Philadelphia Phillies fans won't be surprised about this.
The Philadelphia Phillies have been one of the best teams in baseball for years running now, but they have not been able to get over the hump.
A rather inactive offseason has the fanbase frustrated heading into 2026, as the Phillies are essentially running it back minus a couple of critical pieces like Ranger Suarez and Harrison Bader.
But the problem for Philadelphia is that it does not have a ton of trade flexibility, and that is due to its rather barren farm system.
The Phillies have pitcher Andrew Painter, shortstop Aidan Miller and outfielder Justin Crawford as their top prospects and then not a whole lot else, which has led to Philadelphia's farm system being ranked 20th by Baseball America.
“Miller, Andrew Painter, and Justin Crawford give the Phillies an enviable trio, but trades have sapped the system of depth,” Baseball America wrote. “They’ll need to hit big on their draft picks to move back up the ranks.”
This ranking should certainly not surprise Phillies fans, or anyone who has spent any time watching Dave Dombrowski throughout his career as an executive.
Philadelphia Phillies president Dave Dombrowski. Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images.While Dombrowski is highly regarded for putting teams into World Series contention, he is also well known for depleting farm systems to get there, and he has done the very same thing in Philadelphia.
It's a double-edged sword. Yes, being more open to moving prospects means you will stand a better chance of landing top players, but if those trades don't pan out, then you will be in pretty deep trouble for the future.
That is the situation in which the Phillies appear to find themselves right about now. It seems hard to imagine the team in its current state legitimately challenging the Los Angeles Dodgers in a playoff series, and improving may be difficult.
That's especially considering that Philadelphia seems pretty set on keeping the trio of Painter, Miller and Crawford. In fact, Painter appears primed to begin 2026 in the starting rotation, and Crawford will be starting in center field.
Things could certainly change as we get deeper into the season, but as of right now, Dombrowski is actually being stingy with his young talent, which is something we have rarely — if ever — seen from the two-time World Series champion.
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