Another day, another huge missed opportunity by the Philadelphia Phillies to bolster their roster for the 2025 season. On Friday, the Phillies watched the National League rival Chicago Cubs land Kyle Tucker in an opportunistic blockbuster trade with the Houston Astros. As an elite 27-year-old outfielder with the perfect balance of speed, plate discipline, offense and defense all in one, Tucker would have been the perfect outfield solution for the Phillies.
Nevertheless, Philadelphia will need to now resort to some alternative options, whether by free agency or the trade route, to upgrade their outfield position heading into next season. Fortunately, there are still some strong, viable options available for the Phillies to pursue. But they will need to act soon before those end up disappearing in front of their eyes as well. Here, we take a look at three potential outfield moves that the club absolutely needs to make after missing out on Tucker.
The Phillies should sign Anthony Santander
As perhaps the top remaining outfield option with the greatest offensive potential, Anthony Santander should now become the most popular outfield target among the many contenders in the league. After all, Santander is coming off a career season in which he posted a .235 batting average and .814 OPS, along with 91 runs scored, 25 doubles, 44 home runs and 102 RBI in 155 games. In doing so, he made his first ever All-Star appearance in the process. More importantly, his 44 home runs ranked him third in the entire league behind just Aaron Judge (58) and Shohei Ohtani (54).
In addition, as an elite switch hitter, Santander has managed to put up similar production numbers, whether batting left- or right-handed, thus preventing opposing pitchers from gaining any advantage in his at-bats. At the same time, it would enable the Phillies to implement different strategies when deploying Santander in their lineup in specific matchups.
A number of sources have predicted that the Phillies would sign the former Baltimore Orioles slugger in free agency this offseason, and that chance has now drastically increased after some big names came off the board in recent days. As a result, missing out on the likes of Tucker, Juan Soto and company could be heartbreaking, but nabbing Santander would sure be a great consolation prize for Philadelphia.
The Phillies should sign Teoscar Hernández
Despite not being mentioned in many recent free agency rumors around the Phillies, Teoscar Hernández would be a great fit for Philadelphia if they were looking for a power-hitting outfielder with a championship-winning pedigree. After all, Hernández just helped the Los Angeles Dodgers capture their second World Series title in five years.
After spending his entire MLB career previously in the American League, he made the transition to the National League flawlessly in his first season with the Dodgers in 2024. Over 154 games, Hernández compiled a stellar .272 batting average, .840 OPS, 84 runs scored, 32 doubles, 33 home runs and 99 RBI.
In addition, he was able to remain productive during the Dodgers’ postseason run by adding eight runs scored, three home runs and 12 RBI while batting .250 with a .769 OPS over 16 playoff games. His defense might still be a little suspect, having recorded -3 DRS in 2024. But there’s no denying his elite cannon of an arm, having recorded a whopping 29 outfield assists in the past three seasons.
Most importantly, having been through all the rigors of playing for a championship-caliber team, Hernández could bring that valuable winning experience over to the Phillies to help lead the team to eventual glory as well. According to Matt Gelb of The Athletic, a league source indicated that the Phillies have at least previously “touched base” with Hernández’s camp. So it may be about time to seriously look into this potentially lethal option with the stakes being raised recently.
The Phillies should trade for Cody Bellinger
If the Phillies intend to target an elite outfielder, why not go for one that has an extensive established resume of success in the league? In that case, Cody Bellinger would be an ideal target via the trade route for Philadelphia. As a proven winner, Bellinger is a former two-time All-Star, two-time Silver Slugger, Gold Glove and NL Rookie of the Year and NL MVP award winner. On top of that, he played an important role in helping the Dodgers reach the postseason between 2017 to 2022, capturing NLCS MVP honors in 2018 and the eventual World Series championship in 2020.
Despite coming off just a respectable 2024 season with the Chicago Cubs, Bellinger is just one year removed from his stellar 26-homer, 97-RBI campaign in 2023 in which he also batted a career-high .307 with 20 stolen bases. More significantly, when taking a look at his advanced statistics with Statcast, at least he isn’t getting overmatched at the plate with a strong squared-up and strikeout rate that ranked above the 85th percentile, along with solid fielding and running values in 2024.
In addition, Bellinger has been part of a Cubs team that has failed to reach the postseason in each of the last two seasons. Being able to join a legitimate contender like the Phillies once again could do wonders for the 29-year-old in the midst of his prime years. With the Cubs’ acquisition of Tucker, Bellinger’s days with Chicago should be numbered as he will likely be moved sooner than expected. In fact, the New York Yankees may already be in hot pursuit, which is why the Phillies should act fast before it’s too late.
