Dombrowski Has Failed, So Far, Where Roseman Thrived

The heat is on Dave Drombrowski. The Phillies have taken a step back in the playoffs every year. Now they are at one of their lowest points. They finally broke the snide with a win over the Cubs, but they have a lot more work to do to rid Phillies fans of the bad taste from a 2-9 stretch ending with getting swept by the Pirates.

When he showed up here, there was more faith in him than in any Phillies President in years. Perhaps more than any executive in Philly Sports in a long time.

There was good reason for that. Everywhere he went, the team won. Twice, he built World Series winners. With the Marlins in 1997 and the Red Sox in 2018. He also got the Tigers to the World Series twice. The Marlins won a 2nd World Series shortly after he left, mostly with players acquired by Dombrowski.

He came to Philly with a hell of a resume. And it quickly paid off. They missed the playoffs in his 1st year here. But the very next year, they made the playoffs for the first time in over a decade and made it to the World Series. They lost to the Astros, but there was real hope.

How did Dombrowski respond? By making the splash of the summer, adding Trea Turner to a team that just came a couple of games short of winning it all. The team responded by blowing a 2 game lead in the NLCS at home.

How did Dave Dombrowski respond to his team now coming up short twice? By doing very little. They agreed to new deals with a few key players, including Aaron Nola and Zack Wheeler, but the only meaningful addition was Whitt Merrifield, who didn't even last the full season.

He doubled down on keeping things mostly the same at the trade deadline. The two major acquisitions were Austin Hays and Carlos Estevez. Hays quickly found himself on the IL and did very little before the injury. Estevez was solid, but not the backend closer they thought they were trading for. Both left as free agents in the offseason.

But that offseason was more of the same, meaning more inactivity. They did trade for Jesus Luzardo, which was a big splash. But the rotation was not the problem area; the lineup was. And the only change in the lineup was swapping out Austin Hays for Max Kepler. Kepler currently sports a slash line of .207/.294/.363/.656.

You might be thinking, "Where does Howie Roseman come into this?' Well, there is a stark difference, and it is not the fact that Roseman won a ring here, and Dombrowski has yet to do that.

Roseman had his own disaster season recently. The Eagles 2023 season is very similar to the Phillies 2024 season. Great start, terrible finish, culminating with an awful performance in the playoffs. The difference comes with how both teams dealt with that.

As we know, the Phillies mostly ran it back. But the Eagles had perhaps the best off-season we have seen.

They added Saquon Barkley. Brought back CJ Gardner Johnson. They found the diamonds in the rough like Zack Baun. They also moved on from some problem areas, a.k.a. trading away Hasaan Reddick. On top of all that, they had a fantastic draft.

Howie did his best to transform the problem areas of the team that just failed. He even made a big splash by getting Bryce Huff, though that move didn't pan out. By contrast, Dombrowski's biggest move addressed something that was already a major strength, and he left the problem areas mostly the same.

In fact, the bullpen lost people. He let Jeff Hoffman walk, which now looks like the right decision, but also let Carlos Estevez walk. Currently sporting an ERA under 2, the Phillies could likely use him. Jordan Romano has not blown anyone away as the replacement to those two losses.

The lineup is arguably their biggest problem, having gone completely cold at the end of 3 straight playoff runs. They added Kepler to play LF, but as mentioned, he has brought little to the table.

The core of the team is the same. It has been the same for 3 seasons now. Adding Trea Turner and later letting Rhys Hoskins leave are the only major changes to the lineup. Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber, Alec Bohm, Brandon Marsh, Bryson Stott, Nick Castellanos, and JT Realmuto were staples of all 3 playoff runs. Trea Turner was a staple of the last 2.

The changes have been very much at the margins. Many fans thought for sure the loss to the Mets would shake things up. But here we are 8 months later with the lineup looking almost exactly the same.

Were Howie Roseman in charge, do you think Marsh would still be playing this much? Would Bohm? Would the outfield that has performed near the bottom of the league for 3 straight seasons still be pretty much exactly the same?

Dombrowski has a resume that is impossible to argue with. He could keep failing here and waltz into the Hall of Fame one day. But if he wants to make that resume even better. If he wants to be the guy who won a World Series with 3 different teams, he needs to change. He needs to be more like Howie Roseman.

That means make a big swing. Shake things up. Several players on this team have had plenty of time to prove themselves, but continue to fail to do so. At this point, it is clear they need upgrades at LF and CF. 3B is a problem too, but that might need to wait until Aidan Miller is ready. But Left Field can be improved now with a trade. CF can be improved now by calling up Justin Crawford.

Something needs to change. And if Dombrwoski can't make those changes, then perhaps he is the thing that needs to change come the off-season.