With the Winter Meetings kicking off on Sunday, the Phillies need to start their offseason strong. There are plenty of great players left in the free agent market, including some of their own.
The Phillies must take advantage of their time in Orlando by adding talent back to a 96-win team from a season ago. If the club plays its cards right over the next week, there is a chance that baseball will once again be buzzing on the streets of Philadelphia.
Despite having most of their bullpen set for next season, the Phillies will most certainly look to add a reliever this offseason. A name I could see getting picked up at the Winter Meetings is Luke Weaver.
Weaver has spent the last three seasons with the New York Yankees. In that time, he has thrown to a 3.22 earned run average in 162 innings of work. Weaver was dominant in New York’s World Series run of 2024, pitching in 12 games. He finished eight of those outings, earning four saves and holding a 1.76 ERA.
In Philly, he wouldn’t have to close but would be asked to get big outs late in games. Jhoan Duran, Jose Alvarado, Matt Strahm and Orion Kerkering are expected to be the top four options for the Phillies. Weaver would instantly become the team’s number two reliever behind Duran.
Replacing innings thrown by Jordan Romano and Joe Ross from 2025 will be what the Phillies need to improve upon in 2026.
This would be a strategic move for the President of Baseball Operations, Dave Dombrowski. He has given out many one-year deals to former closers over the past few seasons. These “prove-it” contracts have fallen flat on their face. The team needs to learn from past mistakes. Romano, Ross, Corey Knubel and Jeurys Familia all come to mind as recent trial runs.
Prediction: Weaver signs a two-year/$18 million contract.
An area of need for the Phillies this offseason is adding starting pitching depth.
In the big leagues, the club will have a combination of Zack Wheeler, Cristopher Sanchez, Jesus Luzardo, Aaron Nola, Andrew Painter and Taijuan Walker available to start ballgames.
As we saw towards the end of the 2025 season, the club needs more starting pitching depth to be called upon in a pinch. The Triple-A roster is thin on capable talent who could make a spot start. The Phillies would benefit from finding veteran talent willing to take a minor league contract with an invite to Spring Training.
A player that I believe fits that mold is former Colorado Rockies starter Germán Márquez.
Márquez has put together a 10-year career with the Rockies and at one point was labeled the team’s ace. Pitching at Coors Field will certainly affect the overall look of a pitcher’s counting stats, but a career 4.67 ERA is nothing to sneeze at.
The veteran right-hander is coming off the worst season of his career. He tossed 126.1 innings with the Rockies, finishing the season with a 6.70 earned run average. He had to get Tommy John surgery in 2023 due to right elbow inflammation. This led to a return to pitching in 2024. Upon his return, Márquez suffered another injury, a stress reaction, once again in his throwing elbow.
2025 was Márquez’s first full season since 2022, when he made 31 starts. The common opinion around baseball is that a pitcher needs a full season to return to pre-TJ surgery performance. I believe he would be an excellent candidate for the Phillies. Márquez could likely start the season in Triple-A and become a call-up option if the team suffers an injury to a starting pitcher.
Prediction: One-year minor league contract, with an invite to Spring Training.
The big move of the Winter Meetings will be for the Phillies to bring back catcher J.T. Realmuto.
The longtime Phillies catcher, in my opinion, represents the team’s biggest need in the offseason. Realmuto has locked down the starting role and caught the most innings in baseball since joining the Phillies back in 2019.
After missing time in 2024, Realmuto bounced back in 2025. He has always been an incredible athlete for his position, which should help him age better than most. While he might not be the same producer on offense, there is no doubt his ability to call a game is only going to improve. Defense in general is a speciality for the former All-Star and one that he takes tremendous pride in.
Without Realmuto, the Phillies have both Rafael Marchan and Garrett Stubbs as catching options for 2026. I do not believe that if Realmuto were to leave the Phillies, the team would fail to acquire another option behind the plate. However, there is not a better catcher available to sign at this point of the offseason. The trade market could prove to be beneficial, but not many teams are looking to trade a starting catcher.
With weak options and stiff competition to retain their catcher, I expect the Phillies to have to offer Realmuto a third year in his contract to bring him back.
Rumors of the Boston Red Sox and other clubs having interest will spike the overall cost for Realmuto’s next contract. Teams know the Phillies can afford to outbid them, but they might run up the price in the name of competition.
Prediction: Realmuto returns on a three-year/$55 million contract.
