It's mid October and the Phillies are not playing. It's not supposed to be like this.
After an upset loss in the NLDS to the Mets, the Phils know they can't completely run it back with the same 26 guys. Changes will need to be made.
The issue is, the team is pretty fully flushed out for next season. They have a player under contract at every position and most of their pitchers are going to be coming back.
The payroll is also extremely high, and when pressed on whether the team expects to have a higher payroll in 2025, Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski gave a pretty ambiguous answer Tuesday.
With few openings for new players, the entire coaching staff set to return and likely not a ton of extra money to spend either, there really is only one avenue left there for making a splashy addition — the trade market.
"We have to be open minded to exploring what's out there for us, talk to some clubs and see whats happening," Dombrowski told media members on Tuesday morning in his typical conversational tone. "That process hasn't started, sometimes you trade good players for good players.
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"It really comes down to an open-mindedness of conversation."
So the Phillies are open to trading good players. Which doesn't mean they will — but it definitely brings some players into the rumor conversation.
Would they go a different and younger direction at catcher with J.T. Realmuto in decline? Would they go for someone more reliable than Nick Castellanos? Would they jettison team controlled and homegrown infielders Bryson Stott or Alec Bohm?
It seems in the realm of possibility that those or other Phillies players are at risk of being shipped out of town. But they might not necessarily be making a swing for a superstar in return.
"I don't think we need more star players, we have more stars than anybody in baseball," Dombrowski said. "[Phillies' owner] John [Middleton] is very accommodating and giving, but you're also in a position where you're working with a payroll.... you have to be careful because sometimes, it's the star players, but sometimes it's the supporting cast. We had eight All Stars, thats more than anybody in baseball. If you look at our rotation, the top four — I don't know if there's a better rotation in baseball."
The Phillies need to be better next year, the championship window is open but the players are aging. Don't be surprised to be living through another dramatic winter with Philadelphia tied to players all across the majors.
And knowing Middleton and his desperate desire to bring another title to Philly, he might make a "stupid trade," after spending "stupid money" on a spree that brought Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber, Castellanos, Trea Turner and others to Philadelphia.
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