Phillies Rob Thomson’s decision should put these 3 players on the trading block

In a season full of promise, the Philadelphia Phillies were defeated in four games in the NLDS by their NL East rivals, the New York Mets. Philadelphia had its best regular season in more than a decade, but will have to watch the NLCS from the sidelines for the first time since 2021.

With how poorly this season ended, change felt somehow inevitable. Would firing Kevin Long, the team’s hitting coach, solve their problems? They struggled mightily offensively in the postseason in the games they lost and ended their 2023 season in similar fashion. Would sacking manager Rob Thomson be worth it? It’s not exactly Thomson’s fault that most of his position players and his entire bullpen didn’t show up, but he didn’t have his best series either.

Instead of firing anyone, Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski made the decision to not only bring back the entire coaching staff but extend Thomson through the 2026 campaign.

Dombrowski opting to bring back the entire coaching staff makes one thing abundantly clear: he does not believe their early departures after the season were due to the coaching staff. It can be debated whether Dombrowski is right or not, but that is clearly his belief. If the coaches don’t deserve blame for the Phillies’ shortcomings, then it should be on the players, right?

Bringing back almost the exact same team with the exact same coaching staff after another disappointing departure shouldn’t be an option. When the coaching staff returns, there will have to be major changes among the players. Obviously, core pieces like Bryce Harper, Zack Wheeler, and Trea Turner (just to name a few) aren’t going anywhere, but the Phillies do have moveable players who can be dealt out to shake things up. Here are three logical ones for Dave Dombrowski to say goodbye to.

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Phillies center fielders tied for 23rd in the Majors with an 80 wRC+. An important reason for this is that Johan Rojas started the majority of his games in that position. To his credit, Rojas is an excellent defensive outfielder, but his bat leaves a lot to be desired.

When their high-powered lineup is as good as they can be, Rojas’ shortcomings at the plate are hard to notice and easy to gloss over. However, when they’re struggling, as they were in October, it’s a lot easier to notice that Rojas gives them next to nothing as a hitter.

He is a 24-year-old midfielder with a lot of speed and an excellent glove. If there is a team interested in taking a chance on him in exchange for a proven product, the Phillies should take that opportunity and not look back.

Once again, Rojas is an excellent starting center fielder when the other eight batters come up to bat. He would be an excellent fourth outfielder. The fact that their offense wasn’t at an elite level in October makes it difficult to start Rojas. Trading him while he has a decent amount of value given his age, defense and club control in exchange for something to make them better in 2025 would be worth it.

This Phillies lineup is stacked with talent from top to bottom, which is what makes the way they lost so frustrating. Their offense full of good hitters simply didn’t show up. One of the hitters who failed to join the party was Brandon Marsh, who went just 1-for-13 in the series.

Marsh is what he is at this point. He has some power, can steal some bases and is a strong defender. He’s going to strike out a lot, can be a streaky hitter and can only play against righties. He is a valuable player to have, but he is also an expendable player.

The 26-year-old is about to enter his first year of arbitration this season and is under control through the 2027 season, making him the cheap and valuable player teams covet. What if the Phillies can find a way to trade Marsh, their No. 8 hitter who can only play against righties, as part of a package for a big bat like Brent Rooker or Luis Robert Jr.? That feels like a no-brainer. Marsh won’t get you the star on his own, but he’s an easy player to replace in the lineup and would have good trade value.

It’s time to talk about Alec Bohm. During the regular season he has grown into a great player. He just had his best full season in 2024, slashing .280/.332/.448 with 15 home runs and 97 RBI. His defense is still an issue and he doesn’t have as much power as Phillies fans would like, but he is extremely tenacious at the plate and more often than not finds a way to put the ball in play.

Alec Bohm is a building block in the regular competition. Alec Bohm in the postseason, however, is a player that Rob Thomson did not shy away from playing on the bench in Game 2 of the NLDS. Bohm went 1-for-13 in the NLDS, hitting .214/.295/.333 with two home runs and 14 RBI in 132 at-bats in his postseason career. In other words, he’s a shadow of his former self when the pressure is on.

Trusting Bohm to be the hitter everyone expects him to be in October feels like a worthwhile gamble, but what if the Phillies can land a big bat in an open-market deal?

Granted, it’s unlikely the Phillies will trade Bohm given his age, years of control and the fact that he’s an All-Star level player, but his postseason struggles have to be a concern, right? If the Phillies want to start hitting in October, a good place to start would be to see what they can get for a player with a history of trouble in October. If nothing valuable is offered, reversing isn’t the worst thing.