Philadelphia Phillies president Dave Dombrowski has made his thoughts on potentially adding Framber Valdez crystal clear.
The Philadelphia Phillies have certainly missed out on a plethora of big-name free agents this winter, and outside of Bo Bichette, it doesn't even appear that the Phillies heavily pursued any of them.
Following Cody Bellinger's decision to re-sign with the New York Yankees on Wednesday, the well is now pretty dry when it comes to the open market.
There is, however, one top free agent left, and he would actually make considerable sense for Philadelphia at this point: former Houston Astros pitcher Framber Valdez.
While the Phillies boasted one of the best starting rotations in baseball last season, there is no doubt that it has some question marks heading into 2026.
Zack Wheeler is recovering from thoracic outlet syndrome, and his timeline is murky. Ranger Suarez signed with the Boston Red Sox. Aaron Nola was horrendous in 2025. Taijuan Walker hasn't been truly impressive at any point throughout his Phillies tenure, and Andrew Painter struggled mightily at Triple-A last year.
So you can clearly see Philadelphia's need for another starter, which is why Valdez seems like a viable target.
However, Phillies president Dave Dombrowski essentially shut that down this week.
Philadelphia Phillies president Dave Dombrowski. Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images.“I think we’re content where we are at this point," Dombrowski said, via Matt Gelb of The Athletic.
That indicates Philadelphia is probably done spending. It re-signed both Kyle Schwarber and J.T. Realmuto on $150 million and $45 million deals, respectively. It also added free agents Adolis Garcia and Brad Keller.
The Phillies were slapped with a $56 million luxury tax bill after 2025, so it seems like they don't want to go too much further in terms of payroll.
Valdez has been projected to land a contract worth over $150 million, so if we are to believe that Philadelphia is tightening the screws on its spending, the chances of the Phillies landing the left-hander are slim.
Of course, Philadelphia can always adjust on the fly and try to swing a trade for a pitcher, although the Phillies didn't seem to show any interest in Freddy Peralta before he was dealt to the New York Mets.
Philadelphia can simply wait until the trade deadline to decide whether or not it needs to make a move, but at that point, it might be too late.
Regardless, it doesn't appear that Valdez is coming to Philly.
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