It was an anxious Friday for a number of Phillies players. Catchers Garrett Stubbs and Rafael Marchan got great news. Alec Bohm, Edmundo Sosa, Bryson Stott, Brandon Marsh, Jhoan Duran, Tanner Banks, and Jesus Luzardo all got good news. For pitchers Michael Mercado and Daniel Robert though, the news was bad. It was all a part of the final day for teams to offer contracts to players who were unsigned for 2026, but not yet eligible for free agency.

With J.T. Realmuto being a free agent, Stubbs and Marchan are the only two catchers on the 40-man roster and both got contracts for next season. That does not mean both will be with the team, but for either one to be sent to the minors next spring, the Phillies would have to get them through waivers. Marchan, 26, signed a one-year, $860-thousand contract and Stubbs, 32, signed a split contract that will pay him $925-thousand if he is on the MLB roster and $575-thousand if he is on a minor league roster.

The seven players offered contracts for next season are all eligible for arbitration. If they and the Phillies do not agree to contract figures they will go into arbitration hearings, which begin next January. They are considered signed and remain on the roster. Bohm, Luzardo, and Sosa are all in their final season of arbitration eligibility. Duran, Marsh, and Stott are arbitration eligible in both 2025 and 2026, while Banks is arbitration eligible through 2027.

For Mercado and Robert, their run with the Phillies is likely over. Both players are now free agents and eligible to sign a major league or minor league deal with any team. Mercado, 26, was acquired from Tampa Bay in an exchange of minor league pitchers following the 2023 season. He has made two starts and six relief appearances with the Phillies and has an 11.81 ERA in 16 innings. Last season Mercado made three relief appearances covering three innings and gave up seven earned runs. At Triple-A Lehigh Valley, Mercado was 6-1, 4.59 in 42 relief appearances.

Robert, 31, posted a 4.15 ERA in 15 relief appearances with the Phillies in 2025. He also made four relief appearances with the Rangers in 2024 and had a 3.18 ERA. Texas dealt Robert to the Phillies last April for pitcher Enrique Segura. Robert was recalled and optioned five times last summer by the Phillies. In August he spent 16 days on the IL with a right middle finger blister and was back on the IL in September with a right forearm strain where he spent the rest of the season.