Trade season is upon us. Here are potential targets for the Phillies to address their big needs.

Executives from 30 major league front offices will walk into a Las Vegas resort and casino Monday evening for the annual general managers’ meetings.

That’s a lot of poker faces.

But with the owners poised to lock out the players upon the expiration of the collective bargaining agreement at 11:59 p.m. on Dec. 1, the meetings could serve as the launching pad for a three-week free-agent frenzy.

That’s how it happened five years ago. With baseball barreling toward a labor fight, teams spent a total of nearly $2 billion on free agents in the weeks before the owners locked out the players.

» READ MORE: A (likely long) lockout looms again for MLB. Why a salary cap is at the center of it all. Again.

Tarik Skubal is easily the headliner of this free-agent class, but if the two-time Cy Young Award winner signs before the lockout, he won’t be alone. Fellow starting pitchers Michael King, Freddy Peralta, and Clay Holmes, and relievers Adrian Morejon and David Bednar could come off the board, too.

The Phillies are interested in Japanese slugger Teruaki Sato, multiple sources confirmed, likely as a left fielder even though he played mostly third base in Japan. But two non-Phillies talent evaluators said they graded him as a below-average defender at every position.

Sato, who turns 28 in March, also bats left-handed. Coupled with the defensive questions, that could leave the Phillies to favor a pair of righty-hitting outfielders entering their age-32 seasons with nearly identical five-year numbers, including batting average/on-base/slugging slash lines and Fangraphs’ WAR:

Suzuki and Arozarena are likely in line for similar four- or five-year contracts. And because both received the free-agent qualifying offer, signing them would involve draft-pick compensation. But either player would boost a Phillies lineup that this season was 26th in OPS from outfielders (.686), 29th from the cleanup spot (.645), and 30th from the right side of the plate (.658).

The Phillies have other needs, too, and with roughly $280 million in luxury-tax commitments for 2027, president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski won’t be able to throw money at all of them.

It’s possible the trade market will also be stimulated by the compressed offseason calendar, officials from multiple clubs suggested this week.

The GM meetings are usually a time when teams lay the groundwork for activity later in the offseason. But with limited time to make deals, and every front office under one roof for two days this week, it could be fertile ground for accelerated trade talks.

(History lesson: The Phillies famously traded for closer Brad Lidge at the GM meetings in 2007.)

Let’s focus on four players who may be available for various reasons and would potentially fit the Phillies’ roster:

A few days before the trade deadline in 2025, the Guardians were under .500 and reeling from the news that star closer Emmanuel Clase would be out indefinitely as the subject of an investigation into his involvement in a sports-betting scheme.

So, they began listening to offers for Kwan.

The Phillies tried to trade for the All-Star left fielder, major league sources said at the time. But with Kwan under club control through 2027, Cleveland kept him and was rewarded with a late surge to the AL Central title — and another division crown this year. (The Phillies instead acquired center fielder Harrison Bader from the Twins.)

» READ MORE: Will the Phillies spend to beef up the middle of the order? Here are some free-agent options.

Rival team officials believe Kwan may be available again given the low-payroll Guardians’ history of trading stars as they enter their last year before free agency. They dealt Corey Kluber after the 2019 season, Francisco Lindor in January 2021, and Josh Naylor three years later. It’s how the Guardians remain competitive — and they’ve made the playoffs in eight of 11 seasons.

If Kwan, projected to make $11.3 million next year, is next to go, the Phillies should remain interested.

The 29-year-old is a contact-hitting, on-base machine who has reached base at a .357 clip, including a career-best .382 mark this season, with a 9.5% strikeout rate. He’s cut from a similar mold as Luis Arraez with two notable differences: He swings less than Arraez and walks almost twice as often. Like Arraez, Kwan would be a counterweight to the Phillies’ swing-and-miss tendencies.

Phillies 2027 outlook

The Inquirer's Lochlahn March takes a look at each of the Phillies' position groups — who will be back, free-agent questions, prospects who could be in the mix and more.

Infield | Outfield | Catchers | Starting pitchers | Bullpen

Kwan is also a four-time Gold Glove-winning left fielder and above average in center. The Phillies could reimagine the outfield by signing Suzuki or Arozarena, trading for Kwan, giving Justin Crawford the majority of the at-bats in center field, and trading Brandon Marsh for a reliever or backup catcher.

The Guardians were reportedly believed to be seeking top-100 prospects for Kwan in 2025. With only one year of control, the return figures to be lower now. Start here: Change-of-scenery-candidate reliever Orion Kerkering and a couple of positional prospects from among Aroon Escobar, Bryan Rincon, Dante Nori, and Gabriel Rincones Jr.

A year ago, the Astros reportedly discussed swapping Paredes for Red Sox outfielder Jarren Duran. It didn’t materialize, and they went into the season with an infield surplus that came in handy when third baseman Carlos Correa tore an ankle tendon in May.

But Correa is expected to be healthy to begin next season, leaving new general manager Randy Flores with a familiar problem: Too many infielders.

The Astros exercised Paredes’ $13.35 million option but could still choose to unload him (or shortstop Jeremy Peña, also entering his walk year) and add to another area of the roster.

» READ MORE: With help from TB12, Aidan Miller is healthy, grateful for adversity, and primed to impact the Phillies in 2027

Paredes, 27, has right-handed power with 115 homers over the last five seasons, including 25 this year. He’s also patient at the plate (11% career walk rate) and tends to put the ball in play, making him a fit to bat behind Bryce Harper. He would slot in at third base, replacing free agent Alec Bohm and facilitating Bryson Stott’s return to second.

One potential complication: Trading for Paredes could block top prospect Aidan Miller — unless Trea Turner moves to the outfield.

(Worth noting: In discussing a position change for Turner, Dombrowski said last month that the $300 million shortstop “prefers the infield.”)

In any case, it’s not clear that the Phillies and Astros would match up in a trade. Houston owner Jim Crane has little tolerance for rebuilding, and the Astros are reportedly seeking starting pitching and outfielders.

For a bullpen that ranked 21st in the majors in ERA, the seats are filling up quickly alongside Phillies star closer Jhoan Duran.

Right-handers Alex McFarlane, Jonathan Bowlan, and Caleb Kilian are ticketed for spots. The Phillies re-signed lefty Tim Mayza after the season and will add a high-leverage lefty to replace José Alvarado. (Free-agent options include Morejon and Alex Vesia.) And they could collect a handful of optionable relievers to fill the final two spots.

But setup man Brad Keller, last offseason’s big bullpen addition, is expected to miss all or most of 2027 after Tommy John elbow surgery. It’s fair to wonder if McFarlane (19 major league appearances) and Kilian (57) are sufficient replacements for Keller and likely Kerkering, whose second-half struggles landed him back in triple A and firmly on the trade market.

The Phillies went after Hicks in free agency three years ago but were rebuffed when he accepted the Giants’ offers of four years, $44 million, and a chance to start. He bounced from starting back to relieving — and from San Francisco to Boston to Chicago — before winding up as a veteran in the upstart White Sox’s young bullpen. He will make $12 million in the last year of his contract.

At age 30, Hicks still throws as hard as ever (average fastball velocity: 99.2 mph). Phillies pitching coach Caleb Cotham loves a good sweeper, and Hicks’ is a weapon against right-handed hitters (.161 opposing batting average). Cotham’s challenge would be to rein in a walk rate that ballooned to 15.3%.

But the electric stuff might be worth the dice roll.

Ethan Salas, who made his major league debut Sept. 2 and won’t turn 21 until next June, was behind the plate for three of the Padres’ postseason games. The other three were started by Luis Campusano.

Where does that leave Freddy Fermin?

The Phillies are looking for a more capable backup to help lighten J.T. Realmuto’s league-leading workload. Defense is a high priority, according to Dombrowski, especially because the bar is low to match the combined .316 OPS from Rafael Marchán and Garrett Stubbs. The Phillies outrighted Stubbs last week.

» READ MORE: What the World Series teams and one stellar August can show the Phillies about improving in 2027

Fermin, 31, led Padres catchers with 74 starts in the regular season but slipped to third-string on the depth chart after batting .203 with a .589 OPS. He’s a better hitter (.251 career average, .665 OPS), though his strength is his defense.

Since 2023, Fermin is tied for second among all catchers in defensive runs saved (45) and eighth in fielding run value. He gets high marks for blocking and pop time on throws to second base.

“We do emphasize defense more in our catching position than we do offense,” Dombrowski said. “And a lot of times, if you’re talking about having somebody who can hit and be a good defensive person, it’d be probably an everyday catcher somewhere because they’re not that easy to find.”

Fermin might fit the description.

Watch the latest episode

As the Phillies’ representative in the players’ union, Garrett Stubbs is on the front lines of baseball’s upcoming labor dispute. The backup catcher, who was designated for assignment on Thursday, joined Phillies Extra to discuss why the players won’t go for a salary cap, sitting in on early negotiations, when baseball might be played in 2027, and (spoiler!) his plans to create content during the looming lockout. Watch here. Watch here.

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Previous episodes: Tim Mayza | Aidan Miller | Scott Franzke | Larry Andersen | Matt Klentak | Jeff Francoeur | Luke Murton | Mike Hazen | Tony Gwynn Jr. | Kevin Stocker