With the offseason underway for the Philadelphia Phillies, the team will have no shortage of decisions to make regarding what their team might look like for next season. 

The Phillies were once again able to make the playoffs in 2026, but it was far from a perfect season. Philadelphia started off the season 10 games under the .500 mark, and there was understandably reason to be concerned. 

With the struggles, the team elected to move on from manager Rob Thomson and promoted Don Mattingly to the interim role. Mattingly did a good job after taking over, and while it did take until the final day to make the postseason, they were able to do so. 

Unfortunately, the team didn’t achieve what they were hoping for in the playoffs and lost in three games to the Atlanta Braves in the NL Wild Card Round. Even though it is a great accomplishment that the team has been able to make the playoffs for five straight years, they haven’t been able to reach the World Series since 2022. 

Now, with an important offseason ahead of them, what the plan is will be important.  

Tim Kelly of Bleacher Report recently predicted that Phillies free agent Luis Arraez would sign a two-year, $32 million deal with the Detroit Tigers. 

Arraez Always Felt Like a Rental 

As the Phillies tried to improve at the trade deadline, they made a significant move to acquire Arraez from the San Francisco Giants. As one of the best hitters in the league, the All-Star looked like a strong addition and one that was going to be able to help fix an offense that was inconsistent. 

Even though the positional fit wasn’t the best, Arraez’s abilities at the plate figured to be able to make up for that. However, while he was one of the best hitters in the league with the Giants, that same level of success wasn’t there with Philadelphia. 

Furthermore, an issue for the team in the postseason was that he got hurt right at the end of the regular season. Sadly, it was a trade that didn’t pan out for the Phillies and him coming back has always felt unlikely. 

Philadelphia is projected to move Bryce Harper back to first base and have Bryson Stott at second. Even though Stott could move over to third if Alec Bohm did officially leave, the Phillies have a lot of issues elsewhere that should be more of a priority to fix. Overall, it shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise to see him being predicted to leave.