The Philadelphia Phillies 2025 season is over, and it's time to start looking at how the roster may change for 2026.

The Phillies put on a show in the 2025 regular season, posing a 96-66 overall record, the second-best tally in the MLB, behind only the Milwaukee Brewers. However, their season came to a screeching halt after a disappointing performance against the Los Angeles Dodgers saw them bounced early in the National League Division Series for the second year in a row.

Dave Dombrowski, Philadelphia's President of Baseball Operations, decided that he wanted to run it back in 2025 with almost the same exact roster that was featured in 2024, with the only addition to the lineup being Max Kepler.

To the dismay of many Phillies fans, the 2025 season was almost a direct copy of the 2024 season; a flashy and exciting regular season, a dominant record heading into the postseason, a Wild Card bye and a divisional round exit.

It's clear that the front office in Philadelphia needs to make changes and it needs to happen now, as critics are saying the Phillies' championship window is already closed after their performance against the Dodgers. In the offseason prior to Spring Training 2026, Dombrowski and company have a few chances to make said changes.

The Phillies have three main players who are entering free agency this year, along with some of their lesser-used bullpen arms. J.T. Realmuto, Ranger Suarez and, most notably, Kyle Schwarber are all free agents this winter, along with relievers like Jordan Romano, Tim Mayza, David Robertson and Walker Buehler.

When looking at the top three free agents, one thing makes some targets more important to resign than others, and that's offense.

Suarez was strong for Philadelphia in 2025 and was a pseudo-ace in the postseason for the Phils throughout his entire career. In his eighth year as a Phillie, Suarez posted a 3.20 ERA, with 157.1 innings pitched over 26 starts. Additionally, the veteran posted a 1.220 WHIP along with a 3.97 strikeout-to-walk ratio, the best ratio of his career. 

Despite his performance on the mound, pitching is the one thing that Philadelphia has locked down, with arms like Zack Wheeler, Christopher Sanchez, Aaron Nola and Jesus Luzardo locked in for the 2026 season, and prospects like Andrew Painter looking to be added to the rotation next season. Losing Suarez would be a blow to the Phillies' rotation, for sure, but it's a piece that can be put aside in order to bulk up on hitters in the offseason, an area that is in desperate need for improvement.

When looking at the Phillies' hitting stats in 2025, nothing stands out on the stat sheet that's overwhelmingly bad, but when watching the games, it's clear that theres something missing at the plate. Philadelphia's offense was streaky at best, posting a strong series with wins approaching double-digit run gaps before falling into a slump with inconsistent at-bats and sloppy decision making. 

Even though the Phillies are in need of new life on offense, when it comes to Realmuto and Schwarber, not only do they provide life at the plate, but they're also two players who are towards the top of their respective positions.

Behind only Shohei Ohtani of the Dodgers, Schwarber was a premier player at the designated hitter position, slugging 56 home runs in the 2025 regular season, just two shy of Ryan Howard's franchise record of 58. While Schwarber hit that milestone of 58 long balls in the postseason, with two home runs in Game 3 of the divisional round, he was largely absent from the playoff stat sheet otherwise. 

To that end, fans are arguing both sides of Schwarber's potential return to Philadelphia, as supporters shout his praises at the plate as a power hitter while critics claim his long ball is the only benefit to keeping him on the roster, which doesn't necessarily mean he should be handed a massive contract. 

Through his four seasons in Philadelphia, Schwarber holds a .226/.349/.507 slash line with 809 strikeouts, averaging 202 per season, leading to claims that his inconsistency at the plate is enough to allow the likely 2025 NL MVP runner-up to explore other options.

The most common trope is that, if Schwarber isn't hitting a home run, he's almost a guaranteed strikeout. However, his stat sheet shows that he's been a power hitter his entire career, as he holds a career .238 batting average. The slugger also knocked the most hits he's had in a single season in 2025 at 145, breaking his previous record of 142 from 2024. In fact, Schwarber's strikeout numbers have decreased and his hits have increased as his number of at-bats rose throughout his career in South Philly.

Unless the Phillies make a major free agent acquisition in the offseason, allowing someone like Bryce Harper to move to the designated hitter spot, it makes it very hard to rationalize not giving Schwarber a hefty contract extention, securing him as Philadelphia's power bat for the foreseeable future. 

In the case of Realmuto, the same logic applies, as he sits atop a list of elite catchers in the league, making it hard to justify moving on from him. Out of a list of free-agent catchers available in the offseason, it's difficult to find a name that jumps off the page like Realmuto's does, not to mention his defensive play puts most others at his position to shame. 

Unless Dombrowski and the Phillies front office make a trade for a big-name catcher, someone like the Baltimore Orioles Adley Rutschman or the Dodgers' Will Smith, both of which are beyond unlikely, resigning Realmuto quickly becomes an imperative action besides bringing back Schwarber.