Dombrowski offers insights into the Phillies' offseason agenda

PHILADELPHIA -- Dave Dombrowski said he isn’t happy with the way the Phillies played or how the season ended in 2026.

“We’re expecting and we want to win a World Series,” he said Thursday morning at Citizens Bank Park.

But the Phillies went backward in ’26. They started 9-19, costing former manager Rob Thomson his job. They had the fourth-best record in baseball the rest of the way under Don Mattingly, who will return next year as manager. But the offense, defense and bullpen finished among the bottom third in baseball. The Phillies’ NL Wild Card Series loss was their earliest postseason exit in five years.

Dombrowski spoke to reporters for more than an hour in his first comments since the season ended on Oct. 1. Here are a few takeaways:

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Dombrowski said he has no plans to deal from the team’s strength, which is starting pitching. He said he has no desire to trade veterans like Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber, Trea Turner and J.T. Realmuto, although those chances would have been slim anyway because of their salaries and full no-trade rights.

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“Can you work around that?” Dombrowski said. “Yeah, perhaps. But we’re not looking to deal those guys.”

It leaves Dombrowski with a high payroll and potentially little wiggle room, even with free agents like Alec Bohm, Luis Arraez and José Alvarado.

“Well, the reality is that, 'Hey, it's up to me,'” Dombrowski said. “I've created this situation, right?

“Our ownership has been as open to doing things as anybody possibly can be. We still haven't sat down and set our final payrolls by any means for next year. [Phillies managing partner and chief executive officer] John [Middleton] and the group have always been quite accommodating, but we have a lot of high-salaried guys at this point, so I think you have to figure out which way you go. I don't think it necessarily means signing all high-salary guys, but I do think we have the flexibility [to add players].”

The hitting

Harper (131 OPS+) and Schwarber (128 OPS+) were the only two everyday players to perform better than league average this year. Bryson Stott (98 OPS+) was close. were the only two everyday players to perform better than league average this year. Bryson Stott (98 OPS+) was close.

“He had a really good June, July, August,” Dombrowski said of Stott. “I don't know why he can't be that player all the time.”

Turner (81 OPS+) and Realmuto (65 OPS+) both struggled all year. Brandon Marsh (90 OPS+) made the All-Star team, but he struggled in the second half.

Bohm (87 OPS+) and Arraez (82 OPS+) are free agents.

The Phillies hope a new hitting coach will help. They fired Kevin Long on Wednesday. The team wants to provide more rest to Harper, Schwarber and Realmuto. Harper will play first base, but he told Dombrowski he is willing to play right field on occasion. Dombrowski said he hopes Schwarber will play 30 games at first, which will allow Harper to DH. The Phillies need to upgrade their backup catcher. Realmuto will not start 120-plus games next year.

“My goal is to try to reduce the number of games you catch,” Dombrowski told Realmuto on the phone recently.

“We need to complement those guys with some other players,” Dombrowski said. “So that will be our goal. Some of them may come internally. I'm not going to put it on his back, but we think a guy like [Philadelphia's No. 2 and MLB's No. 59 overall prospect] Aidan Miller is a really, really good player. You see all the young players that have jumped into playing this year and the years that they had. Aidan Miller, when he’s healthy, he's as good as any of them.”

The pitching

The Phillies have one of the best rotations in baseball, but they want to improve the organization’s starting pitching depth, which was a weakness. Top pitching prospect Gage Wood could help, but the Phillies need more.

Dombrowski needs to fix the bullpen. They lost Brad Keller and Caleb Kilian to injuries, which hurt. Orion Kerkering was optioned to Triple-A Lehigh Valley in September. Alvarado struggled. He seems unlikely to return. Tim Mayza will be back. He just signed a one-year contract.

Dombrowski likes right-handers Jonathan Bowlan and Alex McFarlane.

Work better together

The Brewers, Rays and Dodgers are not only three of the four teams still playing in the postseason, but they have stellar reputations for incorporating analytics into everything from game planning to player acquisition and evaluation and more.

Dombrowski said he believes his analytics department does a good job.

“They supply good information that we are looking to improve upon,” he said. “I think they’re very good. They have a good foundation. For example, they work with [pitching coach] Caleb [Cotham] all the time. From the pitching perspective, we're known as being very progressive.

"It’s not only how you get the information, but then how other people want to use it, too. That is information we need to do a better job at using. That’s not the analytic people's fault. That's something we need to do a better job and emphasize on ourselves.”

For the long haul

Dombrowski is expected to receive a contract extension at some point, if it hasn’t happened already. Regardless of the length of the extension, those in the know expect Dombrowski to run the Phillies' baseball operations department indefinitely.

“Yes, I want to do the job,” Dombrowski said. “I plan on being here for a while. It's not my liberty to announce contracts, but it's a situation I plan on being here for a while. I enjoy it. [I'm] healthy. I have quality people around me, and if I don't feel that way, at some point, I wouldn't do it. So I would really put it more on that time frame. But it's one of those where, yeah, I do plan on being [here] a while.”