A grim offseason for the Phillies took an interesting turn on Thursday when news broke that the Phillies are set to hire Dave Dombrowski as the new president of baseball operations. Dombrowski, 64, would usurp current president Andy MacPhail, whose contract expires following the 2021 season.
Dombrowski has made four trips to the Fall Classic over his career, having won the World Series in 1997 with the Marlins as general manager, and then in 2018 with the Red Sox as the president of baseball operations. Over the course of his career, he has acted as the general manager for the Montreal Expos, the Florida Marlins, and the Detroit Tigers, and has also been the president of baseball operations for the Tigers and Red Sox.
In four full years in Boston, Dombrowski led the Red Sox to the playoffs three times, claiming the AL East for three consecutive years. Dombrowski was responsible for bringing in Craig Kimbrel, Chris Sale, Nathan Eovaldi, and J.D. Martinez, paving the way for the Red Sox’s 2018 World Series crown.
Dombrowski has never been one to shy away from making large moves, having traded away several prospects from the Red Sox in order to complete those trades. The Phillies are very familiar with the fruits and the faults of this strategy dating back to the Ruben Amaro Jr. era.
The Phillies bringing in Dave Dombrowski would appear to indicate an “all-in” strategy from owner John Middleton. In an offseason that has been riddled with cries of “financial woes,” everyone has expected the Phillies to go after a president of baseball operations who would build the team back up. Instead, Dombrowski will likely look to fortify this current Phillies team for a World Series run now.
If that is the case, and Dombrowski can convince Middleton to return to the “stupid money” mindset, then all bets are off for this offseason. While the Phillies have looked to be out on Trevor Bauer, George Springer, and even at times J.T. Realmuto, bringing Dombrowski to Philly would tell the world that Philadelphia is open for business.
Photo by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire
