Dombrowski is relying on his youth, skill, and desire to succeed.
An excerpt of this story appeared in Todd Zolecki’s Phillies Beat newsletter. Go here to view the newsletter in its entirety. And sign up to receive it in your inbox on a regular basis.
Shohei Ohtani was not acquired by the Phillies.
Juan Soto, for example.
Josh Hader, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and any other remaining big-name player are unlikely to be acquired by them this offseason. Some fans are worried about it.
Although the Phillies re-signed Aaron Nola to a seven-year, $172 million contract last month, many still think the team must do better to win a World Series than they have the last two years. However, here’s an absurd idea: Perhaps, just possibly, Dave Dombrowski, the president of baseball operations for the Phillies, has an instinct for these things, and when he stated last week at the Winter Meetings that he thinks this team is talented enough to win without making another significant offseason move, he knew exactly what he was talking about.
Asked if there is risk in trying to “run it back” with the same team that fell short the past couple of years, Dombrowski said, “I think there can be. But I don’t think there is with this group, and I think for a couple reasons. One, we didn’t win it all. I think there’s a little bit more danger if you win it all. So you’re still driven because you haven’t achieved that.
Last season, the Phillies did not have Harper in the lineup until early May. They did not have him at first base until mid-July. They will have him in the Opening Day lineup this year, and they hope he plays 150-plus games for the first time since 2019. A healthy Harper would make a huge difference, both offensively and defensively.
2. Kyle Schwarber
Schwarber will be the DH almost every day, which improves the defense. The Phillies also said they expect Schwarber to be moving better next season. (He played through a knee issue last season, which he continues to rehab.)
“I’m not sure how the outfield is going to fall with the third spot, but if it is [Johan] Rojas, to me, that’s different,” Dombrowski said. “We really hadn’t planned on Schwarber being our left fielder on a regular basis. So that’s changed.”
3. Stars
“We have a lot of veterans, but I don’t think they’re old veterans,” Dombrowski said. “They’re still early 30s.”
He specifically mentioned Trea Turner, and how he believes he will have a better overall season now that he is settled in Philly. Dombrowski also mentioned Nola and how the Phils believe his late-season adjustments will carry into next season
4. Youth
Dombrowski expects Bryson Stott, Alec Bohm, Brandon Marsh, Rojas, Cristopher Sánchez, Orion Kerkering and others to continue to improve.
“Some of our change, I think, is through young blood,” Dombrowski s
“I think you have to know your own players,” he said. “And I don’t get any sense of contentment. We are rolling the same team back, but really we’re only rolling the same team that was there the last couple months of the season, and we didn’t win it all. And I think there’s still a great hunger to win this thing.
“I’m not so sure that there’s not more in our tank just as an overall club
