The Philadelphia Phillies' offseason is less than a week old. The bitter disappointment following their exit from the MLB playoffs in the NLDS has left a pile of questions and an abundance of early speculation about coming changes.
After essentially running back the same team that went to Game 7 of the 2023 NLCS last season, there are certain to be moves this offseason. Most definitely among the players. Possibly in the coaching ranks.
Phillies’ personnel changes this winter could mirror Braves' and Orioles' firings
Other playoff disappointments, the Atlanta Braves and Baltimore Orioles, made some drastic changes after their seasons ended following sorrowful Wild Card Series exits. In both cases, the coaching staff took the brunt of the first round of offseason changes.
The division rival Braves parted ways with hitting coach Kevin Seitzer, assistant hitting coach Bobby Magallanes and catching coach Sal Fasano, per MLB.com’s Mark Bowman.
The Braves had plenty of injuries they can point to this season, but the coaches still took the fall for a middling offense that scuffled to a tie for second place in the division. They hit a lot of home runs, the fourth most in MLB, but ranked somewhere around the middle of the pack in most other categories.
The Orioles, who finished 91-71 and were the top Wild Card team in the American League, removed co-hitting coach Ryan Fuller, bench coach Fredi González and major league coach José Hernández after their disappointing elimination, per MASN's Roch Kubatko.
Baltimore had one of the top offenses in the majors in the first half but, like the Phillies, slid a bit in the second half. Their struggles continued in the Wild Card round, scoring just one run in two games against tough Royals pitching.
Phillies didn't get close to their goal of another World Series apperance
It was supposed to be World Series or bust for the Phillies this season. They made it to the playoffs as a 95-win club and the second-best team in baseball, but didn't really seem close to being a World Series-type club coming down the stretch. They made it one round further, thanks to their bye, but that hardly seems enough to save the coaching staff from a fate similar to their counterparts in Atlanta and Baltimore.
Former Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. provided a coaching shakeup as a possibility on The Phillies Show podcast the day after the Phillies’ elimination. He put his support behind manager Rob Thomson, saying that letting him go isn’t the answer, but that’s as far as he would go.
“You may see some personnel changes," Amaro said. "You may see some things happen because you didn’t see them making the adjustments that were necessary, especially on the offensive side ... Dombrowski will make moves, he’s not afraid. I’ve been fired by him and they went on to win the World Series.”
If the team doesn't want to make a radical change by replacing Thomson, hitting coach Kevin Long and assistant hitting coaches Dustin Lind and Rafael Pena might be in the front office's crosshairs when the axe starts falling.
Only time will tell, but we might get a hint about the team's offseason plans when president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski addresses the media in Tuesday's year-end press conference.