Phillies to hire Dave Dombrowski as president of baseball operations

Dave Dombrowski will be the next president of baseball operations for the Philadelphia Phillies, per Jon Heyman of RADIO.COM Sports. Jayson Stark of The Athletic reported earlier in the day that the two sides were getting close to an agreement.

The 64-year-old Dombrowski has previously led front offices for the Montreal Expos, Florida Marlins, Detroit Tigers and Boston Red Sox. His teams in Florida and Boston won World Series titles, while the Tigers reached the World Series twice under his guidance.

Dombrowski joins an organization that’s missed the playoffs in nine consecutive seasons, and hasn’t had a single winning season over that period. Certainly, there’s a lot to like about coming to a place that employs Bryce Harper, Aaron Nola or Zack Wheeler, but despite that, Matt Gelb of The Athletic reports that internally, the Phillies don’t believe that they are “a quick fix.”

While Dombrowski will face significantly bigger organizational challenges, one of the first things on his plate will be determining how to proceed with two-time All-Star J.T. Realmuto. Realmuto has performed at an elite level in his two seasons with the Phillies and become a fan-favorite, though if the Phillies don’t view themselves as a team that can legitimately win the National League East in 2021, it’s fair to wonder if it makes sense for them to re-sign a catcher that will turn 30 before opening day.

We’ll have more on this story as it develops…

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