By pushing $300 million, the Phillies may already be done spending this offseason originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
The Phillies’ offseason appears incomplete, but their two biggest moves may have already happened with the one-year signings of outfielder Max Kepler and reliever Jordan Romano.
Speaking to reporters Friday night after Kepler’s contract became official, president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski pretty much said that’s it in terms of big free agent deals.
“I would be surprised if we went for some impactful free agent-type signings from an offensive standpoint,” he said.
The Phillies have spent freely in recent offseasons, signing Bryce Harper and Trea Turner to contracts worth $300 million or more, adding Kyle Schwarber and Nick Castellanos in the same offseason, extending Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola and Cristopher Sanchez , among other movements. Money hasn’t been a major stumbling block and the payroll situation hasn’t stopped the Phillies from improving every year since 2020, but that’s a different story now.
The Phillies’ payroll is now so high that they are essentially paying double for every player they sign. Kepler’s one-year, $10 million contract actually cost them $19.25 million. That’s because the Phils have already exceeded the third luxury tax threshold of $281 million and you pay a 92.5% penalty on every dollar you exceed.
“Everyone we sign is a major penalty at this point,” Dombrowski said. “You are aware of that.”
What makes the situation even more tense is that the Phillies sit at about $299 million after signing Kepler, just $2 million below the fourth luxury tax threshold of $301 million. The penalty for these excesses is even more severe, at 110%.
So basically, if the Phillies wanted to sign a $20 million player right now, it would cost them $41.65 million.
“Well, I don’t mean it’s a tight payroll in the sense that from an ownership standpoint, I don’t think I’ve ever consulted John (Middleton) for anything and told him no , don’t do anything.” “, Dombrowski said. “But you still have to try to keep things in perspective, and I don’t know what the exact payroll is but we are over the $300 million threshold.
Kepler will play left field and the Phillies will keep Nick Castellanos in right. They’ll try to face Kepler every day, but he’s never been a consistent hitter against lefties. It will be difficult to play against him or Brandon Marsh every day and it would be unwise to play them both against the same player’s pitchers. But a cheap, everyday outfielder doesn’t fall into their fold. As of now, Kepler and Marsh’s right-handed partners would be Johan Rojas and Weston Wilson.
If this is the outfield mix, the Phillies will enter 2025 hoping for a lot of things to go right and needing internal improvement from every hitter not named Harper or Schwarber.
“I think we’re that good,” Dombrowski said when asked if he thinks this team is better than in 2024. “I mean, we were pretty good last year at the end of season … I think we have a very good ball club.
What’s left?
The Phillies would like to add more pitchers, including a starter who can move to the bullpen if needed. The 2025 version of Spencer Turnbull, pretty much.
“Someone who can be a starting reliever for us. That would be our main goal,” Dombrowski said. “From a player’s point of view, you never know what’s going to happen, but if we went into spring training with the club we have right now, I would feel very comfortable in that regard.”
