Nobody can say the Philadelphia Phillies don’t spend money. Coming into 2025, they will have the third-highest total payroll in all of baseball behind the Dodgers and Mets. They have consistently spent so much money, that they are now in a luxury tax bracket that requires them to pay a 110% penalty on everything over $301 million.
So how do you retool and address the needs of the team as efficiently as possible? Signing players to short-term deals on a “prove it” contract and finding value in players who you expect to bounce back from injuries or a down year.
The Phillies’ new faces for 2025
Max Kepler, Joe Ross, and Jordan Romano will all be new Phillies this season. All three were signed to a one-year contract with a cumulative price tag of $22.5 million. Left-handed starter Jesus Luzardo was added via trade with the Miami Marlins this December for two of the Phillies top-25 prospects, shortstop Starlyn Caba and outfielder Emaarion Boyd. Luzardo adds depth to one of the best starting rotations in all of baseball and is arbitration-eligible and under team control for two full seasons.
“First of all, we like Jesús Luzardo a great deal,” Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said in December. “We think he’s a quality big league pitcher and we’ve liked him for a few years.”
Luzardo has shown flashes of being a high-quality starter. From 2022-23, he logged 50 starts and posted a 3.48 ERA in those two season. His best season was in 2023 when he had 208 strikeouts in over 178 innings. That is the version of Luzardo the Phillies hope shows up this season. The other version is injury-riddled with bad production.
Last year, he only made 12 starts for the Marlins while producing a 5.00 ERA. His season was cut short due to a lumbar stress reaction as well as left elbow tightness. He’s been sidelined throughout his career for similar issues with the A’s and Marlins. He seems like the perfect fit for a reclamation project as he’s still only 27 years old. When healthy, this guy is a phenomenal addition to the rotation.
Max Kepler is also coming off a season where he spent time on the IL for a core injury that required surgery. The difference is Kepler is no All-Star even when he is healthy. He’s had one stand-out season in 2019 where he launched 36 home runs, 90 RBIs, and had a 123 OPS+. Other than that, he’s been a league-average to below-average player. Honestly, that’s okay.
The Phillies don’t necessarily need massive production from him as they have an already stacked lineup. They need him to hit righties well (.778 OPS vs righties in his career) and beef up his OBP. The Phillies are counting on him to be their everyday left fielder if he can hold his own.
Our last injury-prone addition is Jordan Romano. He pitched roughly two months last season before needing surgery on his right elbow. Again, another player who’s got nasty stuff when he’s on the mound. Romano was an All-Star with the Blue Jays in 2022 and 2023 where he notched 36 saves and a sub 2.91 ERA in consecutive seasons.
He will look to pick up the slack that Jeff Hoffman left in that bullpen. If these three guys can return to form, stay healthy, and contribute to this well-oiled machine in Philadelphia, we’ll be crediting Dave Dombrowski for having the foresight to sign them.