December 12, 2024
Jerome Miron/Imagn Images
Dave Dombrowski and the Phillies haven't done much this offseason.
The baseball world assembled to meet in Dallas this week, and after Thursday, general managers and front office brass from all 30 teams will be heading home for the holidays — some feeling accomplished, and some without much to feel good about.
The Phillies are in worse shape now than when the meetings started.
In large part it's due to their lack of activity — all they really did was sign Jordan Romano, a reclamation project closer with high upside.
And while it's possible that the Phillies still make some sort of noteworthy move before Christmas, it's the moves they didn't make — or the ones made by the teams they'll be chasing next October — that define this period of the offseason.
• Juan Soto's signing with the Mets is clearly the biggest news that will impact the Phillies. New York is much better now, and they beat the Phillies in the playoffs in convincing fashion last year. It will be over a decade of pitching to one of the game's most dynamic hitters in Queens now.
• Garrett Crochet was rumored to be a Phillies target for a while now, and the Red Sox got him. It looks like, prospect-wise, Boston paid a high cost. The Phils were unwilling to trade Andrew Painter and reportedly were willing to include top infield prospect Aidan Miller, but their offer was not enough.
"Our number one priority is always to win but I can't tell you that it's always to win at any cost because you've got other guys you really do like," Phillies president Dave Dombrowski told media members after the trade (h/t NBCSP). "For example, Andrew Painter's pretty good. We could get a lot of players for Andrew Painter but I think I'll wait it out the next few months to get him with us. It's something you weigh every single time something comes up."
• Max Fried was never a true Phillies target, and his signing with the Yankees does help weaken the Braves a bit, but at the same time, he strengthens another World Series contender. Blake Snell went to the defending champion Dodgers.
• When the Winter Meetings began, Alec Bohm seemed like the hottest name on the trade block. His availability was shot down by Phillies manager Rob Thomson this week, and Bohm's agent echoed the sentiment.
"There's a lot of media discussion about it but there was never anything said to us other than Alec Bohm is the third baseman for the Phillies and will remain so," Scott Boras told reporters Wednesday.
• With Bohm reportedly not on the block, there is no room for the Phillies to add Nolan Arenado, who listed the Phillies as one of the six teams he'd allow a trade to from the rebuilding Cardinals. They also don't really have room for the biggest remaining free agent (as of Thursday morning) in Alex Bregman, who plays third base.
• It's certainly possible a blockbuster deal manifests for the Phillies, who need to find some way to change things up and improve this offseason, but the reported interest they've had in the superstars out there seems to be of the "kicking the tires" variety. They are looking into Japanese pitcher Roki Sasaki, and also reportedly "at least inquired" about Astros outfielder Kyle Tucker.
"The Phillies also had been among the teams that at least inquired and tried to formulate a package that would work, but found a deal difficult to make," the New York Post's Joel Sherman wrote of Tucker and the Phillies' interest in him.
• Boras, in his media conference, insinuated that the Phillies are still likely to make a splash. Dombrowski later agreed, but also made it clear that the Phillies seem to be very possessive of their young homegrown guys. Will they regret it?
“I wish we would have maybe done a little more,” Dombrowski said (h/t MLB.com). “We just didn’t feel comfortable. But it’s not done either. The Meetings are done, but the conversations aren’t over. You have to be careful. We had a couple conversations that were going yesterday that were quite heavy. They didn’t happen. Then all of a sudden, it’s, 'What about this? What about that?' I said, 'Hold on, let’s take a step back. We don’t have to force anything.'"
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