The Phillies President of Baseball Operations details his plan for this offseason and what positions on the roster need to be addressed.
The morning after the World Series ends, a five-day window opens for teams to negotiate exclusively with their own free agents. Once the five days are up, players are free to sign anywhere.
The Phillies' two most notable free agents are Jeff Hoffman and Carlos Estevez. President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said earlier this month that the team is unlikely to retain both. They're each expected to command multi-year deals with an annual average value of $12 million or more.
Spencer Turnbull will also be a free agent but that's it in terms of Phillies big-leaguers.
The Phillies have nine players eligible for salary arbitration and their likeliest non-tender ahead of the late-November deadline is outfielder Austin Hays, who made $6.3 million last season and would be headed for a similar salary.
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The other eight eligible for arbitration are Ranger Suarez, Alec Bohm, Bryson Stott, Brandon Marsh, Edmundo Sosa, Kolby Allard, Garrett Stubbs and Jose Ruiz.
Most players have three years of arbitration eligibility before reaching free agency, with some granted an additional fourth year based on service time.
For Suarez and Hays, this is the final arbitration year before free agency.
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For Bohm, Sosa, Allard, Stubbs and Ruiz, it's Year 2 of 3.
For Stott and Marsh, it's the first time.
Stott and Marsh will be due significant raises. They each made just under $770,000 last season and figure to be in the $3-3.5 million range through arbitration.
Suarez should see his salary rise from $5.05M last season to the $8M vicinity, though the Phillies could also negotiate an extension.
Bohm's $4 million salary from 2024 will likely double.
Sosa was at $1.7 million last year and should be closer to $3 million this time.
Ruiz will almost certainly stick around as an inexpensive and controllable reliever making less than $2 million.
Then there's Allard and Stubbs, who would both be looking at salaries hovering around $1 million. They might be replaceable at a lower number, especially if the Phillies move forward with Rafael Marchan as the backup catcher to J.T. Realmuto.
Teams and players must exchange arbitration figures by mid-January. Hearings take place in February unless an agreement is reached prior. If the matter goes to arbitration, a panel rules in favor of either the player or the team.
The Phillies avoided arbitration with all of their eligible players last offseason except Bohm. They offered him $3.4 million, he countered at $4 million and won. League-wide, last year was the first since 2019 that more players won their cases than teams.
