Well, the Phillies finally signed Realmuto, and it appears a lot of Phillies fans are not happy about it.

Granted the signing came on the heels of Bo Bichette’s decision to not sign with the Phillies and to sign with the Mets.

Dave Dombrowski stated that the Phillies did not have a memorandum of signing in place when Bichette changes his mind.  He certainly felt they were headed to such a memo, but until one is signed, there is no deal.  Bichette was well within his rights to take the shorter, better deal.  That’s all I have to say about that.

Well maybe this too.  Had the Phillies come to an agreement with Bichette, it would have been interesting to see the other dominoes fall.  Anticipating a deal, they had already told Realmuto’s agent that they couldn’t sign both he and Bichette.  They probably would have signed Victor Caratini, the best catcher remaining at the time who since signed after with the Twins after we signed JT.  Next, Bohm (or perhaps Stott) would have had to have been dealt to make room for Bichette in the starting infield and to get a bit of salary relief.  And finally, something would have to be done with Castellanos.  That’s something that will likely still happen anyway.

Regarding Realmuto.  When free agency started, He was no worse than the second best catcher available when William Contreras’ option was declined.  However, he was still arbitration eligible and agreed to a contract with his team rather than go to arbitration.  So, not only was Realmuto the best catcher available, he was so by a wide margin.  The three next best were all backups – Matt Thaiss, James McCann, and Danny Jansen.

The contract itself is not what we would have liked.  It’s probably one year too long and a few million more than we would have liked.  FWIW, there were reports that the Phillies had already caved on the years and were holding fast on the dollars.  I don’t know if the Bichette withdrawal effected the yearly offer to JT.  The Phillies certainly couldn’t claim they couldn’t afford the money they agreed to in light of the Bichette offer.  I think the bonuses are anticlimactic.  The additional $5-7M in bonuses each season is for actions that most of us don’t think an aging catcher can reach –

• award bonuses: $2M each for top 10 in MVP vote, All Star election. $1M each for Gold Glove, Silver Slugger, All Star selection

So, now we just sit and wait to see if the Phillies add any depth pieces and what transpires with Castellanos.

I’ve seen the comments that the Phillies aren’t any better than last season.  However, let me posit that comparing last season’s final roster against this season’s current roster is probably not fair.  After all, last season’s final roster had the benefit of trade deadline acquisitions.  Maybe a fairer comparison would be last season’s opening day roster against this season’s projected opening day roster.

• Starting Pitchers: LHPs Luzardo, Sánchez, RHPs Nola, Walker, Wheeler
• Relief Pitchers: LHPs Alvarado, Banks, Strahm; RHPs Carlos Hernández, Kerkering, Romano, Joe Ross, José Ruiz, Walker
• Catchers:, Realmuto.
• Infielders: Bohm, Harper, Stott, Turner.
• Outfielders: Kepler, Marsh, Castellanos
• Designated Hitter: Schwarber
• Bench: Marchan, Sosa, Clemens, Rojas

Projected 2026 Opening Day Roster:

• Starting Pitchers: LHPs Luzardo, Sánchez, RHPs Nola, Painter, Walker
• Relief Pitchers: LHPs Alvarado, Banks, Backhus, RHPs Duran, Kerkering, Keller, and 2 of Bowlan/Hoffman/Johnson/Lazar/McCambley/Pop/Shugart
• Catchers: Realmuto.
• Infielders: Bohm, Harper, Stott, Turner
• Outfielders: Marsh, Crawford, Garcia
• Designated Hitter: Schwarber
• Bench: Marchan, Sosa, Kemp, Castellanos for now (then Rojas?/Leon)

The difference between the starting rotations is that Painter will be picking up the slack for Wheeler until his return.  I don’t get caught up with Painter’s rehab stats just as I didn’t concern myself with Abel’s stats the year before.  The important thing for Painter (and Abel the prior season) was the number of innings pitched.  I expect Painter to be very close to his pre-injury self.  I think that is more likely than any other starting pitching projections other than maybe Sanchez.  Still, give the edge to last season’s opening day rotation.

This season’s bullpen gets the edge because Duran is there this opening day.  Most of the relievers who are not returning will not be missed.  I think Shugart grabs an opening day spot.  The eighth spot will likely be a place holder for Walker until Wheeler returns to the rotation.

Catcher and Infield are the same.  One year older but hopefully as good or even a little better.

The outfield gets Crawford and Garcia instead of Kepler and Castellanos.  Advantage 2026 opening day?

Schwarber is a year older, but I’m of the opinion that he can hit as well as he has over the last four season for the next five seasons.  He wouldn’t be the first player to extend his career with solid offense as a DH.

And the bench.  I guess that Castellanos’ replacement has to improve this season’s bench.  The Phillies don’t rely on the bench for pinch hitting.  They are just there to give the starters a day off here and there with the occasional defensive replacement when Thomson thinks of it.

I think the rosters are close to being equal.  Last season Suarez bolstered the rotation; this year it’ll be Wheeler.  Dombrowski has several weeks to set the opening day roster plus the trade deadline to make any adjustments to this season’s team.  He shouldn’t have to go out and get a closer and hopefully not a center fielder.  Maybe he only needs to tweak a thing or two rather than big acquisitions.  I am much more negative in my non-PP life.  This little exercise brightens my outlook for this season.  After all they did win 96 games last season.

And then there’s Miller.  If he has a good spring and then does well at Lehigh Valley, he could force his way onto the Phillies roster.  If that is to be, then we should watch to see where he plays in spring training and Lehigh Valley.  If he moves off shortstop I think he has a good chance of getting promoted.  If he’s still at shortstop, then I don’t know.  During his 3 years with the Phillies, Miller has 224 starts – 211 at shortstop and 13 at DH.  I can’t make myself believe that the Phillies will bring him up to sit on the bench or play out of position.  Where he stands for drills at the Complex will be very interesting this spring.

Important Dates – Bold text is used for the dates I’m pretty certain are accurate.  Italics (and a date range) are used for those which I don’t have solid dates.

• January 15, 2026 (9:00 a.m. ET): Opening of the 2026 international signing period
• February 11, 2026: Earliest date injured players, pitchers, and catchers may be invited to spring training
• February 16, 2026: Earliest date all other players may be invited to spring training
• February 21, 2026: Earliest date players can be required to report to spring training
• March 26, 2026: Official opening of 2026 season; active rosters reduced to 26 (13 pitchers) by Noon ET
• July 11, 2026: 2026 MLB All-Star Futures Game, Philadelphia PA
• July 12-13, 2026: MLB First-Year Player Draft, Philadelphia PA (Phillies drop 10 slots)
• December 1, 2026 (11:59 p.m. ET): MLB Collective Bargaining Agreement expires.

Note: These dates will be used unless/until notified differently.  (Note that there are many more dates to add from Spring Training through the end of the 2026 season and calendar year.  I will add when I have accurate dates for them.)

Transactions

01/20/2026 – Phillies designated LF Weston Wilson for assignment
01/20/2026 – Phillies signed FA C J.T. Realmuto
01/15/2026 – Phillies signed FA OF Francisco Renteria to an MiLB contract
01/15/2026 – Phillies signed FA SS Juan Parra to an MiLB contract
01/15/2026 – Phillies signed FA RHP Justin Burgos to an MiLB contract
01/15/2026 – Phillies signed FA C Sebastian Saenz to an MiLB contract
01/15/2026 – Phillies signed FA LHP Samuel Ortiz to an MiLB contract
01/15/2026 – Phillies signed FA RHP Yilmar Samudio to an MiLB contract
01/15/2026 – Phillies signed FA OF Jose Briceno to an MiLB contract
01/15/2026 – Phillies signed FA SS Kevin Alvarado to an MiLB contract
01/15/2026 – Phillies signed FA C Jose Tovar to an MiLB contract
01/15/2026 – Phillies signed FA LHP Leonardo Larez to an MiLB contract
01/15/2026 – Phillies signed FA RHP David Victorino to an MiLB contract
01/15/2026 – Phillies signed FA SS Javen Maduro to an MiLB contract
01/15/2026 – Phillies signed FA RHP Jhoener Tovar to an MiLB contract
01/15/2026 – Phillies signed FA P Alexandre Moreti to an MiLB contract
01/15/2026 – Phillies signed FA RHP Jorge Miranda to an MiLB contract
01/15/2026 – Phillies signed FA 3B Patrick Silva to an MiLB contract
01/15/2026 – Phillies signed FA RHP Luis Mirabal to an MiLB contract
01/15/2026 – Phillies signed FA RHP Jose Romero to an MiLB contract
01/13/2026 – Pittsburgh traded RHP Chase Shugart to Phillies for IF Francisco Loreto
01/12/2026 – DSL Phillies Red released RHP Geremi Delpino