The Philadelphia Phillies have been looking to improve their outfield during the offseason. They looked to the free agent market and agreed to a one-year, $10 million deal with Adolis García on Dec. 15. The 32-year-old will be their starting right fielder next year.
However, Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski tried to acquire a center fielder before the García signing. There were discussions about the club acquiring an outfielder, such as the Colorado Rockies' Brenton Doyle, Luis Robert Jr. of the Chicago White Sox, or the Houston Astros' Jake Meyers.
Unfortunately, Philadelphia lacks a key position in its prospect system that prevented any trade from transpiring.
Phillies' lack of quality pitching prospects hurt them in trade talks
According to The Athletic's Matt Gelb , the Phillies tried to make deals but didn't have enough young pitching to offer the selling clubs (subscription required).
"[The Phillies] poked around on potential trades for center fielders, including Brenton Doyle, Jake Meyers and Luis Robert Jr., according to league sources," per Gelb. "But the Phillies do not have young pitching to trade. That diminished their hand. After years of depleting the farm system, they preferred to deal from their big-league roster. That has complicated some trade talks."
The only young pitcher the Phillies possess who is near the majors and that has interested clubs is top prospect Andrew Painter. Dombrowski has said over the last few years that he will not trade the young right-hander.
The Phillies included right-hander Mick Abel, along with prospect catcher Eduardo Tait, in the trade with the Minnesota Twins for reliever Jhoan Duran at this year's deadline. If they had re-signed Carlos Estévez or Jeff Hoffman last winter and if Jordan Romano had pitched better for them this season, Philadelphia may not have needed to trade for another closer, such as Duran.
While Painter is projected to be better, the 24-year-old Abel was also one of the Phillies' top five MLB Pipeline prospects. Abel received recognition this season, being named the International League Pitcher of the Year.
Who knows if Abel would have been enough to include in a multi-player trade that would have been the difference in the Phillies acquiring a center fielder this winter? It's possible. He looks to be a talented young pitcher despite his concerns with walks and allowing home runs.
Philadelphia has other young pitchers ranked high in their farm system according to MLB Pipeline, such as No. 4 Gage Wood, No. 7 Cade Obermueller, No. 8 Moisés Chace (recovering from Tommy John surgery), No. 10 Matthew Fisher, and No. 11 Jean Cabrera. However, none of them are ready to pitch in the major leagues in 2026.
Following the García addition, Dombrowski has since pivoted from trading for a center fielder and said that prospect Justin Crawford will play the position for the Phillies in 2026. However, the Phillies could have improved their outfield depth if they had more young pitching talent in their minor league system.