Top 5 promising Dave Dombrowski quotes on Phillies’ future

These quotes should have Phillies fans feeling optimistic about the future.

The Philadelphia Phillies recently hired their first-ever president of baseball operations — two-time World Series champion Dave Dombrowski. These five quotes from his introductory press conference on Friday should leave fans feeling optimistic about the organization’s future.

5. Dave Dombrowski already has a good rapport with John Middleton.

“[John] has a great reputation and I think he’s a great owner [who] wants to win. He’s a Philadelphia fan and will do what he can to win; [he’s] somebody I look forward to working with.” – Dave Dombrowski

The first question Dombrowski was asked related to the sales pitch Phillies Managing Partner John Middleton and team president Andy MacPhail had to make to woo him away from his Nashville project and to Philadelphia.

Dombrowski cited the timing was largely coincidental. Just one day after learning he would not be able to present on potentially bringing a team to Nashville until the 2021 Winter Meetings, Middleton called him “for about an hour to try to keep an open mind about coming to Philadelphia.”

The Phillies had reached out to Dombrowski earlier in this offseason, but the longtime executive told them and other interested teams that he was committed to Nashville.

“With [news of the delay], my responsibilities for what I needed to do would be diminished — not really much to do this coming year,” Dombrowski recalled. “It just so happened, again it’s a coincidence situation, that John called me.”

Dombrowski said he has known MacPhail for years and felt very comfortable talking to him, but it was Middleton reaching out to him and really trying to make him feel a part of the Phillies organization that ultimately sealed the deal.

“[John] has a great reputation and I think he’s a great owner [who] wants to win,” Dombrowski said. “He’s a Philadelphia fan and will do what he can to win; [he’s] somebody I look forward to working with.”

While MacPhail may soon no longer be in the Phillies brass mix, Middleton surely will. It seems as though he and Dombrowski already have a good rapport.

4. Dave Dombrowski has realistic expectations for the short- and long-term future of the Phillies.

“I think it’s important that we build an organization that can be competitive, year in and year out. That will really be the focus, in addition to trying to win.” – Dave Dombrowski

The assumption when the Phillies hired Dave Dombrowski was that he would immediately look to spend and make moves, whatever it takes, to formulate a championship-caliber club as soon as the 2021 season.

Dombrowski set expectations during his introductory press conference on Friday in that while the Phillies want to win in 2021 and will do what they can, they will still work within a budget and consider both the short- and long-term future.

“I don’t look at this as a situation where we are one player away from winning,” Dombrowski said. “I think we need to do a few things with this team.”

Dombrowski said it is important that the Phillies build an organization that can remain competitive year in and year out. “That will really be the focus, in addition to trying to win,” he said.

Dombrowski acknowledged the recent influx of promising, young prospects in the organization, such as Rookie of the Year Award finalist Alec Bohm, starting pitcher Spencer Howard, and the team’s top 2020 draft pick, Mick Abel.

“I really don’t want to be sacrificing people that might be part of our future success for short-term gains, if it’s not the difference-maker in trying to be a championship club,” Dombrowski said.

The Phillies and Managing Partner John Middleton inked Dombrowski to a four-year deal worth $20 million, according to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale. They, too, realize that it will take time for Dombrowski to get the Phillies into a place where they want to be.

3. Dave Dombrowski acknowledges that the Phillies bullpen needs an overhaul.

“We need multiple people out there to try to help us.” – Dave Dombrowski

Everyone in Major League Baseball knew just how historically bad the Phillies’ bullpen was in the 2020 season. So much so, it could have contributed to the early retirement of pitching coach Bryan Price, who was recently replaced by Caleb Cotham from the Cincinnati Reds’ organization.

“It was, by no means, a strength of the organization,” new Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said on Friday. “I guess the good part of it is, that usually if there’s an area that you can fix — that somebody [like me] comes through in the short-term — it’s the bullpen.”

The 2020 Phillies bullpen finished with a combined 7.06 ERA — the second-highest since earned runs were tracked in 1912-13, reports MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki. The highest bullpen ERA was none other than the 1930 Phillies: 8.16.

Dombrowski said the Phillies need “multiple people out there” to try to help them. “We have some young arms that are developing that may fit out there. We’re going to try,” he said. “I know that just last year, they didn’t have much luck in anything they did.”

The longtime executive recalled the August trade in which the Phillies dealt Nick Pivetta and Connor Seabold to his former team in the Boston Red Sox for Heath Hembree and Brandon Workman — two relievers who were on his most recent 2018 World Series championship team.

“They made that deal with the Red Sox that didn’t work out,” added Dombrowski, who continued in saying the Phillies will be in a position this offseason where he is sure they will be “very aggressive in adding arms.”

Dombrowski believes the Phillies will be an attractive destination for free-agent relievers. “If you are a reliever and you have a choice of A or B, and A has a pretty good bullpen and B is us and not good, well hopefully people are choosing us, because there’s an opportunity here,” he said.

“We need to make sure that we’re aggressive. I know there are a lot of relievers out there.”

1. Dave Dombrowski considers the current state of the Phillies as a ‘retool,’ not a ‘rebuild.’

“Well, I consider it a retool and not a rebuild, for sure. I think there are too many good players on the club.” – Dave Dombrowski

While work needs to be done, new Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski does not believe the roster needs to be reworked from the ground up.

When asked whether he considers the current state of the team a “rebuild” or a “retool,” Dombrowski replied with the latter.

“I think there are too many good players on the club,” he said. “The way I’ve looked at it, we have a star player in right field in Bryce [Harper] and some other good players around him.”

Dombrowski continued that any time a team has “three good starting pitchers as we have at the top of the rotation” — in reference to Aaron Nola, Zack Wheeler, and Zach Eflin — they are in “pretty good shape” to be competitive.

“Now, there are other things that need to be done,” Dombrowski said. “We talk about Nola, Wheeler, and Eflin. That’s a good place to start, with some other arms behind them. I think it’s a retool.”

The team’s newest front office executive joins the team midway through the offseason. Pitchers and catchers are scheduled to report to Clearwater, Florida, in two months. There may be a lot of work ahead for Dombrowski in a little amount of time, but he seems to be ready for the task.

“There won’t be a lot of sleep involved over the next couple of weeks. I’ve done this before. There’s a lot to be done,” he said. “You’re walking into the middle of it in December, when a lot of things are already taking place. You have to get up to par very quickly.”

Dombrowski labeling the Phillies as a retool, rather than a rebuild, means fans should have some reason for optimism that the club can turn things around in 2021. While it may not be World Series-contending, just perhaps it can return to the postseason for the first time in a decade.