Phillies clearly caught Dave Dombrowski on back-nine of his career

When the Philadelphia Phillies coaxed baseball executive Dave Dombrowski to get back into the game of baseball after he was fired by the Boston Red Sox in 2019, many truly believed it was the aggressive jolt the club needed to run away with a suspect NL East division.

The organization wasn’t wrong in assuming the division race would be wide open for much of the year … but they clearly missed on Dombrowski, whose moves this offseason and at the trade deadline haven’t moved the needle for a struggling Phillies team.

Dombrowski clearly isn’t “done” as an executive, but it’s fair to say he’s likely on the back-nine of his career, and the Phillies just missed his shining moments.

Yup, we’re here to say the peak came in 2018 when the Red Sox cruised to a 108-win season and effortless World Series victory. You can’t top that. And unfortunately, Dombrowski’s luster is clearly waning.

Dave Dombrowski may not be the answer for the Phillies.

In mid-December, the Phils brought Dombrowski aboard to reshape their roster in the offseason. He did make some commendable moves, such as re-signing JT Realmuto and bringing in Archie Bradley … but that’s about it.

Shall we go down the list of moves that haven’t worked out?

• Signing SS Didi Gregorious (batting .218 with a .656 OPS) to a two-year contract
• Letting RP Jose Alvarez (2.12 ERA in 50 games) walk to the Giants
• Signing RP Hector Rondon, who ended up retiring
• Signing OF Matt Joyce (batting .100 in 36 games)
• Signing RP Brandon Kintzler (released on Aug. 3)
• Signing SP Chase Anderson (6.75 ERA in 14 games)
• Trading for Ian Kennedy (5.69 ERA in nine games) and Kyle Gibson (3.77 ERA in five games)

While you can’t fault him for going after Kennedy and Gibson at a favorable price, it just clearly wasn’t the classic “Dombrowski move” to put the Phillies over the top. Something bigger, more momentous was required to kick this team into high gear. Not guys like Gibson, who was going to regress to the mean sooner than later, or Kennedy, who has a limited track record as a reliever.

Maybe Dombrowski reshaping the front office works. After all, that’s been a consistent problem in Philly for quite some time now.

But the evidence we have before us is that the Dombrowski-esque moves aren’t paying off. The rate at which they aren’t is definitely an outlier, but it might suggest he’s on the back-nine of his career, with his tenure in Boston serving as an eagle on the 14th hole before a collapse over the next four.

In theory, probably the right decision. In practice? Perhaps too late.

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