MLB.com: Phillies’ Roster Ranks No. 20 in WAR Rankings

After missing the playoffs for the ninth straight season, its clear the Philadelphia Phillies need to make some changes to their mediocre roster.

In an MLB.com ranking of every team’s current roster by WAR, the Phillies ranked No. 20 with a 25 WAR.

To give some perspective of these ranking, the top five ranked teams all participated in the 2020 MLB playoffs: the Los Angeles Dodgers (44.3 WAR), San Diego Padres (39.8), New York Yankees (38.9), Minnesota Twins (38.6) and Houston Astros (38.5).

Among NL East teams, the Phillies were fourth among five teams, with the Marlins coming in behind the Phillies at No. 28.

So what does this mean for the Phillies?

The teams message seems to be don't expect to much this offseason.  Managing partner John Middleton has stated the COVID-19 pandemic has made things challenging, and adding more payroll doesn't seem likely.

ESPN offered these two names to keep an eye on this offseason, Liam Hendriks and Andrelton Simmons.

Adding an arm like Hendricks' would help what was the worst bullpen in baseball and one of the worst in league history, but that unit still needs a ton of work. There is a good possibility the bullpen will have four-to-five new faces in 2021.

The only reason the 2020 Phillies didn't have the worst bullpen in history is because a previous iteration of the Phillies did, back in 1930, and so if you'd like to start with "blow that all up and start over," you'd be justified in doing so. The problem is, that's hardly their only need, and we don't know who's going to be running the show yet.

As MLB suggests, fixing the bullpen isn't the teams only issue.

They still need to figure out their plan for J.T. Realmuto, and if he walks, how they will replace him.  Another need could be replacing shortstop Didi Gregorius, which Simmons would do, if they brought him in. Otherwise, they could turn back to Jean Segura at short, or see if former first-round pick Bryson Stott is ready to play.

As for the good news?

The good news is that Aaron Nola, Zack Wheeler, Rhys Hoskins and Bryce Harper were very good. Alec Bohm looks like a keeper. The offense was actually pretty strong, though that included Gregorius and Realmuto. Otherwise? A decade since their last winning season, they're still not close to contending.