The Philadelphia Phillies have hired Dave Dombrowski as their next president of baseball operations. For the past nine weeks, the Phillies have done absolutely nothing but screw everything up and give non-detailed answers about what direction this franchise is heading. Today, it seems that has changed with the hiring of Dombrowski, a two-time World Series champion.

Dombrowski built the 2018 Red Sox team that won 108 games in the regular season and then beat two 100-win teams in October to eventually take down the Dodgers in the World Series. He was then fired just 11 months later due to disagreements with ownership in Boston about the future course of the franchise.

Dombrowski joining the Phillies is shocking news since just last month, he told Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic that he wasn’t interested in being a candidate for any type of role due to the fact he has been working in Nashville on bringing an MLB team to the city.

That changed after John Middleton approached Dombrowski again at this week’s winter meetings. After Thad Levine and Josh Byrnes both withdrew their names from consideration, Middleton and MacPhail had a series of conversations with Dombrowski and convinced him the position was attractive enough to consider. (I am well aware that it is unfathomable that Middleton or MacPhail could convince ANYONE that joining the Phillies front office would be a good idea.)

Luckily for the Phillies, Dombrowski was crazy enough to accept.

So why is the fanbase so upset about Dombrowski? He is the ONLY President/GM in modern times to build a World Series team with three different franchises (Boston, Detroit, Miami). He’s one of five to win a World Series with two different teams. The Phillies are giving the keys to the franchise to one of the most accomplished front-office figures of the last 30 years. After a 9-year playoff drought, the Phillies are clearly making a commitment to the franchise and more importantly, to winning. You wouldn’t bring on a figure like Dave Dombrowski if you thought otherwise.

I understand there’s a lot of talk that Dombrowski will “trade away” our farm system. What is this farm system you speak of? We literally have no farm system. The Phillies have one of the worst farm systems in Major League Baseball and have been terrible at developing players for the past decade. If that’s the only “push back” on Dave Dombrowski then the Phillies will be just fine.

A few weeks ago, the Phillies were in “win now” mode and the entire fanbase was SCREAMING at the front office to start making moves in free agency. All of the sudden we are building for the future and worried about the farm system? I hope Dombrowski comes into Philadelphia and starts throwing “stupid money” all over the MLB and re-signs JT Realmuto while getting us starting and relief pitching. Trade away any prospect you want, Dave.

Thinking more realistically, the move certainly doesn’t guarantee that the Phillies will spend money this offseason. First, they will have to figure out their payroll budget and how they are going to attack all of the glaring holes in this roster for 2021 and beyond. Dombrowsk’s biggest task will be restoring the faith of a fanbase that continues to grow more upset with ownership by the day. Nine straight losing seasons have driven us all insane and smug remarks from ownership have people lined up and ready to burn down Citizens Bank Park.

We will know for certain in a few weeks time if the Phillies see a path to the 2021 playoffs or if they will plan for the future.

I’ll leave you with this quote from Dombrowski:

“One of the goals – and we used to talk about it all the time – was to change the mindset of the people in the organization,” Dombrowski said back in 2007. “Not that they were losers. They just accepted the losing too easily.”

Bring back energy. Bring back credibility. Spend money. Add depth. Win now. Please.

Mandatory Credit: USA Today