Bryce Harper Talks Future After Playoff Elimination, Phillies 'Will Look a Lot Different' in 2027

The Philadelphia Phillies' season ended in the American League Wild Card round on Thursday after a 6-2 loss to the Atlanta Braves.

The Phillies have plenty of questions heading into the offseason, and Bryce Harper expects the team to "look a lot different" in 2027.

"Each year's so different than the year before. I don't really put stock into years before or what happened or anything else," Harper said. "This was a brand new team. Obviously, we had the guys that are part of that core group that we are. I'd imagine this team is going to look a lot different next year with the guys that are leaving this clubhouse. So, we'll see."

Harper is tied to the Phillies through the 2031 season, so he'll remain in Philadelphia for years to come, barring a trade. Stars like Zack Wheeler, Kyle Schwarber, Trea Turner and Aaron Nola are also set to return.

But the Phillies have a handful of notable free agents , such as Alec Bohm, Jose Alvarado, Luis Arreaz, Emundo Sosa and more.

Perhaps the biggest question mark is who will be the Phillies' skipper in 2027.

Philadelphia fired manager Rob Thomson in April after a rough start to the season, and interim manager Don Mattingly helped the Phillies get back on track to reach the postseason, but he has yet to shed the interim tag.

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported this week that Mattingly was "likely to be replaced" if the Phillies didn't make a deep run in the postseason, so it seems Philadelphia will be on the hunt for a new manager.

Schwarber spoke highly of Mattingly after the season ended on Thursday.

"Even when things got hard, the way that he was able to keep things at even-keel pace for us. I think that was huge," Schwarber said.

The Phillies were interested in Alex Cora after he was fired by the Boston Red Sox, but he turned the offer down. Cora said in April that he's interested in getting back into baseball at some point, but didn't clarify how soon that would be.

Even with an offseason full of changes coming, the Phillies will retain most of their core as they try to get back to the World Series. How different the team will look in the spring remains to be seen.