The Philadelphia Phillies may want to blow it up this offseason, but it will be harder than you think.
The Philadelphia Phillies have been eliminated from the playoffs early yet again, this time falling to the Atlanta Braves in the Wild Card Series.
At least the preceding two years, the Phillies didn't go home until the NLDS.
The point, though, is that it's becoming increasingly obvious Philadelphia has gone as far as it can possibly go with this core, a core led by aging stars Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber.
Both players are still really good, but they aren't good enough. Especially with how much they are being paid.
Harper is under contract through 2031. He makes $27.5 million through 2028 and then will collect $23.5 million the final three year of his contract. Schwarber just re-upped with the Phillies on a five-year, $150 million pact last offseason.
Philadelphia has begun closely monitoring its payroll recently, so now, with Harper and Schwarber under wraps as well as Trea Turner, J.T. Realmuto, Cristopher Sanchez, Jesus Luzardo and Aaron Nola all having lucrative multi-year deals, there isn't much money left in the till for improvements.
The problem? Guys like Turner, Realmuto and Nola are basically untradeable at this point, and the Phillies certainly aren't going to move Sanchez or Luzardo.
That leaves Harper and Schwarber as the only real candidates to fetch something in return, but a trade of either features one major sticking point: both players possess no-trade rights.
Harper was given a full no-trade clause when he signed his 13-year, $330 million deal with the Phils back in March 2019. Meanwhile, the 10-and-5 rule allots Schwarber the power to veto any trade.
That means the two veterans can pick and choose where they go, and they'll probably be very selective.
Harper and Schwarber are both 33 years old. They don't have a whole lot of time left to be central figures in a World Series run. They know that. So their list of desirable destinations surely wouldn't be incredibly extensive.
And that puts the Phillies in quite the pickle.
Philadelphia knows it has to do something this winter, and trading one of Harper or Schwarber (heck, if not both) might be the only option toward building a better future. But that will clearly be difficult.
The counterpoint is that only contending teams will be interested in Harper and Schwarber anyway, which is true, but that still doesn't necessarily mean that either player would want to go to certain ballclubs.
The Phillies need to make significant changes. That much is obvious. How they go about doing it, however, remains to be seen.
