3 prospects Dave Dombrowski could turn into trade chips
By Matt Rappa
Dave Dombrowski could soon trade Phillies prospects to improve the roster.
The Philadelphia Phillies made history on Friday, officially hiring longtime Major League Baseball front office executive Dave Dombrowski as their first-ever president of baseball operations.
In his new role, the two-time World Series champion will report to Managing Partner John Middleton and will be tasked with trying to get the Phillies back to the postseason for the first time since 2011.
Dombrowski said during his Friday afternoon introductory press conference that he does not expect the Phillies’ payroll next season to be at the same level it was in 2020 — near the $208 million luxury-tax threshold.
Yet, he acknowledged that Middleton and the organization overall remains committed to winning. “I don’t think [we have] unlimited amount of funds,” added Dombrowski, who said he considers the current state of the franchise to be in a “retool” rather than a “rebuild.”
“There’s a budget attached to that. We want to win this year,” Dombrowski said. “We’ll do what we can.”
Dombrowski is well-respected around the league; while he said on Friday that he will equally use scouting and analytics, what has gained him his notoriety is his success and ability to acquire star players — and complement them with good-enough players to contend.
This is something that former general manager Matt Klentak was not able to accomplish across his five-season stint, including this year despite having Realmuto, Bryce Harper, Aaron Nola, Zack Wheeler, Didi Gregorius, and others on the roster.
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“What Dave Dombrowski does [best] is he puts players around those stars to win,” The Athletic’s Jayson Stark said Friday on 97.5 The Fanatic. “He knows how to do the job and fill those positions one way or another. I don’t see a situation where [the Phillies] will throw guys at a wall and see what sticks.”
One way Dombrowski has assembled postseason-caliber rosters over the years is delving into the farm system to trade prospects for proven-talent. There is no reason not to believe this trend will continue in Philadelphia. Here are three Phillies prospects that could soon be on the move.