Royals' Matt Strahm Shades Phillies After Trade To Kansas City

Matt Strahm is happy to be back in a Kansas City Royals uniform, but he's also attempting to set the record straight about the end of his time with the Philadelphia Phillies.

After Strahm was traded to Kansas City for righty Jonathan Bowlan on Dec. 19, word came out that the end of his time in Philadelphia had included "growing friction" (via Matt Gelb of The Athletic). Even after an All-Star appearance in 2024 and another strong year in 2025, the Phillies essentially salary-dumped the 34-year-old.

During an appearance on Foul Territory last week, Strahm wanted something to be very clear: He doesn't consider himself to be a difficult teammate to have in any capacity.

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Strahm talks trade out of Philadelphia

"I don't think there's one guy in there that would say a bad thing about me."@MattStrahm says he's unaware of any player he butted heads with in Philadelphia. pic.twitter.com/s1HidvT1cB
— Foul Territory (@FoulTerritoryTV) January 7, 2026

“I’m unaware of any player I’ve ever butted a head with there,” Strahm said. “I’m a middle reliever. I’m not going to be a Hall of Famer, but the one thing I can control is being a good teammate. I don’t think there’s one guy in there that would say a bad thing about me.

"Everything’s business. I’ll call a spade a spade. In this business, those guys usually aren’t liked. But at least I know I have my job because I am the guy for the job.”

Oct 4, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Matt Strahm (25) reacts after allowing a home run during the seventh inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers during game one of the NLDS round for the 2025 MLB playoffs at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images | Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

Meanwhile, Strahm, who began his major league career with the Royals in 2016 and spent 5 1/2 years in the organization after being drafted out of Neosho County Community College in nearby Chanute, Kan., had effusive praise for his current organization.

“The Kansas City Royals do an unbelievable job of not only producing major league athletes, but they produce men,” Strahm said. “Like that is something that I was brought up with Kansas City and (former Royals general manager) Dayton Moore, his whole thing was, ‘We’re going to have good ball players, but we’re going to first make sure that you guys are good men.’ Kansas City, in my opinion, they do it the right way."

Strong words from a pitcher looking to both help the Royals back to the playoffs and win over the fan base.

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