It's not a secret to Philadelphia Phillies fans that things aren't going too well this season. The Phillies should be a top postseason contender with all that's been invested into this roster, but they're realistically a Wild Card team this season.
Barring some massive moves at the trade deadline, the Phillies are a bit of a question mark for the postseason regarding how far they can go. So, what if they don't go far, or miss the postseason entirely?
Former MLB GM Jim Bowden of The Athletic, in response to such a question, answered that there is a chance the Phillies will enter a rebuild after the 2026 season if things go wrong.
"If it doesn't work out, then a rebuild in the offseason should be on the table for the reasons you listed," Bowden writes.
Part of why the Phillies could potentially enter a rebuild after 2026 is to reset the books and free up a ton of money by trading veterans and players about to hit free agency.
Doing so would also factor into another reason why a rebuild could make sense, and that would be to open the door to the Phillies bringing in some elite prospect hauls.
If the 2026 season is a total failure, and this team doesn't have what it takes as it's currently constructed for a deep postseason run, they could really shake things up over the offseason.
Brandon Marsh, Bryson Stott, and Jhoan Duran are all realistic trade candidates if they wanted to enter a mini-rebuild to reset for a season and return to contention in 2028.
Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber, Trea Turner, Jesus Luzardo, Zack Wheeler, and Cristopher Sanchez are good enough to build a contender around.
Rebuilding wouldn't make sense if it's not a short-term reset year. Teams do it all of the time around professional spots, to take a down year, and then come back as a contender with a lot of the same pieces the next season.
That could be what the Phillies do in 2027 and 2028 if things truly go south in 2026. Of course, such an outcome would mean things went disastrously wrong in 2026.
But, for the future of the franchise beyond 2027, rebuilding for a season might not be such a terrible idea. It would only happen if they had another embarrassing 2026 postseason, or missed it entirely, and needed to freshen up the roster.
Realistically, the Phillies will try to contend once again in 2027 without making such major changes to the team. Rebuilding would not be a good thing, but there might be a non-zero chance of that happening next year if the stars align to close out 2026.
