Giants-Phillies Series Preview: Elite Expectations
Jul 7, 2025; San Francisco, California, USA; San Francisco Giants shortstop Willy Adames (2) and Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Bryce Harper (3) embrace at the end of the first inning at Oracle Park. Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-Imagn Images | Ed Szczepanski-Imagn Images It seems like it’s been three consecutive years now where the Phillies’ season has ended in disappointment and the prevailing feeling in the moment is that the team needs to shake up some of its roster to be successful going forward. The team has sort of stubbornly refused to do that year in and year out, but this offseason seems to have finally shaken things up for this team that’s very clearly at the tail end of a contention window.
Do these Phillies have what it takes to be competitive in a tough NL East and compete for the World Series? They finally cut ties with Nick Castellanos, eating the $20 million owed to him this season. They made a bid for Bo Bichette before he signed with the Mets.
Their only other major moves were re-signing Kyle Schwarber (5 years, $150 million), J. T. Realmuto (3 years, $45 million), Adolis Garcia (1 year, $10 million) and relievers Brad Keller (2/$22 million) and Zach Pop.
The Bichette move would’ve been a big enough shakeup, but without him, it feels like tinkering. That might be okay, as the Phillies still do have a talented core. Maybe not as talented as previous years, but one that’s good enough to contend.
In October, team president Dave Dombrowski remarked , He’s still a quality player. He’s still an All-Star caliber player. He didn’t have an elite season like he has had in the past.
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