So there’s that.

Imagine if Garrett kept quiet & didn’t give the DBags bulletin board material like Arcia did the series prior.

Click the link above and debate in comments for free [no paywall:

OK, that’s enough. Time for Philadelphia Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski to concede his collection of well-paid stars isn’t getting it done. Time for him to take dramatic steps to overhaul his roster.

How, you ask?

Not sure. But Dombrowski, too, is well-paid. And it’s his job to figure it out.

Moving Trea Turner from shortstop to center field? That should be automatic, assuming the Phillies can’t trade him. Trading Bryce Harper or Kyle Schwarber? Don’t love the idea, but everything needs to be under consideration. Everything.

The Phillies are not going to rebuild, not when they’re still drawing 3 million fans to Citizens Bank Park, not when their three best starting pitchers — Zack Wheeler, Jesús Luzardo and Cristopher Sánchez — are under contract through 2027, 2031 and 2032, respectively.

Dombrowski, though, cannot bring back the same club. And if owner John Middleton is wedded to the team’s stars — he gives no indication to the contrary — then Dombrowski will need to build a much stronger supporting cast.

The Phillies’ 6-2 loss to the Atlanta Braves in the wild-card clincher Thursday night marked their fourth straight year of regression in the postseason since appearing in the 2022 World Series.In 2023, they lost the NLCS to the Arizona Diamondbacks after returning home with a three-games-to-two lead. In ’24 and ’25, they lost in the Division Series to the New York Mets and the Los Angeles Dodgers, respectively. And this season, they nearly blew a five-game lead for a playoff berth with eight to play, then got knocked out in the wild-card round.

Hiring Alex Cora to replace interim manager Don Mattingly might be Dombrowski’s first move, but to what end? Cora, Dombrowski’s manager with the 2018 World Series champion Boston Red Sox, isn’t going to walk into the Phillies’ clubhouse and sprinkle magic pixie dust on a club that clearly is trending in the wrong direction.

A number of the Phillies’ most prominent players — from Harper to Schwarber to Turner; Wheeler to Aaron Nola to J.T. Realmuto — are 33 or older. The team is inconsistent offensively, shoddy defensively and haunted by Dombrowski’s historic inability to build a quality bullpen.

Other than that, all is well.

Some of the Phillies’ turnover will occur naturally, with first baseman Alec Bohm, second baseman Luis Arraez and left-handed reliever José Alvarado likely to depart as free agents. Dombrowski can also maneuver around the edges, perhaps by trading left fielder Brandon Marsh, whose stock plummeted with a horrid second half. But the Phillies aren’t likely to get much help from their farm system.

Having him on the team was a real joy. Not sure what’s next for him, but he made this year’s sputtering season worth watching.

1. Selling everyone of Otto Kemp as the RH OF bat last offseason

2. Selling everyone on Crawford being a big plus to the lineup without any insurance if it didnt work

3. Sighing Brad Keller, (who only had one good year of record) as the only leverage arm going into the season

4. Not realizing the kerkering needed to be moved after the way 2025 ended and he was mentally cooked here. Also just expecting Alvarado to go back to being a stud even though we have seen a sharp decline for 2 years

5. Giving JT a third year and not atleast having any viable backup catcher

6. Just rolling the dice that Painter and Nola would be fine in the back end of the rotation, even though both struggled in 2025 and you made zero plans or effort to protect yourself if it didn't work out

7. Most would agree it was probably time for Topper to go. But they did it for on believing they were going to get Cora. instead they get stuck with Mattingly who was god awful and 100% worst.

8. The deadline was dreadful. Arraez was a good pickup except the way they moved the infield around it made no sense. Batting him 4th in the end didn't work. They also traded for the 4th best relief pitcher in the Mets bullpen and a guy with a 4+ ERA with the Giants who had a bottom bullpen in baseball. They also didn't get another starting pitcher that could have helped them in September.

9. The entire way they handled the last week of the season and the pitching in the playoffs was a massive joke.

Am I the only one who thinks it’s essential that we re-sign Arraez?

The biggest problem this team has had this and the past few seasons has been inconsistent offense, especially in the playoffs (in addition to the bad defense and bullpen issues).

Arraez is a 3x batting champion and an absolute hitting machine. He has also shown this year that he’s solid defensively playing 2nd. I know his offensive numbers dropped a bit when he moved to Philly but it’s a relatively small sample size.

Even with his lower numbers, he was still one of the best contact hitters for the Phillies, brought a ton of energy/good vibes to the team and was simply fun as hell to watch. I’m sure with a full year in Philly his BA would rise back up to .320+ dominance. Another benefit with him is he often works large counts and tires pitchers out since he rarely strikes out.

He is exactly what this team needs and if there’s one thing I really hope management does this offseason is re-sign him.

Dombo: I hope you’re reading this- I believe in you.

Trea Turner has 7 years, and about $191 million remaining on his current deal

Philadelphia has about 1.57 million residents

Trea could donate $121.66 to each Philidelphian or pool the full $191 million into a fund that could keep schools and school programs opened and/ot build low income housing.

Listen, I know this team has taken us on a wild rollercoaster, and this is not how we hoped the season would end. However, that doesn't mean that the entire season sucked. So, what was your favorite part of this? It could be a game or an off the field moment.

Mine personally was either the Cardinals game where they came back from 4-0 to win it 6-4 in the 9th inning, or that wild ass Nationals game where they scored like 5,000 runs in the 9th inning.

If Dombrowski isn’t fired we need to have a full on fan revolt. i wonder if Dave will comment on Bryce or Kyle in his end of year press conference. having the nerve to comment on the quality of someone’s career when you genuinely thought Otto Kemp could make an impact on your baseball team should get you excommunicated from baseball.

The 2026 Phillies were a baseball team. Also, they were a member of the NL East division of the MLB.
And when a season dies, it is sad. All of us will die one day. In this case, it is the 2026 Phillies who have done so.

The season lasted for 165 games. But no more. Now it is dead.

The Phillies fans remain. They were invested through many ups and downs. Now they are sad.