The 2025 Major League Baseball Winter Meetings are here!
Our Philadelphia Phillies writing staff at Metro Philadelphia will be documenting the latest surrounding what is often referred to as the "unofficial start" of the baseball offseason.
On Sunday, the Winter Meetings kicked off in Orlando, Florida.
The first event of the week was the Hall of Fame Contemporary Baseball Era voting results. Annually, a select group of individuals gets a chance to vote. This year there are 16 voters, including Jim Kaat, Ozzie Smith, Robin Yount and Jayson Stark.
The goal of this committee is to give players, managers, executives, and other baseball officials a final look for the Hall of Fame. These are often players who did not get in during the standard BBWAA voting process, which typically gets announced in January. Last offseason, Dick Allen was elected to the Hall of Fame during this voting.
This year, nominees included Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Don Mattingly, Dale Murphy, Jeff Kent, Carlos Delgado, Fernando Valenzuela, and Gary Sheffield.
Only Jeff Kent was voted into the Hall of Fame.
In other news, a report was released surrounding Kyle Schwarber. According to multiple insiders, the Pittsburgh Pirates offered Schwarber a 4-year contract worth over $100 million. This announcement of sorts accomplishes two agendas.
The first agenda is to showcase that the Pirates are willing to spend this offseason. There is speculation that if the organization does not sign some major league talent this winter, the MLB Players Association will file a grievance against the organization for not trying to field a competitive squad.
Secondly, Schwarber's agent, Casey Close of Excel Sports Management, is trying to tell other teams that his client has a large market. The goal would be to get other teams to bid higher in terms of years and an overall higher salary. These are the types of games that take place during any professional sports negotiations.
Tune in throughout Monday, December 8, for more updates on the Phillies and the Winter Meetings by refreshing this page!
Harrison Bader is coming off the best offensive season of his career, and it came at a great time for the outfielder, who looks to cash in. The former Gold Glover is expected to have a decent amount of suitors, including the Phillies, who have expressed interest in wanting to bring back one of their trade deadline acquisitions after the 31-year-old slashed .305/.361/.463 with an .824 OPS in 50 games in red pinstripes.
Overall, between Philadelphia and Minnesota, he set career highs with his .277 average, .796 OPS and 17 home runs.
Some may question if the production he had last season will be sustainable, or at the very least, carry into the 2026 season. He had a .359 BABIP which was above the league average of .300.
His defense, which has been his calling card, also did not take a step back in a contract year, with +6 defensive runs saved while showing he could handle playing the corner spots, the first time he has done that since 2018.
According to Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic, Bader is expecting a three-year deal with a team and could be a solid upgrade for some teams that will be priced out of the Kyle Tucker and Cody Bellinger sweepstakes.
The San Francisco Giants are reportedly interested in Bader’s services, according to the San Francisco Chronicle’s Susan Slusser. She writes that the outfielder “piques the Giants’ interest.”
Bader certainly is accustomed to bouncing around the league, playing for six different teams in his nine-year career, but a return to Philadelphia could be a little trickier with the club wanting to give Justin Crawford a crack at winning the starting centerfield job out of Spring Training.
Bader was excellent in center field for Philadelphia, and signing him to a three-year deal would make it a complex roster situation unless the Phillies wanted to slide Bader to left field, where he played 70 games with the Twins prior to being dealt, in place of Max Kepler.
Even with Crawford in the picture, the Phillies will still be in need of a quality big league outfielder with Nick Castellanos seemingly not in the 2026 plans.
Per Dennis Lin of The Athletic, the San Diego Padres are shopping former Phillies starting pitcher Nick Pivetta.
Ranger Suarez is gathering interest from several teams. The Baltimore Orioles have been listed as the most interested team at this time. The Houston Astros and Chicago Cubs are other known suitors for Suarez.
According to Charlotte Varnes of The Athletic, the Phillies and Don Mattingly have mutual interest in a 'bench coach' role.
The 6x All-Star has enjoyed a strong coaching career, most recently spending three seasons with the Toronto Blue Jays. Before stepping away from that role last month, Mattingly helped coach the Blue Jays to a near-fairytale World Series, falling heartbreakingly short against the Dodgers.
Mattingly has an eclectic coaching background as well as a Hall of Fame playing resume. He would be an exceptional addition to the Phillies' coaching staff and after a quiet start to the Winter Meetings, it's clear that the front office is focusing on the structure internally rather than adding players...for now.
On Tuesday morning, the offer that Kyle Schwarber received from the Pirates became public knowledge. MLB.com's Mark Feinsand revealed the offer to be for four years and $120 million. The offer has not been confirmed by the Priates.
The reported $120 million would smash the Pirates' record for the highest free agent contract. Their largest free agent contract ever signed is currently Francisco Liriano's $39 million over three years from 2014.
While the Pirates still remain a long shot to acquire Schwarber's services, this reported offer would indicate it's going to take a 5-year deal to sign the slugging DH.
Kyle Schwarber also made news on Tuesday, revealing he'd again play for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic. In five games in 2023, Schwarber had three hits, including two homers. He had a .450 OBP in the tournament. So far, Schwarber is the only current or former Phillies player announced for Team USA.
As of late Tuesday morning, ten players have confirmed to be part of the roster. Joining Schwarber are outfielders Corbin Carroll, Pete Crow-Armstrong and Aaron Judge, catchers Cal Raleigh and Will Smith, and infielders Brice Turang, Bobby Witt Jr. and Gunner Henderson. Paul Skenes remains the lone pitcher on the roster for now.
UPDATE: The Phillies re-sign Kyle Schwarber to a five-year deal worth $150 million. ESPN's Jeff Pasan broke the news as the Phillies get their slugging DH back. His 187 home runs are already 12th in Phillies' history. He'll move into the top-10 with 17 homers in 2026. If he hits 46, he'd move into 6th tied with Chase Utley.
Soon after, the Phillies announced that they had extended Manager Rob Thomson through the 2027 season. Since taking over as interim manager in 2022, Thomson has led the Phillies to a .580 winning percentage. It's the highest winning percentage in Phillies history (minimum 100 games).
The hot stove kept burning as the 2024-25 World Series Champion Los Angeles Dodgers set the reliever market, signing a reported three-year $69 million contract with closer Edwin Diaz. The $23 million average annual value is a record for a reliever. Between the Seattle Mariners and the New York Mets, Diaz has 253 career saves in nine seasons. He has a 2.36 ERA since 2020.
The Phillies reportedly have offered J.T. Realmuto a deal, according to MLB.com's Todd Zolecki. The market for catchers is quite thin this offseason, so it gives Realmuto a chance to perhaps have a decently healthy market, but it would make sense that Philadelphia would like to get Realmuto back on the roster. The parameters of the proposed deal are currently not known.
Regarding the outfield, Colorado Rockies' center fielder Brenton Doyle has "widespread interest," according to Ari Alexander of 7News in Boston.
Alexander reported that the Phillies, Padres, Mets and Yankees, among other teams, have interest in the 27-year-old.
Doyle had an up-and-down season in 2025, getting off to a slow start dealing with a quad injury before going on the bereavement list after he and his wife lost their expected child in April. Doyle finished the year slashing .235/.276/.378 with a .655 OPS in 138 games.
However, he flipped a switch in the second half, slashing. 287/.312/.467 with a .779 OPS in 56 games, which aligns more to what he did in 2024 when he came onto the scene for the Rockies.
He also hit left-handed pitching well, posting an .839 OPS across 124 at-bats last season.
Doyle is a plus-defender in center field as well, winning a Gold Glove in each of the last two seasons.
A day after seeing their All-Star closer Edwin Diaz ink a deal with the two-time defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers, the Mets saw another key piece of their team sign a contract elsewhere. Slugging first baseman Pete Alonso signed with the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday, agreeing to a five-year, $155 million contract, per ESPN’s Jeff Passan.
The deal gives Alonso, who bashed 38 homes and drove in 126 runs, the highest AAV ever for a first baseman. He joins a loaded AL East and an Orioles lineup that already added slugging outfielder Taylor Ward this offseason to go along with a talented nucleus including Gunnar Henderson, Jackson Holliday, Jordan Westburg, and one of the game’s top prospects in catcher Samuel Basallo.
Throughout the course of the Rule 5 Draft, the Phillies saw a few players leave their organization.
Former top prospect Griff McGarry was selected with the third overall pick by the Washington Nationals. McGarry never made the big leagues with the Phillies during his tenure with the organization. By rule, he has to spend the entire season in the big leagues with the Nationals next season. If not, he will be returned to the Phillies.
The club also lost Carson Taylor, a first baseman who missed the majority of 2025 with injuies. Taylor was with the Reading Fightin' Phils and will now be a member of the Seattle Mariners.
On the flip side, the organization is taking a chance on several players. In the first round, the team selected Zach McCambley from the Miami Marlins. McCambley is a right-handed relief pitcher who had a strong season across both Double and Triple-A. He will be in Spring Training as the Phillies break camp.
In the minor league portion, the Phillies made additional selections. The team took Detroit Tigers outfielder Austin Murr and San Francisco Giants right-handed pitcher Evan Gates. Both players will be minor leaguers at the start of this upcoming season, but could earn an additional look during Spring Training.
