Philadelphia Phillies: 3 good things that happened in 2020

2. Dave Dombrowski hire

Although Dave Dombrowski was hired well after the 2020 season, his addition nonetheless came during the 2020 calendar year. In becoming the organization’s first-ever president of baseball operations, there is plenty of reason for optimism that the two-time World Series champion front office executive will bring much-needed change to the franchise, which has not seen postseason action in nearly a decade.

During his introductory press conference, Dombrowski said that he considers the current state of the Phillies as being in a “retool” rather than a “rebuild.”

“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. But, any time you have three good starting pitchers as we have at the top of the rotation, you’re in pretty good shape to be competitive.”

While Dombrowski said there are other things that need to be done, having Aaron Nola, Zack Wheeler, and Zach Eflin at the top of their starting rotation is a good place to start. And, earlier this week, Dombrowski completed his first trade at the helm of the organization, acquiring left-handed reliever Jose Alvarado from the Tampa Bay Rays. This will surely be the first of many in his “retooling” of the big-league roster.

Dombrowski likely will not turn the Phillies around from a National League East division bottom-dweller to a championship contender in one offseason — especially with limited funds to spend amid the COVID-19 crisis — but fans would have to assume the franchise is in better hands, now under his leadership and expertise.