It’s time to finish off our series of Philadelphia Phillies report cards, and this one is perhaps the most daunting. We’ve graded how the players performed individually on both sides of the ball, as well as the members of the coaching staff. Now, we take on the head of the snake: the front office.
Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski has taken plenty of heat for the roster he’s put together in his almost six years at the helm. But this report card will focus on the transactions he made in the offseason leading up to the 2026 campaign, as well as those that were made during the season.
The one-year deals: D-
Dave Dombrowski has handed out a bevy of one-year contracts to down-on-their-luck veteran players. Unfortunately, few have worked out. Players like Josh Harrison, Whit Merrifield, Max Kepler, and Jordan Romano were disasters in Philadelphia, and Dombrowski added a few more names to that ignominious list this past season.
2023 postseason hero Adolis García was brought in for $10 million and posted a sub-.600 OPS before going down with a season-ending arm injury. He may have provided excellent defense in right field, but that wasn’t enough to save that contract.
Dylan Moore and Zach Pop signed for low AAV to round out the last spots on the bench and bullpen, respectively. Both guys lasted barely a month before being cut loose.
The only thing saving this group from an “F” is Tim Mayza, who earned less than $2 million this past season. The Allentown native fired 67 ⅓ frames of 3.48 ERA ball and became manager Don Mattingly’s most trusted lefty option. Mayza’s heroic efforts earned him another one-year pact for 2027.
The trade deadline: C-
Sometimes things just don’t work out. Dave Dombrowski did bring in some decent pieces at the trade deadline: Luis Arraez, Caleb Kilian, and Brooks Raley.
Raley posted an ERA just under 8.00, which kept him off the playoff roster. Kilian went down for the season with an oblique strain after just four games in red pinstripes. Fortunately, he has five more years of team control, so the jury is still out on him. Arraez came crashing down from his excellent first half after arriving in Philly, posting a .678 OPS in 46 games. Worse yet, an ankle sprain in the last week of the season kept him off the Wild Card Series roster.
Dombrowski deserves a fair amount of grace for the bad luck his trade acquisitions ran into, but it felt like he could've done more.
The Derek Hill trade: A+
This one could have gone in the trade deadline bucket, but it seems fair to give Dombrowski some flowers for making this brilliant under-the-radar move to address a pressing issue. When Adolis García went down in early June, Dombrowski moved quickly to plug the hole by making a trade with the Chicago White Sox for journeyman Derek Hill.
The 30-year-old had a middling .659 OPS with the Sox to that point, but after landing in Philadelphia, he had a .783 mark in 67 contests. Even better, he's under team control for two more years.
Dombrowski didn’t give up much to acquire Hill (and international bonus pool space), sending depth pieces Dylan Campbell and José Colmenares back the other way. Dombrowski nailed this one.
There were a few bright spots, but not enough for Dave Dombrowski in 2026
The Catching situation: F
J.T. Realmuto has been a rock behind the plate for the Phillies for close to a decade at this point, and he’s certainly earned himself a plaque on the Wall of Fame one day. Unfortunately, the now-35-year-old’s best days are behind him, and he’s a sub-league-average player. Over 123 games in 2026, Realmuto slashed an ugly .205/.283/.331 with just 30 extra-base hits. On top of that, his typically top-tier defense slipped.
The question begs asking: why are the Phillies still running Realmuto out there every day? In mid-January, Dombrowski and the rest of the front office thought they had a deal with free-agent shortstop Bo Bichette nearly done. Then, in the blink of an eye, archrival New York Mets swooped in to sign Bichette to a massive three-year, $126 million pact, leaving the Phils holding the bag.
The plan had been to let Realmuto walk in free agency to free up money to sign Bichette. When that fell through, Dombrowski pivoted back to Realmuto and got a deal done just hours later for $45 million over three years.
It’s hard to view the Realmuto re-signing as anything but desperation, given the three-time All-Star was coming off of an unimpressive .257/.315/.384 line in 2025. Dombrowski had other options instead of just throwing money at his Plan B. There weren’t any significantly better backstops on the free-agent market, but Danny Jansen may have been a better option. He had a cheaper contract and better OPS last year, albeit in a much smaller sample size.
More frustrating, Dombrowski didn’t bring in a solid backup option to take some of the workload off of Realmuto’s aging knees. Instead, he rolled out Garrett Stubbs and Rafael Marchán, both of whom posted a sub-.400 OPS. The Phillies depth chart at catcher is rather weak heading into 2027. Dombrowski will most likely need to part with prospects or money to bring someone in from outside the organization to fix the problem he created last winter.
The Matt Strahm trade: A+
Left-hander Matt Strahm became a fan favorite over his three years in Philly, earning an All-Star nod in 2024. However, clashes with management and a drop in effectiveness ended his tenure after the Phillies bowed out of the postseason last October. With one year left on Strahm’s contract, Dombrowski found a taker in the Kansas City Royals, swapping the erstwhile southpaw straight-up for right-hander Jonathan Bowlan.
Bowlan had just 50 innings’ worth of big-league experience at that point, and the trade was initially met with skepticism from fans. It didn’t take long for that to change, however, as Strahm struggled mightily in the Midwest, while Bowlan became one of the Phillies’ more effective relievers.
In 59 appearances, Bowlan posted a 3.36 ERA and punched out 73 batters over 56.1 IP. Crucially, he served as one of Mattingly’s few reliable setup men behind closer Jhoan Duran. Conversely, Strahm was bludgeoned to a 7.32 ERA across 41 outings before the Royals cut him loose in early August. Bowlan's five more years of team control makes this deal a stroke of genius.
The young talent: D
Dombrowski and the Phillies went into the 2026 campaign putting a lot of eggs in the baskets of young players. Otto Kemp was slated to be a semi-regular in left field, Justin Crawford was given the Opening Day center field job, and Andrew Painter landed the fifth spot in the rotation. Those three had varying levels of success (or lack thereof) in the Majors.
Kemp collected a whopping two hits in 13 games before being banished to Triple-A for the remainder of the regular season. Crawford was serviceable, but his .662 OPS and mediocre defense left much to be desired. Painter was so bad in his first go-round that he was demoted to Lehigh Valley. Fortunately, he found his stride after coming up again in late June and will be an important piece of the rotation moving forward.
Beyond that trio, the Phillies got little out of the rookies they called up throughout the season. Felix Reyes was hardly better than Kemp in his dozen games, while Gabriel Rincones Jr. limped to a .488 OPS in 29 contests after taking over for the injured García in right field. The one rookie who did help out was flamethrower Alex McFarlane, who became the team's best non-Duran reliever after debuting in late July. Why it took that long to give him a shot is anyone’s guess.
The Brad Keller signing: Incomplete
The Phillies’ bullpen was a weakness all season, and a Major reason why was Brad Keller. The longtime Royals starter reinvented himself as a bullpen arm in 2025, putting up a dazzling 2.07 ERA across 68 outings with the Chicago Cubs. That top-notch performance earned him a two-year, $22 million pact from the Phillies, with the expectation that Keller would serve as the Robin to Duran’s Batman.
Unfortunately, Keller struggled to find his footing in his new home, posting a 4.02 ERA in 31.1 innings, and the burly Georgian went down with an elbow injury in early July. He underwent surgery later that month, which should sideline him for most, if not all, of 2027. $22 million down the drain.
Overall Grade: C-
Dombrowski failed to meaningfully address ongoing trouble spots (right field, bullpen). Moreover, he committed even more long-term money to a past-his-prime star in Realmuto after whiffing on his preferred free agent, setting up problems for 2027 and beyond. Last, but not least, the Phillies farm system failed to produce youngsters who could meet the needs of the parent club.
Nevertheless, Dombrowski did do some good. His unheralded trades for Bowlan and Hill were nice pickups. Without them, the Phils very well may have missed the postseason.
With rumors swirling of a Dombrowski contract extension this winter, it seems he'll be sticking around for the long term. The 70-year-old hasn’t put the club in the best position to win a championship in recent years, but he's kept them competitive, and that's more than we can say for the previous regime.
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