Dombrowski faces numerous issues
Dombrowski’s impact: Hired as president of baseball operations, Dave Dombrowski produced World Series champions with the Marlins (1997) and the Red Sox (2018).
While Dombrowski’s goal is to win “this year,” he says the Phillies are more than one player away. But he also has said “I consider it a retool, not a rebuild, for sure. We have too many good players on this club.”
Without the ability to sign differencemakers, Dombrowski probably won’t be able to make moves like trading four prospects for starter Chris Sale and closer Craig Kimbrel like he did in Boston. There are two reasons why: 1. The Phillies have a lack of quality players in the farm system; 2. They have an unwillingness to take on significant salaries.
Dombrowski will have to be more creative/fortunate if he plans on contending for a 2021 wild-card spot.
Though his past suggests more of a win-now approach, Dombrowski’s goal is “to build an organization that can be competitive, year in and year out.” And he insisted, “I love young players.”
Who’ll be in the ’pen? After compiling a 7.06 bullpen ERA last season, the Phillies have a lot of work to do in the relief department. Expect more moves like trading for lesser names like left-hander Jose Alvarado and right-hander Sam Coonrod.
The team’s payroll is likely to be trimmed from $183 million on opening day in 2020 due to financial concerns created by the COVID-19 pandemic.
J.T. Realmuto: The Phillies would clearly benefit from re-signing their AllStar catcher, but they have a number of other areas that might go unaddressed if they give Realmuto a big-money, longterm contract. There are no other starting-quality options on the roster, though, so the prospect of Andrew Knapp being the primary catcher is not appealing.
Several teams interested in signing Realmuto decided on other players, increasing the chances of the Phillies keeping him if they’re willing to meet his price.
For starters: The Phillies have two excellent starting pitchers (Aaron Nola and Zack Wheeler), a solid No. 3 in Zach Eflin and a bunch of question marks. One way to decrease the importance of the woeful bullpen would be by having starters who can eat up innings, but the rest of the in-house candidates are more of the five- or six-inning variety.
Short and center: They would benefit from upgrades at shortstop and center field that probably won’t happen. The projected scenario would be to move Jean Segura, if he’s not traded, back to shortstop and have Adam Haseley and Roman Quinn handle the job in center.