A couple of last-minute surprises have come before camp breaks for Opening Day on Thursday. The Philadelphia Phillies recently agreed to a contract extension on March 10 with Jesús Luzardo. On Sunday, the Phillies also agreed to a restructured extension with Cristopher Sánchez. Luzardo's extension pays him $135 million over five years, while Sánchez will fetch $107 million across the six years. The new deals are a massive win for both the Phillies and their starters. However, what the deals prove most of all is that their president of baseball operations, Dave Dombrowski, is still an elite executive after a winter packed with "run it back" criticism of his surprising lack of aggression.
Dombrowski had a rough last couple of months. During the offseason, the Phillies, along with their fans, were expecting some considerable changes to their roster. It seemed at the time the only hang-up was whether those changes would come via trade or free agency, but Dombrowski instead opted to retain a lot of the 2025 team while also failing to add another impact bat. It felt as if Dombrowski was losing his touch in his attempts to keep the Phillies a World Series contender.
Regardless of the lack of roster turnover, keeping the rotation locked in for years to come is a phenomenal move by Dombrowski.
Why Cristopher Sánchez's new contract shows a flash of that Dave Dombrowski spark
Dombrowski was brought into the fold in 2021 to spark what the Phillies have lacked for a decade. The fanbase had forgotten what playoff baseball had felt like in Philadelphia. Just one year later, he drove them to their first World Series appearance since 2008. He brought in the right talent and built a championship-caliber roster to maintain that winning culture. Sánchez and Luzardo are a vital part of what the Phillies are doing now, and Dombrowski put his money where his mouth is to make it happen, getting ahead of the Tarik Skubal winter by retaining and restructuring two elite, Cy Young-type pitchers before the hype train leaps off the track and the bidding swells.
Although not with the Phillies, Dombrowski is a two-time World Series champion. He knows winning players when he sees them. Sánchez climbed the ranks since he was traded from the Tampa Bay Rays in 2019, while Luzardo was traded from the Miami Marlins in December of 2024. Both players are a product of what Dombrowski has helped build, and that turned into career years for both of them in 2025.
Sánchez pitched to a 2.50 ERA, a second-place NL Cy Young finish, and 8.0 bWAR to lead all MLB pitchers. Luzardo pitched to a 3.92 ERA, finished second in the NL with 216 strikeouts, and earned himself a seventh-place finish in NL Cy Young voting. It was clear that both stars needed to be mainstays for as long as possible.
Phillies fans were starting to get anxious about whether Dombrowski was still the right fit going forward. Was the game finally passing him by after decades of devil-may-care spending and prospect aggression? Did he lose his pull and touch in maintaining the roster? After he silently took care of the long-term health of the rotation, it's obvious that he's still the same executive he was when he took over.