👋 Good morning! I am fascinated by this Penn State coaching search.

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Rob Thomson sticking around was the first Phillies offseason domino to fall. OK, what’s next?

We could preview the offseason in a bunch of ways. There are philosophical questions like, “How much do we weigh one bad week?” and “Maybe the Dodgers are just awesome, how close were we?” Watching Yoshinobu Yamamoto throw a complete game in Milwaukee last night, six days after the Phillies teed off against him, certainly moved that second ledger closer to “close.” And then there are also age-related questions, luxury-tax concerns, etc.

We will get to all of those in due time. But as the offseason gets underway, I like to preview it with a simple checklist. Then we discuss the moves in real time, and after the dust settles in February or so, we can take a look back at everything. Sound good? OK, checklist time…

(1) Any other changes on the coaching staff? I cannot imagine the Phillies messing with anything to do with the starting pitching, with one exception. They are so fortunate that there is not as much of a precedent for pitching coaches getting promoted to managers in baseball, because Caleb Cotham is as good as it gets.

Kevin Long is the big question here. He is considered one of the best in the business, and Long is seemingly super well-liked by all of the Phillies’ main cogs. The Phils had an above-average offense this season, and under Long’s tutelage, Kyle Schwarber turned into an incredibly well-rounded hitter.

But for the third straight year, Long’s offense is the reason the Phillies are headed home. This time at least, it mostly felt like they got beat by A+ stuff instead of swinging at everything and chasing like crazy. I do not know what to do with any of this.

(2) Get 2025-26 Andrew Painter on The 2024-25 Mick Abel Plan. You already have the blueprint!

Whatever you did with The Mick last year, same thing with Painter. Same food, same people to talk to, same throwing program, etc. Copy and paste. The Phillies are likely gonna need Painter to look like 2022 Painter, because…

(3) Probably wave goodbye to Ranger Suárez, who gets paid. I am still barking and woofing at that Game 3 performance from Ranger. But he signed with Scott Boras before this season and then went out and absolutely killed it. Excellent contract year from Ranger. It is likely gonna cost a lot to bring him back. And with the Phillies’ other concerns, it is logical that Ranger cashes in elsewhere. As much as it pains me to type that out.

Two caveats: Ranger would want to stay with the Phillies, if he has his choice. And two, I do not know what the exact market will look like with a lockout looming in 2027. That is why I said probably! Don’t go, Ranger!

(4) The Schwarber and J.T. decisions: Two guys who I think the Phils would like back.

People keep reporting that Schwarber wants five years… which does not scare me? Maybe a little bit, the last year might be rough, but it does not terrify me. Schwarbs has become a better all-around hitter in his 30s, he is a designated hitter, why can’t he sustain it? I am sure there will be a bidding war for Schwarber, and if he leaves, your offense is a totally different thing depending on who you replace him with.

Realmuto is not the player Schwarber is, but he plays an important position and I also have no idea who you would replace him with. You could trade for Adley Rutschman I guess, but he was worse than J.T. this year. And J.T. is very important to the pitching staff, game-planning and handling each pitcher in-game. You do not have Eduardo Tait waiting in the wings anymore as a succession plan, but a two-year deal for J.T. would seem fair to figure out a new one.

(5) Trade Nick Castellanos for whatever you can get. Maybe not “a bag of balls,” but let’s not get too greedy here.

Casty is due $20 million next season. Would the Miami Marlins pay even a little of that for a retirement tour in Nick’s hometown? Maybe not, both the advanced and not-advanced numbers are pretty rough here, but I would be stunned if Casty is on the Phillies next season.

(6) The youth movement: I already mentioned Painter. And anyone who has been paying attention to the farm system knows there are two other names of interest for 2026 who ended the season in Triple-A.

If Justin Crawford is not in the outfield at the beginning of next season, what are we even doing? Even if you are skeptical about the whole ground-ball rate thing, I am sorry, you have to see if it can work at the big-league level. But the name that I am most curious about is Aidan Miller, who had a poor first half and then a legitimately insane second half. Maybe not right away, but is Miller part of your plans for next season if he picks up where he left off? He can play shortstop or third base.

The Phillies’ best path for sustainability is mixing in young, cost-controlled players in with the current core. Seems like next year will be the start of that process in earnest.

(7) Other potential moves: Can you bring Harrison Bader back? He definitely made himself some money in August and September. If so, does Brandon Marsh get moved? What about Alec Bohm, who was quite available last winter? If Miller is playing in 2026, he becomes expendable.

There could be other moves as well, specifically external free agents and trades. But those might be dictated by what the Phillies decide to with their current players and free agents. I am not getting into all of those permutations and scenarios.

Anyway, that is a list. Happy hot stove, everyone!

The coordinators speak: Man, our producers really gotta get out the Size 72 font for Uncle Vic’s graphics.

Uncle Vic’s presser was seven minutes, he had all short answers, and I still loved it. Wished Za’Darius Smith well, entertained all of the trade/positional edge-rusher questions and did not pretend like they were without merit, and took ownership for his calls against the Giants. Love that man.

(I did not watch the Kevin Patullo presser. I just cannot do it, guys, it’s for the best.)

And yes, then Vic mentioned that the Eagles need to find a CB2 who they can stick with. It has been a lot of toggling back and forth after whoever had the latest disastrous performance. Kelee Ringo was so bad in the Giants game, and while Adoree’ does not have the same wheels, he generally had decent coverage last week and gave up some contested catches. But yeah, you ideally have to stick with someone.

And speaking of CB2, 🎶 The Gambler 🎶 is on the bottom line of yesterday’s offseason move tiers. We will see 🎶 The Gambler 🎶 this week, tough test for Kevin Patullo to get back on track against him and Brian Flores .

Also, CJGJ got released from the Ravens practice squad. Man, tough six weeks for him.

The Michkov of it all: Lots of reasons to be happy with the Flyers’ three-game start. Let’s see if I can rattle off ten.

See, that’s ten. But not listed there? Matvei Michkov.

The Spittin’ Chiclets fellas, who relay league gossip but who also are well informed, recently said that their “little birdies” told them Michkov came into camp out of shape. And then Michkov played very little in the first few games.

Rick Tocchet confirmed that Michkov came into camp out of shape, but not due to laziness. According to the Flyers, Michkov had an ankle injury that limited his offseason training. Now, he is behind the 8-ball to start the season.

That is a bummer. I remember a pod from the offseason, when Charlie noted that if Michkov came into camp in great shape, he was in store for a monster sophomore season. That clearly has not happened, quite the opposite in fact. But per Charlie’s practice notes, Rick Tocchet is not gonna go Full Torts and healthy scratch Michkov. Phew.

Joel Embiid, checking boxes: I am imagining Brett Brown saying that: checkin’ bawxessss.

After practice, the Sixers typically play one-on-one on the same hoop at the far end of their main practice court. You know, away from all of those pryin’ media types. From what I can tell, Embiid has usually been running his mouth over there this month but not participating. Well, that changed on Tuesday. After Embiid played and by all appearances looked pretty good in Sunday’s scrimmage. ☑️☑️☑️☑️☑️☐☐☐

Might that next box be the preseason finale on Friday? Sounds possible.

And hold on a second, was that Paul George defending him? Why yes it was! Nick Nurse said that George was reintroduced to team activities today. That does not necessarily suggest PG will be back for the season opener a week from today in Bahstaaan. But remember, the Sixers did not give a timeline for PG after the organization made one of their seven visits a year to Dr. Jonathan Glashow. Until we hear of some sort of setback, it does not seem like George is too far behind Embiid. Again, this is the Sixers and stuff goes wrong literally all the time. But reading the tea leaves, it seems like Embiid and George are both making decent-ish progress to this point.

The weirdest, most Sixers-est injury right now? Trendon Watford, who I think would have started on opening night at the 4 if healthy. Well, he is not healthy.

And unrelated, but this Jim Lynam cameo on Action News killed me. They definitely had no idea who he is.

Nothing again games-wise. Honestly, I think we all kinda needed this break. My body certainly needed it after the sheer volume of disappointment that we were all handed last week. Things will pick up again next week, with the Sixers, Flyers, Eagles and the Union playoffs all in the mix. I am gonna write more about the Flyers for tomorrow. Some low-stakes, fun hockey is exactly what I need right now.

We will still be talkin’ bout practice and whatever else is going on, though.

Your tentative Wednesday schedule at ​PHLY. Busy day​:

Let’s make it a good one.

Rich Hofmann
Daily Newsletter Editor
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