Philadelphia Phillies president Dave Dombrowski has opened up on the potential of some trades this MLB offseason.
The Philadelphia Phillies re-signed Kyle Schwarber on a five-year, $150 million contract, so they achieved their top priority this winter. But they should be far from done.
The Phillies definitely need to add some more pieces around Schwarber following a second straight NLDS exit, but actually finding those players could prove complicated.
Philadelphia doesn't seem eager to spend big money now that it has handed $30 million annually to Schwarber, which means Kyle Tucker and Cody Bellinger could be out of reach.
So what about trades? There should be some very intriguing names available, and the Phillies have a few pieces they could move to get something done.
President Dave Dombrowski has acknowledged that, but he seems hesitant about pulling the trigger on deals that involve any of Philadelphia's top prospects.
“We’re excited about having the opportunity to blend those young guys in,” Dombrowski said, via Charlotte Varnes of The Athletic. “We could make trades. I’m sure quite a few trades we could make if we were talking about those players. But we just really want to keep them.”
Pitcher Andrew Painter, shortstop Aidan Miller and outfielder Justin Crawford are the top three prospects within the Phillies' farm system, which is relatively thin beyond that trio. In order to land a big name, Philadelphia will have to move at least one of them.
Dombrowski has never been shy about trading prospects in the past. In fact, the 69-year-old has frequently been criticized for tearing apart farm systems for years now. However, he has seen considerable success in doing so and has won a pair of World Series championships, one coming with the Florida Marlins in 2003 and another with the Boston Red Sox in 2018.
So to see Dombrowski so attached to Painter, Miller and Crawford is certainly different.
All three of those players could be competing for roles on the Phillies' big-league roster in 2026, but it does seem somewhat hard to believe that they are all untouchable.
Of course, this also could be Dombrowski's way of gaining some leverage in potential trade discussions, so perhaps it's all a ruse on his end.
We'll see what Philadelphia decides to do in the coming weeks.