Phillies: Ranking the National League East's front offices by competence level
Dave Dombrowski has turned around the Phillies organization after years being in the dark, but how do they rank compared to the rest of the NL East?
The Phillies are steam rolling towards the playoffs with the end of the 2023 season fast approaching. Baseball Reference has the Phillies with a 98.4% chance of making the playoffs which would be the second year in a row. Dave Dombrowski and Sam Fuld have been at the helm of the Phillies front office since December of 2020 and have been one of the leading catalysts for this recent Phillies organizational turnaround. It is no coincidence that the Phillies have made the playoffs two times out of Dombrowski and Fuld’s first three seasons with a World Series run in 2022 and a team that has the look to be able to do it again.
But Phillies fans are not unfamiliar with front office incompetence. From 2015-2020, Andrew MacPhail and Matt Klentak led the Phillies front office through a dreadful time in Phillies history. It was an uneasy time watching the front office continuously make mistakes, slap “band aids” on the roster, neglect any sort of farm system development, and have the major league team sink further into despair. Thankfully, the Phillies have an owner in John Middleton who wasn’t happy with the results and made a change. Dombrowski came in and completely changed the outlook and energy of the organization. He is a proven winner and has clearly brought his winning ways to the Phillies.
The NL East as a whole has seen great success over the recent years. The Phillies, Braves, Nationals, and Mets have all made World Series appearances in the last eight years with the Braves winning in 2021 and the Nationals winning in 2019. The Marlins, while they have not made the World Series, have always been a tough out and has played better than expected for many years. However, as we stand today, there is clearly a couple teams in the NL East with a front office that is more savvy, forward looking, and successful.
So, where do the Phillies rank in the hierarchy of NL East front offices? Let’s rank the National League East’s Front Offices by competence.
5.) The Washington Nationals
The Nationals GM Mike Rizzo led the organization to a World Series victory in 2019 but it has been all downhill since then. A team that had names like Juan Soto, Max Scherzer, Trea Turner, and Anthony Rendon is now unrecognizable with headline names on the major league roster of Joey Meneses and C.J. Abrams. It’s not all bad for the Nationals though, according to MLB.com, they have the eighth ranked farm system in baseball with three top 100 guys. A high-ranking farm system is all you can ask for when trading away the team's best players seemingly year after year. Generational talents like Soto don’t come around very often so a front office that trades him away has to be “dinged” in a ranking. That all being said, results are the most important thing to look at, and after the 2019 season the team has been dreadful. With a record of 208-325 there hasn’t been much for this organization to be excited about.
4.) The New York Mets
Steve Cohen bought the Mets in November 2020 and has made the headlines, both positive and negative, early and often. After bringing in Billy Eppler to run the team in 2021, the team has made splashy move after splashy move. Trying to throw money at the problem can be a quick way to dig yourself out of a hole but just because you have money and can sign the most desired free agents, doesn’t mean you’re a competent front office. In fact, since Cohen bought the team, I think most would say the Mets have been a disappointment. With major signings of Francisco Lindor, Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander, and even the failed Carlos Correa, you would think the team would be the class of the NL East. Most recently, in a supposed private conversation, Eppler told Scherzer that the Mets will not be going after the top free agents this off-season and the expectations for 2024 will be lower than they were in 2022 and 2023. This prompted a request from the Mets’ ace to be traded. After the 2023 trade deadline where they sold off Scherzer and Verlander, the farm system took a jump in the rankings and currently stands at the 11th best farm system with five prospects in the top 100. The circus that seemingly follows this organization around has not painted them in a good light, but this team has the financial wherewithal and the willing owner to make a jump at any time. This team is simply 4th on this list because they have the highest of expectations, and with the exception of the regular season last year which they came in second in the NL East and lost in the Wild Card round, they have not lived up to the hype.
3.) The Miami Marlins
If the Mets are a team with all the money in the world but the lack of a savvy front office, the Marlins are the polar opposite. The Miami Marlins have been at the bottom of the standings for quite some time and when they have the names that excite fans, they trade them away. Famously fielding a team in 2017 of eventual MVPs Giancarlo Stanton and Christian Yelich, while also having Marcell Ozuna and J.T. Realmuto, these players have all moved on and found major success with other teams. However, notoriously a “cheap” organization, the Front Office, led by the first women MLB GM Kim Ng, is as good as it gets. Ng and company have proven to be an intelligently ran front office that makes relatively low cost moves that pay significant dividends. Since Ng became the GM in 2021, the Marlins have ranked 27th, 26th , and 22nd in total payroll. After finishing the 2021 and 2022 seasons with 95 and 93 losses respectively, in Ng’s third year, they stand with a winning record and right in the thick of a playoff race. The Marlins have produced electric position players like Jazz Chisholm Jr., and even better starters like Sandy Alcantara, Jesus Luzardo, and Eury Perez. The Marlins are the 24th ranked farm system but simply because they have promoted many of their top prospects over the last two years. It can be tough to make significant strides in the standings and get the positive results when your handcuffed by an ownership group who doesn’t want to spend money but outperforming expectations consistently and trending in the right direction earn the Marlins the third ranking on this list.
2.) Philadelphia Phillies
As mentioned earlier, the Phillies saw some dark days from 2015-2020 when Matt Klentak led the way. But as soon as Dave Dombrowski and Sam Fuld entered the fold, the entire outlook of this organization has turned. Given the blessing from Owner John Middleton to go out and sign top free agents like Kyle Schwarber, Nick Castellanos, and Trea Turner while also making seemingly fringe moves like acquiring a “broken reliever” Jose Alvarado and once top prospect Brandon Marsh, the front office has turned this franchise around. After missing out on the playoffs for 11 years and making all the wrong moves, Dombrowski and company have pushed the right buttons and are heading towards their second straight playoff berth. Almost as important as making the big splashy moves, Dombrowski and co. have capitalized on smaller cost moves like the signings of Taijuan Walker and Craig Kimbrel or the trades for Brandon Marsh, Michael Lorenzen, Critian Pache and others. Assuming the players they have inked to long-term deals continue to perform as expected and if Dombrowski continues to push ownership for the freedom to acquire top talent, this team will be a World Series contender for years to come. The pitfall of this team is the lack of major prospects that are ready to contribute but with the games top pitching prospect in Andrew Painter and other highly sought after contributors like Mick Abel, Justin Crawford and Johan Rojas, they have enough prospect capital to plug holes when needed.
1.) Atlanta Braves
The Atlanta Braves aren’t just the most competent front office and organization in the NL East, but they are probably the best in the entire league. The Braves are the definition of sustained success. They have made the playoffs five times in a row dating back to 2018, winning the World Series in 2021. Alex Anthopoulos is known for locking up his young core early and he did just that with this team. The core of their roster is all signed to long-term, team friendly deals. Austin Riley (Free Agent in 2034), Matt Olsen (2031), Ronald Acuna Jr (2029), Spencer Strider (2030), Sean Murphy (2030), Michael Harris (2033), and Ozzie Albies (2028) will all be in a Braves uniform for the foreseeable future, wreaking havoc on the league and the NL East for years to come. The farm system is ranked at 27th from MLB.com but with the majority of the team already committed, the need to replenish the farm system is not as important. The Braves will be competing for World Series for a long time, and it will be difficult for any of the NL East to knock them off the throne.