The Philadelphia Phillies have had a pretty odd offseason so far. By all accounts, the Phillies are still firmly looking to compete for the foreseeable future and they did open their wallets to make sure that they didn't lose Kyle Schwarber in free agency. However, they also have been weirdly passive in reinforcing their aging roster and they seem content to let Ranger Suarez leave in free agency despite some real questions in their rotation. Monday's move only adds to that confusion as to the Phillies' path this offseason.
If there was one big need beyond bringing back Schwarber this offseason, it was surely the outfield. With the (hopefully) likely departure of Nick Castellanos this offseason as well as Bryce Harper's positional switch being made permanent, the Phillies' outfield is surprisingly rough shape for a top contender.
To "solve" that problem, the Phillies opted to sign Adolis Garcia to a one year deal in a gamble that his best days at the plate are not behind him.
BREAKING: Cuban OF Adolis García and the Philadelphia Phillies are finalizing a one-year, $10 million contract, pending a physical, per sources.
— Francys Romero (@francysromeroFR) December 15, 2025
Adolis will look to contribute on a contending team and return to his 2023 offensive production, when he was named ALCS MVP.
Phillies sign Adolis Garcia in attempt to address their outfield depth issues
There are a couple ways of looking at this signing of Garcia. For the glass-half-full crowd, Garcia was one of the more feared power hitters in baseball from 2021-2023 and a proven playoff performer. If Garcia can even remotely approach what he has shown in the past, this deal could end up being one of the biggest steals of the entire offseason.
However, there are reasons to be skeptical. Garcia dealt with injury issues off and on all season long last year. On top of that, the last couple of seasons have not been kind at the plate to Garcia as he has combined to post a .675 OPS (that's not good) over the nearly 1,200 plate appearances since the start of the 2024 season. There is no guarantee whatsoever that Garcia is even capable of being a middle of the order threat anymore, but Philly is certainly going to try.
If this was a bit cheaper of a contract, this would be a next to no risk deal for the Phillies. However, giving Garcia $10 million is real money and seems to be the team's bet when it comes to shoring up their outfield. Garcia does have a strong arm and has (mostly) been a decent defender which helps, but gambling on him still feels needlessly risky for this Phillies' roster that is already getting old as things stand.