Phillies

This Phillies Trade Deadline will Define Dave Dombrowski’s Tenure

By Sean Barnard

Published: Jul 26th, 2025 · 10:35 AM EDT

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The Philadelphia Phillies are a very good baseball team.

But their flaws are evident and taking a step back in consecutive postseasons with the same core in place does not inspire confidence. Baseball is a weird sport, where getting hot at the right time can make all the difference. But it’s the responsibility of Dave Dombrowksi to stack the deck with as many cards in the Phillies favor as he can possibly can. Every flaw becomes more obvious in a postseason setting and the Phillies have felt this firsthand.

With the July 31st MLB deadline looming, this pressure should be felt more than ever. Zack Wheeler has been one of the best pitchers in baseball but has been completely open about how he will walk away when his contract is up after the 2027 season. Kyle Schwarber will be a free agent this winter and it’s a bit concerning that the Phillies have allowed him to remotely hit the open market. Wheeler, Schwarber, Bryce Harper, Trea Turner, Nick Castellanos, and J.T. Realmuto are all on the north side of 32 years old and not getting any younger. The end of this core is closer than it ever has been and the time to act on it is now.

Since Dombrowski arrived in Philadelphia, his reputation, fair or not, was pretty clear. He is not afraid to take the big swing in a trade and empty the farm system in the process. But this has not proven true since taking organizational control of the Phillies in 2020.

This is not to say that Dombrowski has done a bad job. He deserves credit for signing Schwarber, Turner, and Castellanos in free agency as well as taking care of Wheeler and Aaron Nola. He has made some impressive moves in the margins, such as trading for Jose Alvarado for practically nothing, and been more protective of the top prospects than many expected to be the case. It is no coincidence that the Phillies have had their most postseason success in a decade since Dombrowksi has put the proper pieces in place.

But what he hasn’t done is push the right buttons to propel the Phillies from a good baseball team to one that has absolutely maximized their chances of winning a World Series. The trade deadline decisions can make or break this and Dombrowksi has largely underwhelmed. Rather than being willing to take that big swing at the trade deadline, he has dug through the bargain bin of half-season rentals as Band-Aid fixes. Austin Hayes did not deliver as hoped in left field. Brandon Marsh failed to earn an everyday role after arriving at the trade deadline two seasons earlier. Carlos Esteves was solid, but not the high-leverage reliever we had hoped for as last year’s primary trade upgrade. David Robertson was not exactly this the year prior either, and is somehow back in Philadelphia at the ripe age of 40 years old. Noah Syndergaard and Michael Lorenzen, outside of the no-hitter, did not move the needle in a significant way either.

This pressure should be especially compounded following the bargain bin method failing this past offseason. Max Kepler does not look like the everyday left fielder they hoped they signed. Jordan Romano had his closer role taken away from him several weeks ago and is still struggling in low-leverage situations. Joe Ross has been unable to carve out any side of a consistent role and Alvarado’s suspension has only compounded these bullpen concerns. The saving grace of the offseason seemed to be Jesus Luzardo, but he has been shaky lately with some significant struggles pitching from the stretch and has proven capable of completely unwinding over the span of an inning.

The Phillies continue to be linked to some of the big names at the trade deadline. Jeff Passan’s ESPN trade deadline primer names Emmanuel Clase as his top Phillies match stating:

“As long as the Phillies are aiming high — and nobody aims high quite like Dave Dombrowski — perhaps they could take a run at landing both Clase and Steven Kwan from Cleveland. Maybe it would take Andrew Painter. Maybe Aidan Miller. Maybe Justin Crawford. Regardless, the Phillies’ window is closing, and getting both club control (Clase is under contract through 2028 and Kwan through 2027) and cost certainty (Clase is due $26 million for the next three years and Kwan less than $20 million for two) would make dealing high-end prospects significantly more palatable.”

But it is this type of “aiming high” that simply needs to be seen from Dombrowski. Keeping a strong farm system is important, but sometimes a player’s immediate trade value is more significant than what their MLB impact ever turns out to be. I am old enough to remember when Sixto Sanchez was untouchable, or when Dominic Brown was the number four prospect in all of baseball, mentioned with the likes of Bryce Harper and Mike Trout. Jesse Biddle, Darin Ruf, Phillippe Aumont, Griff McGarry, Maikel Franco, Cornelius Randolph, Adam Haseley, and Joe Savery may also ring a few unfortunate bells.

This is not to say it is time to completely mortgage the future or overpay for the sake of doing so. But if there was a time to risk trading away Aiden Miller’s potential All-Star season in 2032 for a player that notably changes the Phillies current postseason chances this year, it feels like it’s right now. This is especially the case with Trea Turner under contract beyond this hypothetical prime that Miller could hit seven years from now.

Regardless of how the trade deadline turns out, the Phillies will be heavily in the playoff mix. But it would be a disservice to this current core for Dombrowksi not to do everything in his power to fix the clear weaknesses and maximize this current team’s chances. The bats heating up for the main stars in recent weeks should be looked at as more evidence why the Phillies should be going all in, not that they have enough. It’s most difficult to find a main core in place that is good enough to contend and the Phillies have this. But it would be straight-up unacceptable for the Phillies playoff fate to be dependent on a Romano hanging breaking ball or Johan Rojas failing to take the bat off his shoulder.

Aim high at this trade deadline or risk this window closing even sooner than it should. Opportunity is not a lengthy visitor and Dombrowski must do everything in his power to maximize the team’s chances this year.

This Phillies team is good, but it is time for them to become great.