Philadelphia Phillies: Dave Dombrowski’s history of win-now trades
Dombrowski blew up Boston’s farm system and won a World Series, but was it worth it?
Just days after being released from his contract in Detroit, Dombrowski joined the Boston Red Sox as President of Baseball Operations. Boston was two years removed from winning the World Series in 2014, but had finished last in the American League East the next two seasons.
Dombrowski immediately got to work and unloaded prospects Javier Guerra, Manuel Margot, Logan Allen, and Carlos Asuaje for Padres closer Craig Kimbrel. San Diego went all in after 2014 but had to reverse course, leading to them trading their All-Star closer.
Margot has shown flashes, but remains inconsistent in his time with San Diego and Tampa Bay. Logan Allen is just 23-years-old and pitched well in limited relief opportunities for Cleveland after being traded in the Trevor Bauer/Yasiel Puig deal. Asuaje appears to have been a bust and Guerra needs more opportunities, but in the immediate future, this deal largely paid off for Boston.
On December 6, 2016, the Red Sox traded two of their top prospects, 3B Yoan Moncada and RHP Michael Kopech, along with two other players for Chicago White Sox ace Chris Sale.
Moncada and Kopech were not only two of the Red Sox top prospects, but two of the best in baseball. It was another clear win-now move for Dombrowski to acquire a top of the rotation starter to pair with former Tigers Rick Porcello, Doug Fister, and David Price.
In the short-term, these moves paid off big for the Red Sox, who won another World Series in 2018 on the arms of Kimbrel and Sale. While winning a World Series is the ultimate goal, Boston unloaded their farm system and is facing a lengthy rebuild, similar to Detroit’s.
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This trend with Dombrowski is the biggest fear among Philadelphia Phillies fans; he’ll go all-in to win this year and sell the farm in the process, only to leave the franchise in a smoldering mess for the next decade.
Does this mean Dombrowski will do the same with in Philadelphia by trading Alec Bohm for a 32-year-old pitcher? In that case, probably not. One thing preventing Dombrowski from selling the farm to win now is the fact that the Philadelphia Phillies farm system is completely bare. Other than recent first-round picks Bryson Stott and Mick Abel, Philly’s farm system needs several years’ worth of solid drafts to get back to where it was in 2006.
Dombrowski’s attention for rebuilding the Philadelphia Phillies in the immediate future should be in free agency with J.T. Realmuto and Didi Gregorius. The big trades will come, but right now he doesn’t have the ammo to do it.
Honorable Mention Trades
On July 5, 2002, Dombrowski acquires future All-Star Carlos Pena in a three-team deal with the Oakland A’s and New York Yankees. The deal was later featured in the movie Moneyball.
On July 31, 2006, Dombrowski acquired All-Star first baseman Sean Casey for minor-league pitcher Brian Rogers.
On July 23, 2012, Dombrowski traded former first round pitcher Jacob Turner, catcher Rob Brantly, and pitcher Brian Flynn to the Miami Marlins for starting pitcher Aníbal Sánchez and infielder Omar Infante.