With the World Series set to wrap up soon, the Philadelphia Phillies will be getting ready for an important offseason. 

Following another early exit from the postseason, it is back to the drawing board for the Phillies this winter. This is a team that is always aggressive when it comes to trying to improve during the offseason, but some of their moves fall flat. 

Last winter, the team tried to address needs in the bullpen and the outfield,  but weren’t able to do enough to solidify those spots. While injuries played a factor as well, the team also wasn’t able to fix it during the season at the deadline. 

Now, as the core of the roster gets another year older, the Phillies need to figure out what their direction is going to be. There is some speculation that they would like to shake things up, but that feels like it might be easier said than done. 

While the team will be looking to improve, they will also have a couple of free agents that they will have to make decisions on. Even though he wasn’t with the team for long, they will have to decide if Luis Arraez is in their future plans. 

Keeping Arraez Could Be Considered a Shakeup

While he might not have been the impact player that the team was hoping for when they acquired him, Arraez is a very proven hitter in the league, and the consistency that he usually brings could be good for the lineup. 

It is never easy for a player moved at the deadline to step in and perform at the highest level after being moved in the middle of the season. There are always a lot of factors that go into a player being uprooted, and for some, it is harder than others. 

Even though Arraez didn’t live up to expectations, there is reason to believe that he could help this team in 2027 and be a much better fit now. With Alec Bohm also as a free agent, Philadelphia could elect to choose Arraez over him and keep Bryson Stott at third base. Furthermore, with Aidan Miller expected to be in the picture, Stott could become a trade piece if Miller is deemed ready to take over at third. 

For a Phillies team that went into some bad droughts at times and lacked consistency, keeping one of the best contact hitters in baseball despite some struggles with the team makes sense.