The Phillies are keeping tabs on the outfield market, incl Jo Adell Angels and Seiya Suzuki of the Cubs, via Bob Nightengale of USA Today. Philadelphia has designated the everyday right fielder Adolis Garcia in IL for 60 days on Friday with a torn lat. The team lost a central player Johan Rojas elbow surgery earlier that day.
The 27-year-old Adell is in his second-to-last year of arbitration. He agreed to a $5.2MM salary with the team this season. Adell finally flashed the tools that made him one of the best in the Angels lineup, hitting 37 home runs as a middle-of-the-pack in 2025.
Adell hasn’t shown the same swagger this year. He hit 10 home runs in 301 plate appearances. The right bat lowered his strikeout rate to 22.9%, but came with a significant drop in ISO and SLG.
With Mike Trout back in the center of the field, Adell is now sitting in the corners, where he was comfortable. Adell struggled to -13 Defensive Runs Saved as a center fielder for the Angels in 2025. He posted a -1 DRS between left and right field this season. Adell has been a great defender in his career.
Suzuki is in the final season of a five-year, $85MM deal he signed with Chicago through 2022. He made $18MM this year. The Cubs didn’t look like salesmen in April, but through six weeks the team sat in third place in the competitive NL Central. Parting with a free agent in waiting like Suzuki would make sense if the Cubs fall out of the playoff race.
The 31-year-old Suzuki missed the first few weeks of the season with a knee injury suffered during the World Baseball Classic. He hit a plateau in his return, hitting .328/.430/.567 in April. The production of this veteran decreased in May. Suzuki posted a .551 OPS last month. He turned things around in June, hitting .306 with three home runs in 11 games.
Suzuki has a campaign to bring it back to the field. After reaching -5 DRS last season, he has tallied 7 DRS in 438 2/3 innings this year. Suzuki has played very well in 2026. He received strong grades in his distance and arm.
It’s probably no coincidence that the Phillies are especially interested in righty athletes, Garcia going down. The longtime Ranger joined the team on a one-year, $10 million contract as his replacement Nick Castellanos. He was struggling through his worst season as a full-time starter before going down with the latest injury, recording a 66 wRC+ through 259 plate appearances.
Rojas did not pitch in the big league club this year after receiving an 80-game suspension for PEDs in March. He was working his way back to playing when the elbow pain arose. Rojas will miss the rest of the season after undergoing surgery on his UCL. He is expected to be ready for Spring Training next year.
Philly has already made one move to address his outfield needs, though it was much smaller than a potential deal for Adell or Suzuki. The team found a foreign player Derek Hill from the White Sox for a few prospects last week. The veteran started in center field in both games over the weekend against the Brewers. He had a hit in each game. Those two games were played with lefties starting, pushing each other Justin Crawford on the bench.
Photo courtesy of Kiyoshi Mio, Imagn Images
