Phillies FORCED into MASSIVE Decision...

The countdown to pitchers and catchers reporting is nearly here after a more uneventful offseason than most Phillies fans hope for. When taking a zoom out and taking a look at the complete picture now, it is clear that this Phillies team is weighing some significant changes moving forward. I want to dive into what exactly those are, which players they're kind of weighing the future of at this specific moment, and why there is so much on the line. for a number of rostered players this season. So let's dive right into things here. I'm going to start off with this tweet from Jack Fritz of the OBIP. Dude, I do think Jack does an excellent job covering the Phillies over there and really be one of the voices of the Phillies in this city. And he tweets out, the one thing that I don't think is talked about enough about this upcoming Phillies season and how good they can slash will be is all the guys in the final years or prove it type deals. A ton of motivated guys looking to get paid. Schwarber, JT, Ranger. Kepler, Romano, Bowman, Luzardo close to paydays could work in their favor and I do think this is an interesting perspective to take here that while obviously our goals were on building a championship contender a World Series contender on year-end and year-out standpoint I do think this was a bit of a take one step back offseason to take two steps forward next year. Why I say that is take a look at the multi-year positional breakdown you can see obviously the top of the the core of this Phillies team. There's still Zach Wheeler under contract. Obviously, plenty of time left for Bryce Harper, although he wants an extension already. Trey Turner, still plenty of time. Aaron Nola on the books for sure. And then look beyond that. That is when you get to see a little bit of the flexibility or the ability to change this roster moving forward. JT Realmuto in the final year of his deal. Nick Castellanos, two seasons remaining. Kyle Schwarber in the final year of his deal. Tyson Walker, two seasons remaining. It wouldn't shock me if he doesn't end up finishing that contract here in Philadelphia. But you can see moving down, the Max Keplers, the Jose Alvarado, Ranger Suarez, Jordan Romano, all these guys, and Alec Bumgarner is in arbitration year next year. His future, some serious questions moving forward. So each of these guys have some significant things to play for. And we know anything about the way the ecosystem of sports work is that a lot of guys tend to play their best ball. When the moment matters most, there is a clear goal in mind. Now, granted, baseball is a little bit more unique in that standpoint as there are the highs and lows, the hitting slumps, the things that happen in the long 162-game grind. But I do think it's going to be something too important to keep in mind moving forward. Now, philliesnation.com did an interesting article writing, which of these guys would you prioritize? And specifically looking at to pull up this tweet again from Jack. This article looked at if you're prioritizing out of JT Realmuto, Kyle Schwarber, and Ranger Suarez, which guy would you extend? What would be the top of the priority list? Now, to lay out my own thought process here. I'm kind of surprised at the direction that it took. For me, I think JT is off the table. And as much as I like JT and do think that he's been great for this Phillies team, I do think his best days are likely behind him. A bit of a down season at 33 years old. Had just 14 home runs, 47 RBIs, a .322 on-base percentage, and 380 at-bats. He had 101 hits, struck out 102 times there. And while JT, still on the hierarchy of catchers around the Major League Baseball, stacks up pretty high. I think we are pushing our luck with hoping that he can run this back year after year. Playing at this level at 33 years old is quite the accomplishment for a catcher. And while if he wants to keep playing, I can sort of be talking to the concept of platooning him with the guy. I think that's going to be the tactic for this Phillies team this year, as they seem to want to lean on Stubbs a little more than has been the case in years past. And Dave Dombrowski has been pretty open on hoping that can inject a little bit more power into his stick at the plate and have a little bit more luck up there. But I don't think it's coincidental that let's. Let's think about the marketing of him as best catcher in baseball, which was so prevalent and so in our face following that contract extension, and that kind of has been dropped off completely, rightfully so there. So while I love JT, while I'm happy that he's going to be behind the plate for this season, I think this might be the end of the JT era in Philadelphia, and he would be pretty near the bottom of my list. And when specifically comparing these three, for me, Kyle Schwarber is at number one at the top of the list. Now. To dive into the numbers here for Schwarber overall, that he had 38 home runs last year, 104 RBIs, still just 31 years old. He'll be 32 in actually a couple of days. So by the time that next season rolls around, but in his 573 at-bats, he had 142 hits. He walked 106 times, which is huge. That is a leadoff hitter right there. And for what it's worth, we did get some of these arguments being made. I do want to pull up this article here from philliesnation.com. Once again, this coming from Bailey Dig, I believe is how you say it here. My apologies. My apologies if I butchered that, but she writes out here, here's what went through my mind when thinking about how to answer. Of the three, Suarez would be the least of my worries right now. 2025 is a prove-it year for the left-hander. I'd want to wait things out to see if he can be consistent and healthy for a full season before offering him a contract. Also, with how much free agent starters are signing for, I'm sure Suarez and his camp, he's a Scott Boras client, would entertain the idea of signing an extension this spring. So the decision comes down to Schwarber or Realmuto. Realmuto is important to the Phillies. He's more than an above-average catcher. He's a key part of the pitching staff. Realmuto is involved in the game planning process. He's had a sense of how to attack hitters throughout his game. He's as important as the pitchers and pitching coaches the organization employs. If he hits the open market, I don't know how clubs would value him. He's entering his age 35 season in 2026. I don't think many clubs. We'll get into a bidding war for a mid-30s catcher. I think Realmuto would be easier to re-sign if he becomes a free agent. I'd also want to see how he holds up this year before giving him another contract. Schwarber, entering his age 32 season, is a full-time designated hitter. I think he'll age gracefully within that role. Schwarber has been one of the better hitters in baseball during his Phillies tenure, and I'd bet that'll be the same this year, putting him at the top of the free agent market next winter when there won't be many bats of his caliber available to sign. I wouldn't be comfortable letting Schwarber hit the open market, It would only drive his cost up, which would already be higher than when he signed with the Phillies before the 2022 season. So I think this is perfect perspective here and nails all of this with Suarez specifically And to dig in a little bit more on that. First, want to touch on his numbers for the season overall. But he pitched in 27 games last year, had a 60% win loss percentage, allowed 14 home runs, 145 strikeouts across his 150.2 innings pitched there. That comes out to 8.4 hits per nine innings, a 3.46 ERA and a 1.201 WHIP overall. But it really was a story of two halves for Ranger Suarez. For the first half of this Philly season, he looked like a borderline Cy Young candidate, one of the best pitchers in the entire major leagues. And then whether it was a dead arm or his body hurting or whatever the case may be, it obviously ended up for an injury stint and that he was away from the team for a little bit. To me, when he returned, it looked like he was pitching through a dead arm and he kind of hit that stage of the season. But the bottom line is, even with that being the case, that dude still gutted it out and put forth the performances that this team need. He delivered in the playoffs when he was asked to. And that's what sticks out in my brain about Ranger Suarez. He may not have the He may not, you know, be able to throw it right by you at the rate of some of these other pitchers or have the movement in some of these other guys, but you're never going to accelerate his highlight, his heart rate, make him nervous on the mound. The dude is going to give you everything he's got on an every position or every pitch basis to that point there. So Ranger Suarez is a guy wanting red pinstripes, but do stand by kind of the mind, the thought process here of let's see what happens this season, because what if Ranger Suarez has a really bad year? And while I'm not rooting for that to be the case from a Phillies perspective. There's a world where that happens and all of a sudden you can capitalize on getting him on a great value deal that if he pitches to a level that, you know, is a fifth caliber pitcher, a fifth starting caliber pitcher, you can sign with that type of contract. When in reality, I think the upside is far higher than that. Now, granted, my optimism level for Suarez being back. It's probably a little bit lower than these other two names on the list here. I think Schwarber, I believe, is rightfully the most likely to continue being a member of this Phillies team. He is a guy who's become a driving force of this team, a leader. And to talk a little bit about that specifically, actually, I do want to dive into the outlook for J.T. Realmuto as I kind of brushed over that because I do think that is the more likely outcome or the guy that I prioritize the least. But was kind of surprised by some of the other writers on Phillies Nation making the case. So shout out to Ty Delbert here who writes, Replacing Realmuto would likely be tough for the Phillies in 2026 and beyond. His durability, offensive production compared to other catchers, and work with the pitching staff have made him an incredibly valuable player since he was traded to Philadelphia in 2019 and have helped propel the Phillies into contention over the past three seasons. With no clear replacement in the organization, keeping Realmuto around would be beneficial. Sure, Realmuto hasn't been the silver slugger he once was over the last two years, and he started to finally show some wear and tear in 2024, so he missed time due to knee surgery. That may lead to him playing less in 2025. Still, less of Realmuto is a better bet than most catchers around the major leagues. He may not be an Ironman going forward, but Realmuto, who turns 34 next month, should still have some quality production left in him for a while. Eduardo Tate, a power-hitting catcher prospect in the Phillies system, is only 18 years old. Logano Hoppe was traded in 2022. That leaves the Phillies without a starting caliber catcher ready to step in for Reymundo, who plays a massive role with the club. A short-term contract to keep him in Philadelphia after his upcoming season just seems to make sense for both sides. And by the way, this was added to by Destiny Legardo here, also does an excellent job covering this Phillies team, writing about him, and she writes, flashback to the end of the St. Louis series in July 2022, Reymundo had a .684 OPS. He had to answer questions about why he could not travel to Toronto for the Blue Jays series, Many believed he was no longer a solid offensive player and declared the remaining three and a half years of his contract an albatross. He responded by going on one of the more incredible hot streaks that we've seen in recent Phillies history. He raised his OPS by nearly 100 points in a 17 game span from July 15th to August 9th, posting 393, 456, and 836 slash lines. Very good there. He ended 22 with an 820 OPS and finished seventh in the National League in MVP voting Nobody expected this kind of comeback. The lesson here is not to underestimate Reymundo's ability to surprise you. It's going to be even more challenging for him to make a meaningful difference at the plate while playing around 130 games at age 34, but take his numbers after knee surgery last year as an encouraging sign. In 48 games after his return, Reymundo had a 788 OPS, only three catchers at a higher OPS in that same span. The Phillies should explore getting ahead of a great Reymundo season and lock him up before the price goes up. And while I would love to be wrong about this, I'm not sure I see that complete outlook there. JT, when looking around the grand scale of catchers around the league, is incredibly solid, still going to be better in the game. And I'm okay with that. It does not need to be more than that. I don't think we can expect or hope for him to return to this guy who can, you know, be batting behind Bryce Harper in the lineup or have that kind of power threat, that silver slugger type ability. I think that is probably a lost cause. That does not mean... That this guy is incredibly important to this Phillies team. I think the value of JT is far more on kind of the, I don't want to say connection to the locker room, but the management of the pitching staff, for sure. A guy who has a feel for these guys, and he's an Ironman behind the plate. I mean, he's been there so consistently. It does remind me a lot of the Carlos Ruiz era, as far as a guy that is just out there on an everyday basis. And while he is not huge, shout out to him. I do think JT is a guy that handles the staff very well. I would not mind having him around on kind of a longer term basis or a couple year more basis while Eduardo Tate does seem to be the guy that they are grooming to take over this role, but he would fall lower on the priorities than those other two. So for me, Kyle Schwarber is the absolute guy, but I do believe this is the dude that they have to make sure is locked up and with Schwarber specifically to pull up his stats here. It's more interesting to me the conversation on what his role should be moving forward. I do think there are conversations to be had about should he continue batting leadoff? Should there be more done to line up versatility to try and explore a little bit more potential that we have not just seen. Those are conversations that I think is fair, but I don't see a world in which you can upgrade from Schwarber at the DH position for a fair value world in a way that can keep you. And while we're talking about kind of these like, you know, value contracts, which I think has been the theme of this Phillies offseason, in theory, they're great, right? If you want to sign, you know, a 7 out of 10 player to a $5 million contract rather than an 8 out of 10 player to a $15 million contract. That's great value. But you know what that also means there is that that team has an 8 out of 10 player and you have a 7 out of 10 player. And while in theory, you can kind of stack these that you're getting more options, getting more players, you can only play nine guys on the field. You can only have 10 guys or nine guys in your lineup there. I guess that's been the DH thing as I'm going quick here. But the point being here that you've got to have your best overall unit. I do think that the Phillies have kind of tried to thread a couple needles here. Will be interesting to see what this team actually looks like when they do take the field. Very excited that pitchers and catchers are reporting soon. Very excited to take a look at Jesús Lazardo. Get a chance to see what this team is going to look like moving forward. But finally, the long stretch without baseball is starting to wind down. So still a lot to go down with this Phillies team. Appreciate each and every one of you guys tuning in. And answer that same question below. It comes down to JT Realmuto, Ranger Suarez, or Kyle Schwarber. Which one, if you can only pick one, do you want to extend at this very moment for this Phillies team? Drop those thoughts below. As always, appreciate each and every one of you guys tuning in. Make sure you're smashing that subscribe button if you have not already. Drop a like on this video here. I'll be back talking to you next time. Peace.