Dombrowski Hinting at Adding a Former MVP?

With the recent GM meetings wrapping up, Phillies President of Baseball Operations, Dave Dombrowski, hinted at the organization's goals for this offseason. Dombrowski has spoken repeatedly about the need to add a middle of the order, impact bat. Being that he’s also stressed the importance of acquiring a left fielder and looking at available free agents, it seems reasonable to think the Phillies will look to accomplish both goals with one player. There appears to be a top two when considering bats to fill left field in Kris Bryant and Nick Castellanos. An argument could be made to include Kyle Schwarber, who thrived under new Phillies hitting coach Kevin Long, however the Red Sox seem primed to retain him. While Dombrowski’s history with Castellanos dating back to the Tigers seems to signal him as the top choice, many of the Phillies President’s comments since he took over actually point to Kris Bryant as the logical choice.

During this past season, Dombrowski noted how the defense needed to improve. Castellanos would surely not help in this department. While Bryant isn’t a gold glover by any means, his positional versatility will help him avoid needing the DH spot once it makes its way to the NL. Castellanos, on the other hand, seems destined to be a future DH and with players such as Bohm and Hoskins already factoring into the Phillies core, defensive liability doesn’t seem ideal. Bryant’s versatility should allow the Phillies to continue experimenting with Alec Bohm at third base. If ultimately, it becomes apparent that Bohm can’t handle the hot corner, the Phillies would then have the option to move Bryant to third and find a new outfielder or simply find a new third baseman. Basically, landing Bryant over Castellanos provides the Phillies with more options down the road.

Lastly, the organization’s recent improvement in drafting under Brian Barber has been centered around over-slot picks after the first round. Castellanos was tendered a qualifying offer by the Reds, therefore, signing him would require the Phillies to forfeit their second round pick along with the slot money attached to it. Since Bryant was traded at the deadline, he was ineligible to receive a qualifying offer from the Giants. While the team seems backed into spending its way to being a contender, Dombrowski did say he prefers to keep their picks. Signing Bryant thus allows the Phillies to continue building the future of the organization from the ground up while paying premiums for top-level Major League talent. After all, Bryce Harper is here for 10 more years and it's about time the Phillies had a sustainable contender built around him.