hitting outfielders played at least 60 percent of their games in the outfield and got 400 plate appearances. So there's not much to choose from. Harrison Bader, now a free agent, was one of those 26. Nick Castellanos was another.
Castellanos is as good as gone. The Phillies are actively trying to trade him. If that doesn't pan out, he'll just be released based on all the reports we've seen since the team's year-end press conference.
They still have Brandon Marsh. The left-handed hitter really should only be in a platoon in a corner outfield spot. They're counting on prospect Justin Crawford, also a lefty, making the jump to play either center field or a corner, depending on how his defense looks.
Here are all the free agent outfielders who hit right-handed and posted a positive fWAR in 2025, along with their ages next season.
- Harrison Bader, 3.2 fWAR, 32
- Austin Hays, 1.2 fWAR, 30
- Miguel Andujar, 1.1 fWAR, 31
- Rob Refsnyder, 1.0 fWAR, 35
- Starling Marte, 0.7 fWAR, 37
- Tommy Pham, 0.2 fWAR, 37
So you can see what Dombrowski and the front office are working with here. It's tough out there.
"Somebody just asked me earlier, 'Well, do you want to get a right-handed outfielder?' Well, yeah, I do," Dombrowski said, per Gelb. "So do a lot of other people. And where do I find him? It’s not easy to do. That’s just what our jobs are. That’s why we have jobs."
Bader returning hasn't been ruled out, despite the kerfuffle his social media caused this week. Re-signing the 31-year-old would likely be the best-case scenario from a free agency standpoint. It would, at the very least, settle center field and let them focus on the corners.
If they don't bring Bader back, it certainly won't be easy for the Phillies to find the right outfielder on the free agent market.