The Philadelphia Phillies made their biggest move this offseason so far with the trade for starting pitcher Jesús Luzardo from the Miami Marlins. The acquisition of the 27-year-old left-hander is massive for the Phillies as he should become a key core rotation piece alongside Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola going forward.
With the arrival of Luzardo, it will no doubt have a trickle-down effect on not only the Phillies’ pitching staff, but perhaps the entire roster makeup as well. As a result, there could be some expected and unexpected candidates heading their way out of town as a fallout of the trade transaction. With that, let’s take a look at three Phillies players who might not be back in 2025 thanks to Luzardo.
Taijuan Walker
One of the obvious candidates who could be on his way out the door is veteran right-handed pitcher Taijuan Walker. Having signed a massive four-year, $72 million contract during the 2022-23 offseason, the Phillies were looking to Walker to become a key cog in their rotation in support of Wheeler, Nola and company at the time. However, after a respectable first season with Philadelphia in which Walker led the team in wins with 15, he completely fell apart during an injury-filled 2024 campaign.
In fact, he put together one of the worst seasons for a Phillies ever in the majors in 2024 by posting a 3-7 record with a dismal 7.10 ERA and 1.72 WHIP, giving up 66 earned runs, including 24 home runs, 37 walks and 58 strikeouts in just 83 2/3 innings pitched over 19 games (which included 15 starts).
Things got so bad for Walker that he was relegated to the bullpen toward the end of the season with hopes that he could fix what was ailing him, but to no avail. With the uncertainty of whether he can regain his prior form, the Phillies now no longer have to wait for the outcome as the acquisition of Luzardo firmly replaces Walker in the rotation. With Walker’s role up in the air now for 2025, after seeing him struggle last season as a reliever, Philadelphia would likely want to unload his contract now in any way possible.
Alec Bohm
Having been mentioned in numerous trade rumors throughout the current offseason, third baseman Alec Bohm remains a potential trade chip for the Phillies going forward. Since Philadelphia has already gone big with the Luzardo move, they should keep the ball rolling and recruit at least one more marquee player to put the team over the top. But to bring in quality, you have to give up some quality as well.
With Bohm still only 28 years old and heading into his prime, he would be the exact piece that the Phillies can ultimately use to land a big difference-maker. Despite the Phillies recently claiming that they are not looking to trade Bohm, MLB insider Jon Morosi definitely thought otherwise and that he is indeed on the trade block.
This past season, Bohm remained relatively productive for the Phillies, putting up 15 home runs and 97 RBI while batting .280 in the process. However, some struggles towards the end of 2024 ultimately led to a disastrous postseason in which he managed only one hit in 13 at-bats, en route to the Phillies’ early playoff exit.
In fact, Bohm has often come up short for Philadelphia during the postseason for much of his career, posting a .214 average and .629 OPS, with just two home runs, 14 RBI, 11 walks and 25 strikeouts in 34 playoff games. By removing Bohm’s contract and converting him into a proven elite commodity such as a Nolan Arenado or an Alex Bregman via trade or free agency respectively, that missing piece of the puzzle might just be enough to finally get the Phillies to the promised land.
Ranger Suárez
Finally, we have one of the long-time Phillies in starter Ranger Suárez. Despite having his ups and downs primarily in a relief role with Philadelphia during his first few seasons in the league, Suárez officially broke through after permanently moving into a starting role during the 2022 season. Last season, he even went into the record books for one of the best starts to a regular season. Despite some struggles in the latter half of the year, Suárez still managed to amass a 12-8 record, 3.46 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 41 walks and 145 strikeouts in 150 2/3 innings of work over 27 starts.
However, recent rumors this offseason have suggested that Suárez could be on the trade block. After all, he showed some durability issues during the second half of 2024 that ultimately affected his effectiveness. On top of that, the fact the Phillies extended Cristopher Sánchez but not Suárez clearly indicated that he might not be in their long term plans.
Added to the fact that Suárez has recently changed his agent to the infamous Scott Boras, who is known for negotiating some of MLB’s richest contracts, that more or less guarantees he won’t be signing an extension any time soon in the coming year. As a result, with Luzardo being a potential elite replacement for Suárez in the rotation in the long run, the Phillies should capitalize on moving Suárez while his value is still high right now to recoup some valuable assets.
