The Phillies were bounced from the playoffs with a Game 3 Wild Card Series loss to the Braves on Thursday night. Given that the Phillies made the World Series in 2022 and have regressed in playoff performance since (NLCS in 2023, NLDS in 2024, NLDS in 2025 and WCS in 2026) along with a relatively old roster, there has been a stream of "end of an era" discussion on Friday. There are certainly plenty of questions for the front office to answer.
There are bound to be overreactions. I overreact a decent amount of the time, so I get it. We're often prisoners of the moment and emotion is a real thing.
I do want to push back on a specific idea, though, as floated by Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic: Trading Bryce Harper or Kyle Schwarber? Don't love the idea, but everything needs to be under consideration. Now, be sure that this isn't to attack the writer there, as I have the utmost respect for him and he even said he doesn't love the idea.
I can see a lot of people running with this, though, and I'll offer up my opinion that this just isn't a feasible idea for the Phillies. First off, Harper has a no-trade clause and it's been pretty clear over the last several years that he's now Philly through-and-through and doesn't want to go anywhere. Schwarber also has a no-trade clause with his 10-and-5 rights and now has a family with two young children.
Let's say either or both would accept a trade. Would it help the Phillies other than salary relief? Schwarber is a 34-year-old designated hitter heading into 2027 with four years and $132 million left on his deal.
How many teams would give the Phillies anything of value while also taking on a large portion of the salary? The answer is not that many and it might be zero. Harper needs to permanently go back to first base and he'll also be 34 years old next season.
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