Irate Phillies fans absolutely roast Dave Dombrowski after worst day of the offseason

The Philadelphia Phillies' front office, specifically president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski is dealing with the aftermath of the disappointing turn of events that have taken place for the club over the last few days. Phillies fans blasted the executive on social media on Friday following the team's inability to sign Bo Bichette.

The Los Angeles Dodgers added Kyle Tucker on a four-year contract on Thursday. The New York Mets, one club that had interest in signing the outfielder, felt the pressure to make a big addition and did just that.

The Mets made an unexpected move, stunning MLB insiders and Phillies fans by signing Bichette to a short-term three-year deal with two player opt-outs after the 2026 and 2027 seasons. Not long after this contract, news broke that Philadelphia addressed its opening at catcher by re-signing J.T. Realmuto to a deal for three years.

Phillies fans take Dave Dombrowski to task after missing out on Bo Bichette and re-signing J.T. Realmuto

Following the turn of events, Phillies fans expressed their anger and frustration toward Dombrowski on X (formerly Twitter) in response to MLB.com's Todd Zolecki's post confirming the new Realmuto deal:

The Phillies appeared to be the frontrunners to add Bichette following rumors connecting them to the infielder and their meeting on Jan. 13. However, the Mets took advantage of their division rival's preference not to offer the Orlando, Florida, native a short-term deal with player opt-outs.

Preston Mattingly, the Phillies general manager, said on Baseball Is Dead with Jared Carrabis, following the re-signing of Kyle Schwarber, that the franchise doesn't include player opt-outs in their contracts.

"When you talk about specific free agents ... especially the reliever market, it feels like it moves really quickly ... and I think a lot of the teams have guys evaluated the same,” Mattingly said. “And like you mentioned, they have them at that one-year pact, or maybe it's two, and I think you try and separate yourself in different ways. I think you can talk about potentially doing opt-outs. That's something that the Philadelphia Phillies don't do, so we're kind of up front with that with guys." 

Suppose Philadelphia mentioned to Bichette that they don't include player opt-outs in their contracts; that didn't help their pursuit of signing him, since that clause is included twice in his deal with New York.

The Phillies' preference not to include player opt-outs is hindering their chances of signing top free agents. They don't have enough financial flexibility to offer short-term deals to players with high AAVs without crossing too far over the final luxury tax threshold, which Dombrowski and managing partner John Middleton have expressed unwillingness to do.

Another Phillies fan's X post mentions that the Phillies are running it back in 2026 with the same core of players and a weaker starting rotation following Ranger Suárez's five-year deal with the Boston Red Sox on Jan. 14.

Who the Phillies' fifth starter will be at the beginning of the regular season is in question, as the top contenders are Taijuan Walker and prospect Andrew Painter. Walker's tenure has been underwhelming, and Painter has yet to debut in the majors.

While the club is hoping the young right-hander has a bright future with the organization, their rotation is weaker with the loss of Suárez.

The Phillies weren't going to re-sign Suárez, given their options in the starting rotation for 2026 and their priority of bringing back Schwarber. However, the loss still stings considering the left-hander's growth from a reliever to a reliable second starter in their rotation.

The Phillies' timing of bringing back Realmuto shortly after Bichette's deal with the Mets didn't help Dombrowski. It gives the impression that the president of baseball operations felt pressured to respond to the bad press of losing a free agent they were pursuing to a division rival.