Philadelphia Phillies Fans Will Be Livid Over Latest Prediction

The Philadelphia Phillies made the playoffs by the skin of their teeth this past season, narrowly avoiding a historic collapse to earn a Wild Card spot ... only to lose to the Atlanta Braves in the Wild Card Series.

The Phillies are an aging ballclub facing some pretty serious questions heading into the winter, but the general expectation is that Philadelphia will make some moves to bolster the roster for another run in 2027.

But will the Phillies be able to do enough to get back to World Series contender status?

Bleacher Report's Zachary D. Rymer clearly doesn't think so, predicting Philadelphia to finish with 80 wins and in third place in the NL East next season.

Rymer has the Braves in first place with the New York Mets in second and snaring a Wild Card berth.

I find the idea of the Mets being No. 2 laughable, and if anything, the Miami Marlins should be the other divisional opponent the Phillies should be worried about, but regardless, the prevailing thought around Philly baseball is obviously not great right now.

And to be quite frank, pegging Philadelphia as a sub-.500 team likely operates under the assumption that the team won't make any truly significant moves this winter, which will be enough to drive the fanbase up a wall.

Remember: last offseason, Phillies fans were livid over the ballclub essentially sitting on the sidelines in free agency, with Adolis Garcia and Brad Keller representing Philadelphia's only real additions (and neither worked out).

Team president Dave Dombrowski has indicated that the team will at least be somewhat aggressive in the coming weeks and months, as it's pretty obvious that the Phillies have major holes that need to be repaired.

But how much will owner John Middleton be willing to spend?

Philadelphia is in dire need of answers in the outfield. It must also figure out what it's doing at third base, whether that means re-signing Alec Bohm or pursuing Teruaki Sato. And of course, the Phillies need to patch up their horrific bullpen.

Finding some starting pitching depth to guard against injuries or underperformance will be on Philadelphia's radar, as well.

The problem for the Phillies is that both Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber are getting up there in age, so they need to act quickly.

Plus, Harper has a full no-trade clause, and Schwarber can exercise his 10-and-5 rights to block any deal, so the chances of Philadelphia being able to move either star to facilitate a rebuild are slim to none.