Dave Dombrowski now has some major decisions to make regarding the state of the Phillies for the upcoming 2022 season. The Phillies have already started to clear room on their 40-man roster. The team decided to decline club options on both Odubel Herrera and Andrew McCutchen, the team continued to clear room on their 40-man roster last week.

Odubel Herrera, Andrew Knapp, Travis Jankowski, Ronald Torreyes, JD Hammer, and Ramon Rosso were all outrighted and elected free agency. Four of these players, (Herrera, Knapp, Jank, and Toe) were on the list of nine players eligible for arbitration this December. 

On Monday, Dave Dombrowski kicked off general manager meetings and went over some key positions that he’s looking to upgrade in the offseason to set this team up for success. Left field, centerfield, and the bullpen are the main positions that need to be addressed. Obviously, when your bullpen blows 34 saves, major work is needed. Shortstop is another position that could be upgraded but as I wrote about before, there’s a possibility that the Phillies will stick with Bryson Stott and Didi Gregorius at shortstop to start the 2022 season. For now, Dombrowski seems to be focused on the closer position.

I’ve been sold on the fact that the Phillies need a star middle infielder for a while, and that isn’t going to change. I wanted Semien last offseason, and now that he is set to hit free agency again, Dave Dombrowski could go after a guy with his caliber. The question is, will the Phillies finally spend the big money again like we’ve been asking them to for years. 

The free agent market is rich this offseason with shortstops. Big names like Carlos Correa, Trevor Story, and Corey Seager highlight the top free agents at shortstop as we roll into the winter months. Dombrowski will need to evaluate each of them while also giving some much needed attention to his bullpen, left field, and centerfield positions.

“We have to have somebody to close games for us. That’s probably our biggest area……If I had to say one thing, I’d probably say I’d like to have somebody that can close a game for us, and count on it.”

The Phillies brought in Ian Kennedy tat the trade deadline, but as we all painfully witnessed over the second half of last season, that didn’t really work out as planned. Don’t get me wrong, Kennedy wasn’t horrendous, but he was too inconsistent in the closer role for this team, something that the Phillies can’t have if they seriously want to contend in 2022.

Dombrowski also mentioned Sam Coonrod, Seranthony Dominguez, Jose Alvarado, and Connor Brogdon as guys that are in the plans for 2022. Seranthony Dominguez is finally coming back from his long, dreaded injury, after showing signs of a lockdown arm early in his career. Jose Alvarado was wild at times, but with the current state of the Phillies bullpen, he’s going to be needed next year. To note, both of these players were due for arbitration this December, which means that it looks like both will be tendered or re-signed before they each hit arbitration.

Dave Dombrowski has received his “budget” from John Middleton. Although we don’t know what that number is, it seems like Dombrowski is “open to anything”, and will do whatever it takes to get this team back to contending for a title. Uncle Dave has a lot of work to do this offseason, but with his first full winter with the Phillies starting, I have all the confidence in the world that he’ll do everything he needs to do to get this team back to playing playoff baseball.

Mandatory Credit: Wikimedia