Will the Phillies trade Bryce Harper this offseason? It’s very unlikely. Harper, one of only two well above average hitters for the Phillies in 2026, has a full no-trade clause. He goes only if he wants to go. Harper had repeatedly said that

But if the Phillies are seeking real change this offseason, every potential move has to be on the table.

Should the Phillies keep Harper heading into year nine of his 13-year contract or should Dave Dombrowski make a seismic trade and move on from “The Showman?”

Here’s part two of Phillies Nation’s Stay or Go series. Vote in our poll below the article.

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• Luis Arraez

Destiny Lugardo — Site Director: Stay

Flipping Harper for multiple lineup pieces would represent dramatic change, but Harper has a full-no trade clause and is committed to Philly for the next five years. If he leaves, it’s because he wants to go elsewhere. I’m not a mind reader, but I don’t think Harper is quite there yet. It could happen eventually, but not now.

Ty Daubert — Editorial Director: Stay

According to OPS+, the Phillies had two regulars who produced at an above-average offensive clip in 2026: Kyle Schwarber (128) and Harper (131). Philadelphia needs more capable, effective hitters, and Harper was its best this season. The team could probably use some shaking up after another early exit, but moving on from Harper would only make the underwhelming lineup harder to bulk up. If anything, his productive 162-game, 107-walk year should give the Phillies a bit of additional confidence in his abilities as he heads into his age-34 season.

Bailey Digh — Staff Writer: Stay

The Phillies are going to try to win in 2027. Harper will help with that. He remains one of baseball’s best hitters. He was one of the few things that did not go wrong for the Phillies this year. There’s so much to do this offseason for this club, and there’s going to be a lockout. This offseason isn’t one to make a major move like trading Harper, an idea that only gets thrown out there from people who don’t work for the Phillies.

Nathan Ackerman — Staff Writer: Stay

The Phillies this offseason are going to need to make changes, while resisting the idea of making changes for the sake of making changes if they can’t execute the right changes. Any attempt to move Harper would qualify as that. A team whose offense is arguably its weakest unit – that’s saying something, given the bullpen, which should be much easier to remake – should not try to jettison the player who posted their highest regular-season OPS while playing in all 162 games, before producing in the short postseason. And as bad as the on-field impact would be, the organizational optics would perhaps be just as bad.

PHILADELPHIA — As Tom Burgoyne prepared to take on what might be the most ridiculous job in America, his predecessor decided to mess with him.

Dave Raymond, the original performer inside the Phillie Phanatic costume, is left-handed. So as Burgoyne, his backup for five years, took some pointers, Raymond told the righty that their boss, the late Bill Giles, had a request: The Phanatic needed to stay a lefty.

For two weeks, Burgoyne used his off hand. He struggled to reach the crowd on throws from his ATV. Finally, Raymond let him know that he made it all up.

“There has to be a little hazing,” Raymond joked.

Raymond and Burgoyne share a special bond as the only two people in the world to have served as the Phillie Phanatic on a full-time basis. Raymond, who had previously worked in the Phillies’ mail room, was the Phanatic from his debut in 1978 through the 1993 season. Burgoyne became the No. 1 the next year and is still going strong. Their connection began when Burgoyne came aboard, and it continues to this day.

“The friendship that we have is really powerful,” Raymond said.

In a new documentary about the Phillie Phanatic, Raymond and Burgoyne each share their story of how they became the mascot. “Big Phan,” directed by Hoag Kepner, explores the history of the Phanatic, why and how he’s emerged as an icon in sports and pop culture and how Raymond and Burgoyne have perfected his character.

The movie debuted on Saturday afternoon at the 35th Philadelphia Film Festival. It currently has one additional showing scheduled for next Sunday, Oct. 25, at the Philadelphia Film Society’s East theater. After that, Kepner will look to get “Big Phan” on a streaming platform. He said he wanted to allow the project to get some “heat going” with the premiere, and he’ll “shoot for the top” in terms of streaming.

The film shows the way that Raymond turned the Phanatic into an idea and a bunch of green feathers into a phenomenon. By taking inspiration from the Three Stooges and Warner Brothers cartoons, the Phanatic was a hit, which was almost a happy accident for the Phillies. Then, Burgoyne, who was a 13-year-old fan when the Phillie Phanatic first landed on the field, carried the torch.

“It was in me already, in terms of the imitation part,” Burgoyne said. “So that’s what we try to do. Imitation, I always think it’s just: Let’s keep that personality and that character the same, the character and the personality that everybody fell in love with for the first 16 years.”

At the same time, each performer has had his own spin on the Phanatic. Of course, there are the staples. Since the beginning, he’s danced, dumped popcorn and created havoc. But Raymond and Burgoyne have each applied their own touches to the mascot.

“Dave was really kind of like Daffy Duck frenetic, more like insanity,” Kepner said. “Tom’s Phanatic brand of humor is a little quieter, but that’s not to say that it’s less. It’s kind of subtler.”

Raymond was building a new persona without a blueprint. Especially in the beginning, he’d try anything to see if it would draw a laugh. After all, Giles had told him to have fun with it — as long as it was G-rated. Raymond kept it family-friendly while still pushing the envelope. He’d needle opposing players and smooch grown men who were trying not to smile in the crowd. When Burgoyne took over, he had to follow those guidelines. Still, he’s helped the Phillie Phanatic evolve over the course of time.

In reviewing all the tapes collected for the movie, Kepner identified some slight differences in how the two played the Phanatic. Raymond drew in the entire crowd with big moves and gaudy gimmicks. Burgoyne is adept at that style of showmanship as well, but some of it might be subdued in the modern age. For example, the current-day Phanatic is not getting into physical altercations with the manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers like he did in the ’80s.

What Kepner noticed about Burgoyne’s portrayal — and he’s sure that Raymond also had these moments — was that he’s fully committed to even the smallest gag. Burgoyne will nail a bit of physical comedy, even if it could only be seen by one section of fans during a spring-training game.

“The thing I learned throughout making the film,” Kepner said, “was that at first you think, ‘Oh, it’s been very consistent.’ And it has, from Dave to Tom, that in the broad strokes they have been very consistent. The hits: They do the belly thing, they do the whammy, the popcorn and stuff. But if you look closely at the footage, they had different styles.”

But in the grand picture, what has allowed the Phanatic to emerge as a beloved figure and retain his status is that he’s had the same mannerisms, the same energy and the same unpredictability for decades. His essence has remained intact. Since hanging up the gigantic green sneakers, Raymond will find himself watching a Phillies game and taking a look over at the mascot. He’ll think to himself about what he’d have done in that situation. Then, just about every time, Burgoyne’s Phanatic will do that very thing.

“It’s really hard to do that,” Raymond said, “and to do it as well and to keep the character the way it has always been.”

The Phillies in 2026 finished 15th in MLB with 105 stolen bases. They did not steal a base during the three-game wild card series against the Atlanta Braves.

The full-season numbers do not tell the entire story. The Phillies in the first half were a top-ten team in stolen bases with 74. After the All-Star break, the Phillies had the fourth-lowest stolen base total in the league at 31.

In what was a nightmare September for the ballclub, the team finished with only nine stolen bases. It was the first time since September 2021 the Phillies finished in the single digits in stolen bases in a full calendar month.

Getting the run game right will be part of Don Mattingly’s agenda in his first full season as manager.

“I think baserunning, just doing more of the little things,” Mattingly said. Mattingly also said he wants to improve on defense and lean on their biggest strength, which is starting pitching.

“I want a club that plays faster,” Mattingly said. “I think we have speed that we don’t use. I feel like we play a little cautious.”

Speed isn’t the only determining factor in how effective a team’s run game could be, but according to Statcast, the Phillies as a team had the fifth-fastest average sprint speed in 2026. Since Trea Turner’s arrival in 2023, the Phillies have been a top-five team in average sprint speed in every season.

Turner, Bryson Stott, Justin Crawford and Brandon Marsh all finished the season with double-digit stolen bases. Turner and Crawford are two of the fastest runners in baseball. Stott was perfect in stolen base attempts this year.

Mattingly wouldn’t mind seeing Stott take a few more risks.

“(I’d) like Stotter to be more, you know, I know he doesn’t get thrown out, but if he gets thrown out three or four times, but he steals an extra ten bags, then I would like that,” Mattingly said.

Out of Stott, Turner and Crawford, the big three threats on the bases, Stott, who stole 10 bases after the All-Star break, is the only one with double-digit stolen bases in the second half of the season. In fact, Stott accounted for nearly a third of the Phillies’ stolen bases in the second half.

The run game was almost nonexistent by the end of the year because Turner and Crawford stopped running. Both players improved at getting on-base as the year went on, but it did not necessarily translate into more stolen bases.

From July 19 to Aug. 28, Turner did not have a stolen base. The 34-game stretch without a stolen base was by far the longest of his career. His one stolen base “attempt” came on a rainy Sunday in Baltimore on Aug. 2, when Turner went on first move and was picked off on a 3-2 count.

Before the break, Turner dealt with some hamstring tightness. Mattingly cautioned Turner to take it easy on the bases. Turner at the time insisted that he was OK, and the Phillies did not use injuries as an explanation for why Turner had a down year in all facets of the game.

Crawford had only one (unsuccessful) stolen base attempt from Aug. 8 to Sept. 25. It’s unclear if Crawford was dealing with an underlying injury.

In general, the Phillies need Crawford to lean into his strengths. They need him to focus on getting on-base, bunting runners over and using his speed to turn ground outs into infield hits. And, of course, stealing bases.

“I think the biggest thing about Justin is where does it go from here?” Mattingly said. “He needs to be a guy that causes havoc, right? Where he’s a 30-40 stolen-base guy. To do that, you’ve gotta get on-base. He strikes out maybe a little more than he should, doesn’t walk as much as he should, so he has to control the strike zone better.”

There is some risk to stealing more. Under Rob Thomson, good health was always emphasized. More running could lead to more wear and tear. It’s why the best base stealers don’t always run every chance they get.

But under Thomson, the Phillies at times were better at picking their spot. In 2023, they were at the forefront of a league-wide trend of stealing second base without a throw when there is a runner at third. Teams slowly started to combat this by throwing down to second, since it was rare for the runner at third to take off for home.

When asked how the offense can improve, it was quite telling to hear Mattingly talk about getting more out of the run game.

“I think part of that is the offensive side,” Mattingly said. “It creates an identity of what we can be in different areas. So do we need to score in different ways? Does it just have to be Harp and Schwarb hitting the homer or driving in runs? I think we can do it a lot of different ways.

“It’s nice when you get the homer and drive in runs like that, but I feel like, you know, to be sustainable throughout the course of the year and into the playoffs, you’ve got to be able to find different ways to score.”

PHILADELPHIA — With a veteran core that is not getting any younger, Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski wants some key players to get some additional rest in 2027. Slugger Kyle Schwarber will play about 30 games at first base to allow Bryce Harper, set to return to the infield, some additional opportunities at designated hitter. Harper is still willing to head to the outfield once in a while if it helps another regular get off his feet.

And in a recent phone call with veteran catcher J.T. Realmuto, Dombrowski informed the 35-year-old that the team believes some additional days off could benefit his production.

“I said [to Realmuto], ‘I don’t know if I can accomplish this,'” Dombrowski said Thursday at Citizens Bank Park, “‘but I don’t want you to hear about it from the press conference: that my my goal is to try to reduce the number of games you catch.”

A three-time All-Star and former Gold Glove and Silver Slugger recipient, Realmuto turned in a career-worst campaign in the first season of a three-year, $45 million contract. At one point last winter, it appeared that he would not be returning to Philadelphia. But after the club missed out on infielder Bo Bichette in free agency, the Phillies pivoted back to Realmuto.

The backstop continued to be a trusted presence behind the plate and had elite accuracy in the first year of the ABS challenge system. His 81% success rate on 86 defensive challenges was the best clip of any catcher with more than 12 challenges. He seemed more aggressive with his challenges down the stretch, which should probably continue into the future; despite his proficiency, he ranked 26th among catchers in total challenges.

In the batter’s box, Realmuto cratered. After hitting .257 with a .700 OPS in 2025, a down season for his prime standards, he batted .205 with 11 home runs and a .614 OPS. Dombrowski said Realmuto was the first to admit that he needs to hit better in 2027.

“He said,” Dombrowski recalled, “‘first of all, I have to get better offensively this year. I think I should do that.’ But he said, ‘I did not have a good offensive year.'”

Perhaps more time off the field could make Realmuto more effective when he’s on it. Realmuto caught 124 games this season, only 11 fewer than the year prior. (He spent 10 days on the injured list with back spasms.) The idea of reducing his workload has been discussed before, although not really implemented in any significant way. In past years, members of the organization would say, jokingly, that it would be tough to convince Realmuto to sit more often. Dombrowski said that the catcher seemed to have a different perspective now.

“Surprisingly,” Dombrowski said, “he said, ‘Physically, I feel as good as I’ve ever felt.’ He said, ‘Mentally, with all the added responsibilities, I feel more mentally drained.’ So he said, ‘I understand. I welcome that. I can appreciate a few more days off.'”

That sounds like a great plan, but the team will also need to consider the alternatives. For much of the 2026 season, including in the Wild Card Series, the Phillies carried three catchers, with Garrett Stubbs and Rafael Marchán behind Realmuto. They were both capable defenders. Stubbs worked well with Aaron Nola in the second half and even provided some extra utility as a pinch-runner and an option at other spots around the diamond. Marchán “grades out as being one of the best (receivers) in baseball,” Dombrowski said.

But neither one hit in their limited at-bats. Stubbs batted .153 with a .368 OPS in 65 plate appearances; Marchán hit .099 with a .302 OPS in 95 plate appearances. So if the Phillies want to keep Realmuto out of the lineup on some extra days, they’ll need an alternative that can do much more than that offensively.

“We didn’t get enough offensive contributions in that spot,” Dombrowski said, “and that’s something I need to look at.”

Stubbs was a productive backup in 2022, but he’s batted just .196 since then. While Marchán has had a few flashes, he hasn’t really hit in the big leagues overall and has had injury issues. The Phillies would likely be better off finding an external candidate.

That isn’t always too easy. When it comes to reserve catchers, there is typically a trade-off. An offensive upgrade might be worse on defense. A specialist in the gear probably won’t possess the mightiest bat. Dombrowski will be tasked with trying to find the right balance.

“A lot of times,” Dombrowski said, “if you’re talking about having somebody who can hit and be a good defensive person, they’re probably an everyday catcher somewhere, because they’re not that easy to find. But could it be one of (Stubbs or Marchán)? Perhaps. But I also would look to see what other opportunities may be out there.”

Regardless of who is named the No. 2, getting Realmuto on track will be the main priority. According to Dombrowski, he’s motivated to put together an improved offensive season. Realmuto wants to show he can hit enough to get back in the mix for a few reps at first base when he’s not catching; he hasn’t started a game there since 2021. If he can get himself to a scenario where the Phillies want to prioritize keeping his bat in the lineup while keeping him away from foul tips and errant pitches, that would be a huge win for both sides.

“He said, ‘That’s up to me to show you that I deserve to do it,'” Dombrowski said.

A new movie about the Phillie Phanatic, one of the most iconic mascots in all of sports, is set to debut at the Philadelphia Film Festival this weekend.

“Big Phan,” billed as a “biopic capturing the magic and mayhem of a baseball legend,” will be shown for the first time on Saturday afternoon at 12:15 p.m. at the Philadelphia Film Society’s theater in Center City. The 95-minute documentary will play again next Sunday, Oct. 25, at 12:30 p.m. at Film Society East in Old City. Information about the film and tickets can be found here.

Director Hoag Kepner covers the Phanatic’s rise from the Phillies’ mascot into a beloved local figure and a nationally recognized character. The film relies on David Raymond, the original Phanatic and the founder of the Mascot Hall of Fame, and Tom Burgoyne, the mascot’s current performer — or the Phanatic’s best friend, as he’d introduce himself — along with “archival footage” to tell the story.

Kepner’s film also includes appearances from Jason and Kylie Kelce, actor Rob McElhenney, rapper Lil Dicky, Flyers mascot Gritty and a number of Phillies players.

The Philadelphia Film Festival began on Thursday and will run until Sunday, Oct. 25. The annual event is in its 35th year.

PHILADELPHIA — Phillies ace Zack Wheeler has stated that he’ll retire at the end of his current contract. He’s stated that his status for 2028 and beyond “is still up in the air.”

So as the Phillies prepare for his final year under contract, do they also have to operate as if 2027 will be his final as an active player? According to president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski, that’s a tough question to answer right now.

The 36-year-old Wheeler signed a three-year extension in 2024 that will keep him in a Phillies uniform through next season. After that, it’s uncertain. Wheeler told The Athletic in 2025 that he was set to retire at the end of 2027. But this year, he seemed to approach the subject with less certainty. During spring training, Wheeler did an interview with SportsRadio 94WIP and said he would “never want to say never.” He echoed a similar tune to USA Today in July.

But as of Philadelphia’s end-of-season press conference on Thursday morning at Citizens Bank Park, the Phillies had not gotten much more of an indication about how Wheeler currently feels about the future of his career.

“When I talked to Zack about his contract — it has not been recently — it was the last time that we did,” Dombrowski said, “and he had expressed that at that time that he thought ’27 would be very much be his last year. We haven’t discussed it since then.”

After undergoing surgery to correct thoracic outlet syndrome last August, Wheeler had an impressive return to the mound this season. He was activated from the injured list in mid-April and had 3.00 ERA in 30 starts, striking out 193 batters in 162 innings. He had an excellent campaign despite the hurdles he faced.

The Phillies rely heavily on their starting rotation, and Wheeler is obviously one of the key cogs. He’s been one of the best pitchers in the big leagues since originally signing with the club before the 2020 season, a three-time All-Star with two runner-up finishes for the National League Cy Young Award. Even though he’s approaching his late 30s, losing Wheeler — whether that’s to retirement or in free agency — anytime soon would be incredibly tough for Philadelphia.

“He came back from the injury, and he did a very good job,” Dombrowski said. “He’s still a tremendous pitcher, but we haven’t had any further conversations on that at all at this point, and I guess we’ll just wait.”

After the Phillies’ Wild Card Series loss in Atlanta, Wheeler was asked what he would say if the team approached him about another contract extension before next year; he said he wasn’t sure, as he hadn’t thought about it. There could be multiple factors at play, such as the impending lockout or how he feels next season. But ultimately, Wheeler will eventually make a decision, and the Phillies will figure out how to move forward, whether that’s with him or without him.

They just aren’t sure which one that’ll be at this moment.

“That’s really more his decision, in the sense that we all know that he’s still a premium pitcher,” Dombrowski said. “Does he want to keep doing it? I can’t answer that yet.”

— Destiny Lugardo contributed to this report.

PHILADELPHIA — The Phillies had two openings on their coaching staff with the firings of hitting coach Kevin Long and infield coach Bobby Dickerson. One of them has already been filled.

Former Mets manager and Yankees bench coach Carlos Mendoza was hired as the new infield and third-base coach under manager Don Mattingly, whose interim tag was removed as he signed a two-year deal to take on the job on a full-time basis. Former IronPigs manager Anthony Contreras will remain on the staff after serving as the third-base coach following the firing of Rob Thomson in April, but his role and title have not yet been determined.

“I knew Carlos just a little bit from him managing the Mets,” Mattingly said Thursday via Zoom. “Always had big respect and heard a lot of good things. You never hear really a bad word about Carlos. Talking to him, his excitement about the infield and defense was what kind of made me feel good about that side of it and his experience.”

Mattingly, who agreed to his contract with the Phillies on Saturday, said he was “not the driving force” behind the selection of Mendoza. Instead, president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski and his front office identified Mendoza and did “their homework” on him. After further conversations, Mattingly also felt that he’d be a fit.

“He’s been in this division that we’re in,” Mattingly said. “He knows it well. He knows our players. While in New York — in both New Yorks — he’s dealt with the big-time player. He’s dealt with the superstars and guys that are at the top of the league and the top of the game. So he knows how to communicate with those guys, so that was probably as much a driving force in his excitement about being in Philly.”

Mendoza will have an important task in working with a star player in Trea Turner, who regressed defensively at shortstop in 2026 in addition to his woes at the plate. Dombrowski said Thursday that it is “mandatory” that Turner shows improvement in the field, or he could be moved off the shortstop position. Prospects Aidan Miller and Bryan Rincon could be alternatives in the event that Turner continues to play poorly at shortstop.

A hitting coach to help guide the offense — which ranked 19th in runs and only had two above-average regulars (Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber), according to OPS+ — will still need to be hired. He will be tasked with bringing in new philosophies and improving the team’s decisions and approach. The Phillies showed they can be patient and work better plate appearances in August. It did not last into September.

Dombrowski said that the team will be seeking a hitting coach who can take advantage of the modern tools at hand. Assistant general manager Luke Murton, in charge of the organization minor-league hitting department, is not a candidate for the job, Dombrowski noted.

“Of course, they have to be knowledgeable,” Dombrowski said. “They have to be able to communicate with our players. They have to be able to communicate with the veteran players, but also the young players. We’d like them to use a lot of the contemporary analytical information that we have and provide to them, use the tools that we have available to them. Now, when they do that, there’s also a hitting coach and there’s an assistant hitting coach and we even have three hitting coaches. So you can sometimes work all those guys together in different ways. But I do think it’s imperative that a lot of the contemporary methods that are available to us that we use.”

Long had been Philadelphia’s hitting coach since 2022; he was popular with the team’s core players and was credited with helping Schwarber evolve into a premier slugger. Dickerson had a stop with the Phillies in 2019 and returned in 2022. He was another respected veteran coach. But the Phillies took steps back offensively and in the field. With Mattingly again in the manager’s seat, the club decided to shake those other spots up.

“In conjunction with Don, we talked about it,” Dombrowski said. “We felt those were two moves that he recommended, and so we discussed it thoroughly.”

Following Mendoza’s hire, the hitting coach will be the next position to have a fresh voice.

The Phillies are open to keeping Trea Turner at shortstop next season, but improvement is “mandatory” for Turner to remain at the position.

Dave Dombrowski, in an hour-long news conference with reporters, spoke candidly about Turner’s disappointing 2026 season. The Phillies are confident that he can bounce back offensively, but the club is much more open to a position change this year than they have been in years past.

Dombrowski did not rule out acquiring a shortstop this offseason, or calling up a prospect to fill the position at some point this season.

He spoke about his conversations with Turner so far this offseason. Turner flew back to Philadelphia to meet with Dombrowski at Citizens Bank Park. Here’s Dombrowski’s full answer when asked if he has an issue at shortstop and how to fix it:

“Well, and I know there’s been a lot said on why, you know, it’s been two weeks, I guess, since (the end of) this season,” Dombrowski said. “There was a lot of things to accomplish, for me, before I got to this point, to talk to some players face to face about next year. Of course, we had the managerial situation to settle.

“One of the people I talked to – he flew back into town – was Trea Turner. And so we visited, Tuesday, I think it was, for a couple hours downstairs. I’d hoped to catch him before he left, but everything else going on, he wanted to get back down to Florida, so he flew back. We visited for a good couple hours, talked about it, and appreciated that he came back.

“And it’s a situation where Trea takes — does not think he had a good season, offensively or defensively, takes a complete accountability on that and is already working on his swing. And I told him, kind of, ‘Slow down. You don’t have to do it that quickly. Make sure you get with some people.’ And a guy like Don Mattingly is a good person to get with. And they’ve already talked a little bit and will continue to do so. I think Trea – Trea still has his fast twitch muscles. He did not have a good year, but I think he can bounce back from an offensive perspective. He needs to fix some things with his swing.

“From a defensive perspective, we are very clear: He knows he has to be better at shortstop. And I told him that’s, really, mandatory, that he’s like that. He feels he can play. And if he plays shortstop like he did in ‘25, he can play shortstop. But if he plays it like he did in ‘26, he can’t. And he totally understands that. We’ve already given him some information ourselves that we think can be helpful. Of course, (new infield coach) Carlos Mendoza will be responsible for working with him.

“I said, ‘OK, let’s go through the different scenarios. If you’re not playing well at shortstop in spring training, things don’t work in that regard. Now again, we do have a couple young players (Aidan Miller and Bryan Rincon) coming. Will they both be ready? I do not know that. I don’t know what other additions we may make this winter time. But we need to leave it at that – and he’s very willing to do – if he doesn’t play shortstop, to do what is best for the Philadelphia Phillies organization. So that’s how we left it with him, and he is determined to show us that he can play it.

“And I said it, ‘You have to show it. You cannot play shortstop like you did defensively in ‘26 going into ‘27.’”

As a follow-up, Dombrowski was asked to confirm that there is no immediate plan to move Turner off of shortstop, if he is willing and able to play the outfield and if he can make the switch on the fly.

“Well, he’s played there (the outfield) before,” Dombrowski said. “He prefers the infield, I would say, (over) other positions. So I do think it’s something that he’s a good athlete. I think he can adjust appropriately, but we’ll wait and we’ll see what happens.”

On the offensive side of things, Dombrowski was asked about Turner’s spot in the lineup and if he’ll return to one of the top two spots.

“Well that’s more of a Don Mattingly question, if he hits one or two because Don makes the lineup. If Trea hits the way he is capable of hitting, he can hit at the top of the order. If he hits the way he did this year, he probably won’t hit at the top of the order on a regular basis.

“I do think Trea – I mean this is really the first bad year that Trea has had. And the other thing is, I mean, the things that are good about him, in a sense that from an aging perspective, he still runs basically as fast as he ever has and still has some quick twitch muscles. He’s very smart, he’s an extremely hard worker.

“So I think it’s up to us to get with him to try to make him that top of the order guy. And he’s prepared to work to do so. But he has to be able to do that.”

If the Phillies plan on going into this season with Turner’s position unsettled, how does the team avoid having his position be the topic of conversation on a daily basis? If Turner looks bad out of the gate, there will be pressure on Mattingly to move him off the position. There is also even more pressure on Turner to play better in order to keep his spot.

“I think first of all, you can’t plan for all the …I think in Trea’s case, he’ll work hard, be open minded and we’ll just have to make a wise decision in that regard, depending on what position he plays. I can’t control the daily banter about what takes place. He’s not the first player I’ve ever been around that has surrounded that. He’s a smart guy. He knows he needs to get better. And I think he’ll deal with it.

“But he’s got a long time to be here. But I think he still has as a … The reason we signed him in the beginning compared to some others, not only was he a good player, but we thought that he had the ability to continue to be a good player for a longer time period. Because of his quick twitch muscles, the type of athlete he is, what he possesses. I mean, he led the league in hitting last year, so I was surprised myself on the offensive year that he had, and that we weren’t able to get out of it, as he was.

“So it’s up to us to try to fix all of those type of things.”

In a separate news conference over Zoom, Mattingly was asked to evaluate Turner’s season and how to get him back on track.

“Dave kind of filled me in, at least kind of the cliff notes, on the conversation. It sounded like that conversation went for a while. Gave me the cliff notes of Trea’s interest, really wants to stay on short, realizes that he needs to get better. And I’ll say in general, his season, probably, he’s really disappointed in it.

“Offensively, it really wasn’t consistent. Defensively, it wasn’t consistent. I’m sure he’s disappointed. I haven’t had a chance to talk to Trea in terms of all that. But through the conversation with Dave, it sounds like he’s taking accountability that he has to get better. And I think that’s a good general theme for us is that we have to get better. Because, I mean, again, I listened to the press conference with Dave.

“Just the guys that we have, they’re not going anywhere. And how do we get everybody to be better that we know is going to be there? How do we make them as good as they can possibly be, put them in the best possible position? Trea, Harp, Schwarb, all of them, J.T.: How do we get the most out of them?”

In the middle of an answer regarding the entire lineup in relation to the uncertainty of the collective bargaining agreement, Dombrowski succinctly summed up the essence of the Turner dilemma with a question: “How do we cover up the Trea Turner situation?”

PHILADELPHIA — During a one-hour, two-minute end-of-season press conference that covered a number of different topics regarding the state of the franchise, Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski announced the club’s first roster move of the offseason.

Left-hander Tim Mayza has agreed to terms on a contract to return to Philadelphia for the 2027 season, Dombrowski said Thursday morning at Citizens Bank Park. The reliever will sign a major-league deal.

Mayza, a local product who played college baseball at Division II Millersville, joined the Phillies as a waiver claim late in the 2025 season, then re-signed with the organization on a minor-league contract this past winter. He broke camp with the big-league team and emerged as a dependable lefty in the bullpen, a go-to option to get out of early jams, face left-handed pockets or even open bullpen games. The 34-year-old had a 3.48 ERA in 60 appearances.

Bringing back Mayza was the first step of trying to revamp a bullpen that ranked 22nd in ERA (4.38) and struggled to hold leads before closer Jhoan Duran. Dombrowski said the club has confidence in right-handers Alex McFarlane, who showed a lot of promise as a rookie, Jonathan Bowlan, who was a top setup man for much of the season before he was plagued with ineffectiveness and injury down the stretch, and Caleb Kilian, who was acquired at the trade deadline but hurt his oblique shortly after.

Dombrowski also noted that Orion Kerkering has the stuff and ability to bounce back after a late-season demotion, although he did not guarantee it. “I think he can,” Dombrowski said, “but we’ll have to wait and see on that in that regard.”

The Phillies will probably still need to add at least one left-handed reliever. Tanner Banks remains under contract, but he was not remotely as reliable in 2026 as he was the year prior. Brooks Raley did not pan out as a rental addition at the deadline. José Alvarado will be a free agent after a lackluster season.

The front office’s work on the bullpen has already started.

“We do have a good foundation with the closer that we have,” Dombrowski said. “We need some improvement from the left-handed side, hopefully, although we’re very happy to have Tim Mayza back.”

Don Mattingly is back, but there will be at least two changes to his coaching staff.

The Phillies will not bring back hitting coach Kevin Long and infield coach Bobby Dickerson, NBC Sports Philadelphia Jim Salisbury reports.

Long, who has two years remaining on his existing deal with the team, was hired as Phillies hitting coach prior to the 2022 season. In his last year with the Nationals, Long helped turn around Kyle Schwarber’s career. The two reunited in Philly a year later and under Long’s tutelage, Schwarber became one of the best power hitters in baseball. Schwarber, as Salisbury noted in his story, pushed the Phillies to retain Long after the 2025 season when he was a free agent.

The Phillies have had a lot of success under Long, but for the last few postseasons, the bats have gone cold at the wrong time. And after this year’s drastic regular-season decline, Long had to pay the price.

The Phillies lineup had a top ten OPS in each of Long’s first four seasons with the team. This year, however, the lineup finished 22nd in baseball with a .707 OPS.

Long should receive interest from around the league. Long helped all four of his teams reach the World Series. He was a 2009 World Series champion with the Yankees and 2019 World Series champion with the Nationals.

Dickerson first joined the Phillies as infield coach in 2019, but left after the season to become the San Diego Padres bench coach. After two years in San Diego, Dickerson returned to the Phillies in the same role.

In his second stint with the club, Dickerson oversaw Alec Bohm’s dramatic improvement at third base, Trea Turner’s big year at shortstop that led to MVP votes in 2025 and Bryce Harper’s smooth transition from the outfield to first base. Bryson Stott also developed into an above average defender at multiple positions around the diamond.

But the Phillies were one of the worst teams in baseball this year in both offense and infield defense. As a result, change is coming.

It’s the first time the Phillies parted ways with coaches on a manager’s staff since 2023. Assistant hitting coach Jason Camilli and bullpen coach Dave Lundquist were fired after the 2023 season.

Teams have been trying, albeit unsuccessfully, to get former Phillies outfielder Raúl Ibañez to manage for years.

The Phillies, per a report from USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, recently spoke with Ibañez about becoming the team’s manager. The Phillies, per Nightengale, had strong interest in the 19-year big league veteran.

But Ibañez will stay in Los Angeles as the Dodgers vice president of baseball development and special projects. The Phillies on Wednesday announced the return of Don Mattingly as manager on a two-year contract that runs through 2028.

Ibañez was not the only outside candidate the Phillies spoke with. Nightengale noted that the Phillies reached out to “several managerial candidates” after the end of the season. That explains why it took the Phillies nearly two weeks to announce Mattingly’s return and schedule a press conference.

Ibañez, who played for the Phillies from 2009 to 2011, is highly regarded around the sport and has interviewed for managerial openings in the past. He was named as a finalist for the Tampa Bay Rays opening in 2014, but withdrew his name from consideration. The job went to Kevin Cash, who is now the longest-tenured manager in MLB.

Ibañez was an extremely popular player during his short tenure in Philadelphia. He signed a three-year deal worth over $30 million in December 2008 and hit 70 home runs in three seasons with the Phillies. Ibañez was an All-Star in 2009, but had the worst season of his career in the final year of the deal in 2011.

Ibañez was hired as a special assistant in the Dodgers front office in 2016. From 2021 to 2024, Ibañez worked for MLB in the commissioner’s office as the league implemented the pitch clock and tested out the automated ball-strike system in the minor leagues. He returned to the Dodgers front office in 2024.

The Phillies will officially re-introduce Mattingly as manager in a Zoom press conference on Thursday, Oct. 15 at 11:30 a.m. ET.

“Donnie Baseball” will be back with the Phillies next year as manager. The club on Wednesday announced a two-year contract for Mattingly that runs through the 2028 season.

Mattingly and president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski will address the media separately on Thursday.

Mattingly, 65, was named interim manager on April 28 after a 9-19 start led to the firing of Rob Thomson. Mattingly led the club to an 88-74 record and a fifth-consecutive playoff berth for the franchise. The Phillies lost to the Atlanta Braves in three games in the wild card round.

It was widely speculated that Dombrowski would make another run at his former manager in Boston Alex Cora, who turned down the chance to manage the Phillies in April after his dismissal from the Red Sox. Dombrowski reportedly reached out to Cora to gauge his interest in managing in 2027, but Cora will spend the summer at home.

Despite being out of job, Cora will still be one of the highest paid managers in 2027. The Red Sox owe him over $7 million on the extension he signed in 2024. Since he is not permitted to collect a full salary from two different teams, it makes sense for Cora to sit out another year and get back into managing when his contract with the Red Sox is up after the 2027 season.

Needing to add more major league playing experience to complement the existing coaching staff, the Phillies officially brought in Mattingly in January to serve as Thomson’s bench coach. Players expressed support for Mattingly at the end of the season.

“We love Don,” Aaron Nola said. “We played good, good manager. We know what type of player he used to be, and he knows the game really well. It’s not my call, but Don was great.”

“I like him a lot,” Trea Turner said. “I just felt like he was just calm and easy to talk to. You can talk to him about anything hitting. He just seemed like a cool guy that wanted to be here. If he needed to let you know something was wrong, he’d let you know. I appreciate the honesty, and I felt like he was super easy to talk to. I enjoyed him, and I thought he did a good job with us.”

With Mattingly and Dombrowski coming back, change this offseason will likely come on the player side. The Phillies could make alterations to the coaching staff, though pitching Caleb Cotham is seen as instrumental to the club’s starting pitching success over the years and hitting coach Kevin Long has two years remaining on his contract.

The big free agents are Alec Bohm, Edmundo Sosa, Luis Arraez and José Alvarado. Brandon Marsh, Bryson Stott and Jhoan Duran all have one year left of team control and could be the Phillies’ best trade candidates. Perhaps the Phillies could also flip a top starter for multiple lineup pieces. Next year’s bullpen should also look a lot different.

But the Phillies are sticking with a familiar face in the manager’s chair.

Luis Arraez was the Phillies’ big trade deadline acquisition in 2026. Unfortunately, his two-month tenure with club is filled with what ifs.

Arraez, a three-time batting champion, suffered an ankle injury during the final week of the season that kept him out of the postseason. In 191 plate appearances with the Phillies, Arraez batted .278 with a .678 OPS. A free agent again this year, Arraez will look to turn a strong first half with the San Francisco Giants into a multi-year contract.

With an infield spot open, should the Phillies give Arraez a mulligan and sign him to a new contract?

Here’s the first installment of this year’s Phillies Nation Stay or Go series. Let us know what you think in the poll below the article.

Destiny Lugardo — Site Director — Go

What a disappointment. The Phillies traded Ramon Marquez, a really valuable prospect, and rearranged their entire infield to accommodate Arraez, who was billed as the savior of the Phillies lineup. The lineup did turn around after Arraez’s arrival, but it was not because of him. Instead, the Phillies got the worst two months of Arraez’s impressive 2026 campaign. Someone will pay him. It better not be the Phillies.

Ty Daubert — Editorial Director — Go

There were reasons to be excited for the arrival of Arraez, a three-time batting champion who was supposed to add a different element to the middle of Philadelphia’s lineup and knock in runs with base hits. But it did not go to plan with the Phillies. Arraez did not fare as well away from San Francisco’s Oracle Park, where he hit .361. Perhaps the Phillies should think about keeping Bryson Stott at third base and signing Arraez to his second one-year deal in a row if his market is not as strong as anticipated, but the club would probably be better off targeting bats with more thump with their significant resources this offseason.

Bailey Digh — Staff Writer — Go

Arraez is probably going to get a multi-year contract from someone. I think the Phillies should stay away from handing out many of those this winter. I’m also not sure Arraez is really what the Phillies’ lineup needs to get better in 2027. His two months with the club were lackluster, too. It’d be best to spend money elsewhere.

Sam Fuld, one of the highest-ranking executives in the Phillies organization, will stay in Philadelphia after turning down a job offer to lead an American League club’s baseball operations, according to a Saturday afternoon report.

Fuld declined the opportunity to become the president of baseball operations for the Athletics, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan. He will continue in his current role as the Phillies’ president of business operations.

A former big-league outfielder — who spent the end of his career with the A’s — Fuld has spent time in the dugout, on the baseball side of the front office and on the business side since the end of his playing days, making him a candidate for several different roles over the years. He joined the Phillies as a player information coordinator under former manager Gabe Kapler prior to the 2018 season. In late 2020, he was named the team’s general manager, effectively the lead assistant to president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski after the veteran executive’s hiring.

Following the 2024 season, the Phillies announced major changes to the structure of their front office, as former farm director and assistant general manager Preston Mattingly was named the new GM under Dombrowski. Mattingly temporarily shared the title with Fuld, who would eventually transition to the president of business operations during the 2026 season. With no prior business experience, the team sent Fuld to study at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School; he earned a master’s degree this past May.

“Admittedly, it was not something that I had really given a ton of thought to at the time,” Fuld said in 2024 about his change in roles, “but once I digested it all and wrapped my head around it, it felt like a really compelling opportunity, both professionally and personally, and felt like a great opportunity that I was eager to take on.”

At least for now, Fuld will keep working on the business side for the Phillies instead of taking on another role in baseball operations for the A’s. Philadelphia’s front office seems to be set with Dombrowski, Mattingly and Fuld all in place, but the Phillies still have decisions to make about their coaching staff. Don Mattingly, Preston’s father, served as interim manager for most of the 2026 season after the club fired Rob Thomson in April. The Phillies have not yet announced whether or not Don Mattingly will return as manager in 2027. Whichever path the team chooses could have potential ramifications on the rest of the coaching staff.

On Sept. 18, the Phillies ran a bullpen game in a losing effort against the Mets at Citi Field. Left-hander Tim Mayza allowed three runs as the opener, and Orion Kerkering gave up three more in the sixth inning. The Phillies could not come out victorious in their 154th game of the 2026 season, falling to 85-69 on the year.

Under the rules of a new proposal by Major League Baseball, that would have been Philadelphia’s final game of the regular season.

Ahead of the December expiration of the current collective bargaining agreement, MLB proposed a reduced regular-season schedule along with the expansion of the American League and National League Division Series to best-of-seven matchups, starting in 2029, the league announced. Under this proposal, the regular season would go from 162 games back to 154 games, as it was prior to 1961; additionally, higher-seeded teams in the Wild Card and Division Series rounds would pick their opponents, beginning next year.

These rule proposals by the league, the MLB Players Association said in a statement, “are contingent on players’ agreement to a salary cap.”

At this point, there’s no telling whether or not these rule changes will actually be put into place. But any adjustment to the 162-game schedule — which has stuck through the addition of 12 total franchises, the start of interleague play and the implementation of a balanced schedule since it was adopted — would be a serious difference for all teams.

So how would a 154-game season have affected the Phillies over the past five seasons? Of course, each club involved would have managed their teams differently had they known the season would be ending after 154 games. But here’s a look at how the Phillies would have fared if they would have played eight fewer contests:

2026: 85-69 after 154 games

Following a loss in New York, the Phillies were tied with the Chicago Cubs and San Diego Padres in the National League standings at 85-69. With tiebreakers, Philadelphia would have been the second NL Wild Card team, heading to play the Cubs in a best-of-three at Wrigley Field; San Diego would have been going to Truist Park to play the Braves.

Instead, after 162 games, the Phillies finished as the third Wild Card team and lost in three games in Atlanta. The Padres swept the Cubs in Chicago in the first round of the postseason.

2025: 92-62 after 154 games

Philadelphia beat the Diamondbacks in its 154th game of the 2025 season. The team had already clinched the NL East. If the season ended that day, the Phillies would have been the No. 2 seed in the National League and earned a first-round bye, just as they did in the actual, 162-game season.

The Phillies played the Dodgers, the eventual World Series champions who finished as the NL West winner and the No. 3 seed before beating the Reds in the Wild Card Series. Los Angeles then took the best-of-five NLDS in four games. The Phillies probably would have drawn the same opponent after 154, as the Dodgers would have hosted the Mets, who ultimately missed the playoffs, in the first round. But anything could have happened in a three-game series.

2024: 92-62 after 154 games

The 2024 Phillies were tied with the Dodgers for the best record in the NL after 154 games, and the tiebreaker would have given Philadelphia the top seed heading into the postseason. The Phillies would have had a bye and played the winner of the Padres and Diamondbacks in the NLDS at Citizens Bank Park.

In actuality, they went 3-5 in their last eight games, got the No. 2 seed and later lost to the Mets, who upset the Brewers in the Wild Card Series.

2023: 85-69 after 154 games

At the end of 154 games, the Phillies still would have been the top NL Wild Card team in 2023, but their first-round matchup would have been different. They would not have needed to wait until the NL Championship Series to face Arizona. The Diamondbacks would have been their first-round matchup as the No. 5 seed.

The Marlins, who faced the Phillies in the Wild Card Series in reality, would have missed the postseason. The Cubs would have been in as the last club.

2022: 83-71 after 154 games

The sixth and final seed in the NL in the first year of the expanded postseason field, the Phillies made a run to the World Series as the third Wild Card team in 2022. If the regular season had only been 154 games at that time, they still would have been in same playoff position, and they still would have been heading to Busch Stadium to face the Cardinals in the Wild Card Series.

But if they made it through to the NLDS, the Phillies would have played the Mets, not the Braves. As the No. 2 seed, New York would have avoided the Wild Card Series, where it lost to the Padres in actuality. Atlanta would have faced San Diego in the first round for the right to face the 107-win — yes, that’s 107 wins in 154 games — Dodgers in the NLDS.