Phillies' Dave Dombrowski Should Be on the Hot Seat

The Philadelphia Phillies have backed into the MLB playoffs, going 10-14 in the month of September and clinching a berth on the final day of the regular season in spite of appearing to have had everything locked up a few weeks ago.

Nevertheless, the Phillies are in the postseason, and they will be facing the Atlanta Braves in the first round. The same Braves team that beat Philadelphia nine out of 13 times during the 162-game campaign.

Any Phillies fan can understand that this Philly squad is very flawed. The offense is maddeningly inconsistent and downright anemic at times. The bullpen has been nothing short of an unmitigated disaster.

Yes, the starting rotation is good, but that will only take you so far when you are weak in the other facets of the game.

And that falls squarely on the shoulders of team president Dave Dombrowski.

I don't want to hear any gripes about Don Mattingly, who led this faulty roster to a 79-55 record since taking over as interim manager in late April.

Mattingly has his quirks for sure, and no one will ever confuse him for being an elite skipper. But considering the hand he has been dealt this year, he's done a pretty solid job.

Dombrowski, on the other hand, should be on the hot seat entering the playoffs.

Why? Because it was abundantly clear that the Phillies had needs after losing in the NLDS for the second straight fall in 2025, only to watch as Dombrowski largely sat on his hands over the winter.

He signed Adolis Garcia — who had been non-tendered by the Texas Rangers — to solve the team's outfield problem. That experiment lasted all of 67 games before a shoulder injury knocked him out for the season ... after he posted a .599 OPS.

Dombrowski also added Brad Keller on a two-year, $22 million contract to bolster the bullpen, only to watch as Keller went down with an elbow injury that required Tommy John surgery.

When Keller did pitch, he logged a 4.02 ERA and 1.340 WHIP, which shouldn't have come as much of a surprise given his lifetime numbers (4.13 and 1.405, respectively) in those areas.

Injuries aren't Dombrowski's fault. But it's not like Garcia or Keller were exactly dynamite additions to begin with.

Dombrowski has also pilfered Philadelphia's farm system, which ranks toward the bottom of baseball. The team's player development has also been more than questionable.

Mattingly is likely a goner barring a World Series run, but he isn't the only one who should end up on the unemployment line if the Phils are unceremoniously bounced from the postseason yet again.

It's time for Dombrowski — who has long been a terrific executive — to catch some heat.