The Philadelphia Phillies accomplished their offseason goals of re-signing veteran cornerstones Kyle Schwarber and J.T. Realmuto this winter. There were other moves, like reliever Brad Keller and right fielder Adolis GarcĂa, but without a major addition, like, say Bo Bichette, many fans feel that the Phillies are "running it back."
After shockingly bowing out from the 2023 NLCS in seven games, two straight NLDS defeats have left the fan base hoping desperately for a move that would shake up the core of this Phillies team. It hasn't come.
While every Philly-based sports writer has seemingly covered the prevailing "running it back" narrative in one way or another, the Phillies are now getting national attention for their lackluster offseason.
Jeff Passan weighs in on the narrative that the Phillies are 'running it back'
ESPN MLB insiderJeff Passan addressed the narrative recently. In analyzing the Phillies' World Series chances, he came to the same conclusion at which many of us in Philadelphia have already arrived.
The Phillies should again be a good team, but how good? They finished with the second-best record in MLB last season. As Passan painfully points out, heading into a new campaign with a different roster doesn't necessarily mean it's better.
"I get the fervor in New York and Philadelphia. When a team doesn't reach the World Series, let alone win it, change is standard operating procedure," Passan notes. "And yet [Buster Olney's] point about both teams being quite good is salient. Different is different. It isn't always better. And what the Yankees and Phillies have right now remains quite good. Is it enough? Nobody knows."
Buster Olney's take on this is that while the Phillies were the team that the Dodgers feared the most in last year's playoffs, the Phillies "are older and probably more susceptible to injury" than they were at this time last year.
It's true. The Phillies' core of aging veterans is still the same, just older. Bryce Harper, Trea Turner, Kyle Schwarber, and Zack Wheeler are going to have to be the main contributors in getting a team that has been snakebitten in the postseason back to the World Series.
So have the changes the front office has made this offseason been enough to tilt the scales in the Phillies' favor? The jury is out. We haven't even gotten to spring training yet so we won't really know until the dust settles at the end of September, and hopefully, early November.
Early ZiPS projections consider them the best team in the NL East, although the margin is slim. FanGraphs' initial 2026 playoff odds show the Phillies finishing third in the division. It seems nobody really knows what to make of this Phillies team before a pitch has been thrown.
The Phillies have pushed back on the "running it back" narrative. Manager Rob Thomson has pointed out that 20 to 25 percent of the roster will be new. Technically, yes, but is it the 20 to 25 percent of the roster that can improve the team?
Passan raises the specter that perhaps the Phillies aren't quite good enough. Although, at least he leaves us with a glimmer of hope.
"Ultimately, maybe these Yankees and Phillies are just like the Mets that were broken up: good, not good enough. But dismissing them at this point is presumptuous. Outside of the Dodgers, they've got as strong a chance of winning as anyone."