Phillies’ lack of multi-year signings this offseason could be with eyes set on the future

It’s hard to know what the Phillies exactly had in mind for this offseason. Publicly, president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said the club would be open-minded. Essentially, the front office was going to explore any and all avenues, unlike in previous winters.

So far, the Phillies have signed three free agents — Jordan Romano, Max Kepler and Joe Ross — to major-league deals. All for one year.

It’s no secret that 2025 could be the final year for this current core of Phillies to win the World Series. Kyle Schwarber and J.T. Realmuto are pending free agents. So is Ranger Suárez. Bryce Harper and Trea Turner aren’t getting any younger. Neither are Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola. There are questions about whether or not Alec Bohm, Brandon Marsh and Bryson Stott will take steps forward and stay in Philadelphia long term.

For 2025, the Phillies will likely be one of the best teams in baseball. Beyond that, the future is unclear.

It could be why the front office hasn’t committed multiple years to a free agent this winter. The organization may prefer flexibility entering the back half of the 2020s. The more long-term contracts on the books, the less flexible a team can be.

Kepler, signed to play left field, is guaranteed $10 million. Jurickson Profar, a potential left-field fit for the Phillies, signed a three-year, $42 million deal with the Braves on Thursday. He’ll make $12 million this year. In terms of annual average value, there’s not much difference between Kepler’s and Profar’s deals. The only difference is the length.

Romano signed for a guaranteed $8.5 million. He’ll be a late-inning reliever this season. Jeff Hoffman, an obvious late-inning fit for the Phillies, signed with the Blue Jays for a guaranteed $11 million per year over three years. There isn’t much difference between what Romano and Hoffman will make in 2025. The only difference is the years each player signed for.

Profar may have been a better signing than Kepler. Same for Hoffman instead of Romano. But with Profar and Hoffman wanting more than one-year deals, maybe neither fit into what the Phillies front office was looking for.

By reading the tea leaves, it’s plausible to guess the Phillies weren’t too attracted to the idea of signing free agents to multi-year contracts this offseason. Especially those already in their 30s.

It’s a fair strategy for a team in the Phillies’ position to have. They’ll need to remain flexible moving forward. Instead of backfilling the roster with older players on multi-year deals, keeping spots potentially open for younger ones in the years to come makes more sense.

Andrew Painter will debut this year. Justin Crawford could, too. Although a 2026 big-league debut for Crawford feels like a more appropriate timeline right now. Aidan Miller could also get the call at some point next year. Those players’ paths to the majors could get blocked if the Phillies make multi-year commitments to certain free agents.

Not infusing an aging core with young talent factored into the end of what is referred to as the Golden Era (2007-2011) of Phillies baseball. While this current era of Phillies baseball isn’t quite to that level, this current core will need to be injected with some youth sooner rather than later. Staying flexible, and not continuing to sign free agents to multi-year deals, keeps that youth injection possible in the seasons to come.

Maybe that’s one reason the Phillies front office hasn’t been so aggressive in their free agent pursuits this offseason — for the sake of a flexible, and younger, future.

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