Phillies Dave Dombrowski press conference live stream — Today at 10:30a

[0:56] Dombrowski to the podium to address this past season and what's to come. [1:02] I know some of them you've read following up on Don's situation, [1:06] but we've officially moved on from Kevin Long and Bobby Dickerson. [1:13] We talked to them yesterday and are going to have a new infield coach [1:17] and hitting coach. [1:20] We have hired a new infield coach and third base coach. [1:26] Carlos Mendoza will join us in that role for the coming year. [1:31] And we've also agreed to terms with Tim Meza on a 2027 contract. [1:39] So those are four things, and I guess at that point, open for questions. [1:46] Just as always, if you have a question, just raise your hand. [1:49] Alyssa has a microphone on my right, and then Dylan has one on my left. [1:53] So with that, we can start. [1:54] Let's go right here in front. Dave? [2:00] Good morning, Dave. [2:04] Good morning. [2:04] What's your message to frustrated Phillies fans about the state of the organization [2:10] and how things have been going for the organization over recent this past season? [2:17] Well, let's differentiate. [2:19] There's a lot there. [2:21] We're not happy with the season that we had. [2:25] When we go into a year nowadays, we're in a position where we're expecting [2:28] and we want to win a World Series. [2:30] We are hopeful to still be playing now. [2:32] So we're not happy on that. [2:35] There's a lot of good things about the club at this point, too. [2:41] And so there's a lot of promise in that regard. [2:44] We have some good young players coming. [2:47] And we're going to make some moves that will make us better. [2:50] So I think when you look at our club, I'm not sure there's too many clubs in baseball [2:57] that would like their starting rotation better than ours. [3:01] That's a very good place to start, and that's a place where I've always started. [3:04] And it's worked out pretty well throughout the years. [3:07] That starting rotation with our closers is probably as good as anybody's in baseball. [3:13] I think we had more all-stars than anybody in baseball this past year. [3:19] We've got some good young players that we think will continue to get better. [3:24] Justin Crawford broke in. [3:26] He kept his head above water all year. [3:28] He did fine. [3:29] We're looking for more things out of Justin Crawford as he continues to grow. [3:32] Andrew Painter stepped into our rotation the second half of the year. [3:35] He was a very promising young player. [3:37] Alec McFarlane ended up being in a position where he really played an important role [3:41] first down the stretch and is only going to continue to get better. [3:45] We have some other young players that are on the verge of coming in. [3:48] A young guy like Aiden Miller, who's got a chance to be an outstanding young player, [3:53] who I think would have played for us in 26 if unfortunately his back wasn't in that situation. [3:59] Started off very well in the Arizona Fall League. [4:02] Gage Wood is very close to pitching at the big league level. [4:05] Brian Rincon is a really good player at the double-A level that's an outstanding young shortstop [4:10] who's also very close. [4:12] So when you look at some of the veteran players that we have, [4:15] we didn't have the year that we wanted to have, [4:17] but there's still a lot of good things that we're going to get better, look to get better, [4:21] but there's also some good things too. [4:23] Okay, let's go to Jimmy in the back in the middle there. [4:27] Hey, Dave. [4:33] Hey, Jim. [4:33] Dave, do you believe that you have an issue at shortstop, and if so, how do you address it? [4:42] Well, and I know there's been a lot said on why it's been two weeks, I guess, since the season. [4:50] There was a lot of things to accomplish for me before I got to this point [4:56] to talk to some players face-to-face about next year. [5:00] Of course, we had the managerial situation to settle. [5:05] One of the people I talked to, he flew back into town, was Trey Turner, [5:08] and so we visited, what's today, Tuesday, I think it was, for a couple hours downstairs. [5:18] I'd hoped to catch him before he left, but everything else going on, [5:21] he wanted to get back down to Florida, so he flew back. [5:23] We visited for a good couple hours, talked about it. [5:27] Appreciate that he came back, and it's a situation where Trey takes, [5:35] does not think he had a good season, offensively or defensively. [5:40] Trey takes a complete accountability on that, and is already working to, on his swing, [5:49] and I've told him to kind of slow down. [5:51] You don't have to do it that quickly. [5:52] Make sure he gets with some people, and a guy like Don Mattingly is a good person to get with, [5:57] and they've already talked a little bit and will continue to do so. [6:00] I think Trey, Trey still has his fast-twitch muscles. [6:04] He did not have a good year, but I think he can bounce back from an offensive perspective. [6:08] He needs to fix some things with his swing. [6:11] From a defensive perspective, we are very clear. [6:15] He knows he has to be better at shortstop, and I told him that's really mandatory that he's like that. [6:23] He feels he can play, and if he plays shortstop like he did in 25, he can play shortstop. [6:30] But if he plays it like he did in 26, he can. [6:33] And he totally understands that. [6:37] We've already given him some information ourselves that we think can be helpful. [6:42] Of course, Carlos Mendoza will be responsible for working with him. [6:46] And he said, I said, okay, let's go through the different scenarios. [6:50] If you're not playing well at shortstop and spring training, things don't work in that regard. [6:55] Now, again, we do have a couple young players coming. [6:57] Will they both be ready? [6:58] I do not know that. [7:00] I don't know what other additions we may make this wintertime. [7:04] But we need to leave it that he is very willing to do, if he doesn't play shortstop, [7:10] to do what is best for the Philadelphia Phillies organization. [7:14] So that's how we left it with him, and he's determined to show us that he can play it. [7:18] And I said, you have to show it. [7:20] You cannot play shortstop like he did defensively in 26, going into 27. [7:26] So no plan at the moment to move him to the outfield? [7:29] And if there ever was, could he make that move at a moment's notice? [7:33] Well, he's played there before. [7:40] He prefers the infield, I would say, other positions. [7:45] So I do think it's something that he's a good athlete. [7:48] I think he can adjust appropriately. [7:49] But we'll wait and we'll see what happens. [7:51] Kyle, right in the middle. [7:54] Hi, Dave. [7:54] Kyle Fisher from Metro Philadelphia. [7:56] Yes, sir. [7:56] Kyle. [7:56] The decision to move on from Kevin Long and Bobby Dickerson, was that a decision that was made independent of the eventual managerial selection? [8:06] And what ultimately led to moving on from two beloved voices in the clubhouse? [8:10] Well, no, it was not made independently. [8:12] It was made in conjunction with Don. [8:15] And Mike, as I've said to him and for many other years, that major league coaching staff, of course, in the front office, you have feedback into whatever you would like to do. [8:29] But I believe that the coaching staff reports to the manager. [8:34] We do get involved much more than we used to with every end of the operation from a front office perspective, making sure things are well coordinated. [8:42] But in the manager's situation, that they report to him. [8:49] And so now I also, when we appoint people, I've always maintained to have veto power. [8:54] And when I say that, I would not want to have a manager appoint five catching instructors and not have somebody that can teach pitching, for example. [9:01] It's not going to happen, but I've got to make sure that it doesn't happen. [9:05] So in conjunction with Don, we talked about it. [9:08] And he felt those were two moves that he recommended. [9:13] And so we discussed it thoroughly. [9:17] And so I know it's going to come up at some point, so it's easy for me to address it. [9:21] In Don's situation, our season ended at, I don't know, I got back to sleep on Friday after the Thursday night game in Atlanta about 5 o'clock in the morning. [9:33] I was back in here early on Friday to discuss some things. [9:38] I had already talked to Don on the plane that we would meet on Saturday, let him get some things settled, too. [9:46] He preferred to do that. [9:47] So we ended up meeting on Saturday afternoon in my office for a good hour and a half, two hours. [9:53] And one of the things I told him right off the bat is how good a job he did and how much I liked him. [10:01] And that he was a leading candidate by all means to come back. [10:06] But baseball rules, when you have an interim manager, you're supposed to interview people outside of that. [10:16] So that was something that we were going to do, follow up with other names. [10:21] I would keep him in the loop on that, which I did. [10:25] And finally, I know the timing is a little bit, but sometimes it doesn't always work for people's personal lives and all that. [10:34] But Don and I have had agreed to a deal on Saturday. [10:39] So this has been done since Saturday. [10:42] But it was a situation where the Eagles were playing on the weekend. [10:46] It doesn't make a lot of sense to make an announcement at that particular time. [10:49] And then he had a trip planned with his family up in the mountains where he didn't even have much Internet service. [11:00] So we said, okay, let's wait until Thursday so you can talk to people properly. [11:05] So that's why he did it on Wednesday. [11:06] So it's been a lot shorter time period. [11:09] And I did make the appropriate phone calls that I needed to to various people. [11:14] I discussed with various individuals, had a list of people to go over. [11:18] Before Don was in the loop, I knew what was going on. [11:22] And the first time the job was offered to anybody was on Saturday when I offered it to Don. [11:28] Let's go to Matt in the back left, my left. [11:31] Obviously, sorry. [11:34] First of all, to be clear, you're going into this offseason saying that Trey Turner is your shortstop for 2027. [11:41] At this point, but we'll see. [11:42] We'll see what happens at this point. [11:44] It's up to him to show us that he can do it. [11:46] And we'll see what happens. [11:47] But we'll have fallback opportunity. [11:49] And some of them may come back for the young players that we have. [11:53] And obviously, without naming names, I mean, what, in your mind, are your offseason priorities, you know, target-wise in terms of position or need or however detailed as you can be? [12:04] It's like, how do you look at this offseason? [12:06] How do you improve your roster? [12:08] Well, there's a lot of different things that we can do. [12:11] I think we still start with a good foundation. [12:13] It's not starting pitching. [12:16] It's starting pitching depth. [12:17] But we already have a gauge would come in. [12:19] But we'll get some more starting pitching depth. [12:22] I think that our bullpen, we need to look at our bullpen. [12:25] Unfortunately, our big addition this year was Keller. [12:27] He ended up getting hurt. [12:29] A couple of the moves we made at the trade deadline, unfortunately, didn't work out very well. [12:33] One of them due to injury. [12:34] We do like Caleb Killian and think he'll be an important part of our bullpen next year. [12:40] And then the Raley move, for whatever reason, did not work out very well. [12:44] So we know we need to make some type of addition to our bullpen. [12:47] But I also want to emphasize that we do like Bolin and we do like McFarlane a great deal. [12:56] And I know a lot of people like him because people call me about him. [13:00] And Killian we like. [13:01] So we do have a good foundation with the closer that we have. [13:04] We need some improvement from the left-hand side, hopefully. [13:06] Although we're very happy to have Tim Mazza back. [13:09] The other part of it is our offense needs to be better. [13:12] We were not good on an offensive basis this year. [13:14] We only had two players that were above average, really, is what it comes down to. [13:20] And you can make an argument there was a third with Bryson Stott's situation. [13:23] But really with Schwerbs and Harp, I think that those two were the two guys that really had very good offensive years for us, [13:31] very good years overall. [13:32] We need to get better offensively. [13:34] That can come through some additions. [13:36] It could come through some better decisions from an offensive perspective on things we do. [13:42] That will be up to our hitting coach. [13:44] But the other thing I think we need to do, and I've already, again, I talked to some players. [13:50] I talked to Trey. [13:52] I've talked to JT. [13:54] I've talked to Harp. [13:56] I met with Harp for a couple hours, a few days after the season. [14:01] That week, that was last week. [14:03] Talked to JT on the phone. [14:04] And I think one of the things we need to do is to create some more days off for our veteran players to keep them more rested to create that roster. [14:14] Don and I have talked, along with Preston and others, some of that may be flexibility. [14:19] Harp will be our first baseman. [14:21] He'll come in. [14:22] But he did say he'd be willing to play some games in the outfield to help us if need be. [14:28] But we're going to look at him as being our first baseman. [14:31] But we also, and we talked about that, have a plan in that we need to get him off his feet a little bit more if we can. [14:39] Schwartz is very open to playing more first base. [14:43] So what we'll end up doing is, and we've never done this really in the past, in the beginning of spring training, that Schwartz will take some, he'll work at first base. [14:53] So what we'll allow us to do is play him. [14:56] Our estimated number is 30 games. [14:59] And then at that time, be able to put Harp at DH. [15:02] So it's to keep those guys fresher as they age. [15:05] We have to get Trey turned around from an offensive perspective. [15:08] We think we can do that. [15:09] In J.T.'s case, I just wanted to let him know that our plans would be, and I said, I don't know if I can accomplish this, but I don't want you to hear about it from a press conference. [15:21] My goal is to try to reduce the number of games you catch. [15:25] And he told me, he said, Dave, a couple of things. [15:28] He said, first of all, I have to get better offensively this year. [15:31] I think I can do that. [15:32] But he said, I did not have a good offensive year. [15:35] But he said, surprisingly, he said, physically, I feel as good as I've ever felt. [15:46] He said, mentally, with all the added responsibilities, I feel more mentally drained. [15:54] So he said, I understand. [15:56] I welcome that. [15:57] I can appreciate a few more days off. [16:01] He said, my goal is to be improved enough offensively. [16:04] So at some, you can, Donnie can put me at first base if he wants to. [16:08] I played first base. [16:10] He said, that's up to me to show you that I deserve to do it. [16:12] So one of the things I think I need to do is be in a position where, you know, Stott's an important part of our club. [16:18] We have some free agents. [16:19] We like Stott. [16:20] I think he can be better than what he is even. [16:22] He had a really good June, July, August. [16:26] I don't know why he can't be that player all the time. [16:30] We need to get Crawford better. [16:33] There's no question on that. [16:34] He needs to improve. [16:35] He did like we would have thought he did this year. [16:38] But there's got to be another level to him where he hits better. [16:40] He gets on base more. [16:42] He steals more bases. [16:45] I don't know what happened to Marshy the second half of the year. [16:48] He was not good. [16:49] He was an all-star the first half of the year. [16:51] We need to get him back to playing better. [16:54] And then we need to complement those guys with some other players. [16:57] So that will be our goal. [16:58] Some of them may come internal. [16:59] I mean, people keep talking about it, but I'm not going to put it on his back. [17:05] But we think a guy like Aiden Miller is a really, really good player. [17:09] And you see all the young players that have jumped into playing this year and the years that they had. [17:15] Aiden Miller, who was healthy, he's as good as any of them. [17:20] So, and Rincon's a really good player, too. [17:23] And a couple things that they do that some of our other, we're not as good at all the way around. [17:30] They know the strike zone. [17:31] They walk. [17:33] They don't strike out. [17:33] They'll strike out some, but they don't strike out in abundance. [17:36] But they have a much better feel of the strike zone. [17:39] So those are some ways that we can get better. [17:44] Hey, Dave. [17:44] Dave, just to kind of drill down on the offense a little bit. [17:48] Yes, I don't see him. [17:50] Right here. [17:50] Okay. [17:51] Just to kind of drill down on the offense a little bit. [17:53] You were eighth in the league in runs last year. [17:55] This year, I think you were 19th. [17:57] Slug went from, like, fourth to, like, 23rd. [18:00] Is the offensive approach something that needs to be looked at just overall? [18:06] Because obviously August was very, very good and kind of an outlier, as it turned out, to sort of the rest of the year. [18:12] So how much of a review needs to be done on approach? [18:15] Well, I think it's probably already started, right? [18:18] We have a new hitting coach. [18:21] So, yeah, there's new approaches. [18:22] I'm not putting it all in because let me just say, first of all, I want to make sure Kevin Long and Bobby Dickerson have done a lot of good things for this organization. [18:31] And I thank them. [18:33] We thank them for what they've done. [18:35] And they're successful with various people, what they've worked with, and throughout the years. [18:40] So they've been outstanding for us. [18:41] But, yeah, we think we need to adjust some of our approaches in that regard. [18:46] I think one thing you have to be aware of, too, is that it's like when you're watching the postseason now, there's not many runs being scored. [18:59] So who are you facing who's pitching against you at particular times? [19:04] I mean, I look back in the month of September, 16 of our 22 games were against playoff clubs and top pitching. [19:13] I mean, top pitch. [19:14] I mean, Atlanta's pretty smart every time we – and I've talked to him because I know him very well and have the utmost respect for him. [19:22] I'm tired of watching Chris Sale pitch against us. [19:25] He's good. [19:27] You know, I mean, it's hard to score runs against Chris Sale. [19:29] And I had a long conversation with him in Atlanta after we lost the first game and saw him running around. [19:37] And we talked to each other when he told me some things that he's done to help himself. [19:43] But, yeah, we need to adjust and make some adjustments. [19:47] And I think it's – you know, that's some of the reasons why we've already made a change. [19:51] Just also, is the whole timeline a little bit compressed this year in that after December 1st, you're not really sure what's going to happen? [20:00] And, I mean, does more – it sounds like you've had a lot of meetings with players already. [20:04] Does everything kind of get accelerated here a little bit in the next six weeks? [20:09] Well, on some things, yes. [20:11] On other things, no. [20:13] But I think it's important that, you know, throughout the years now, our season ended a little earlier than we would have liked. [20:21] And what it has is, you know, the fifth year we've been in the postseason in a row. [20:24] But this is the earliest that ended in a while. [20:27] So I thought it was important to talk to the players while they're still here face-to-face. [20:33] So it was great and had, you know, good conversations with those three guys. [20:38] Schwerbs were in contact a little bit with themselves, and we've reached out to him. [20:42] And I know Don, now that he's officially back, will be talking to him too. [20:48] But not these – these conversations I would have wanted to have anyway, [20:52] because next week we have our – I knew I was going to deal with this, [20:55] and you were going to ask me some of these questions. [20:58] So I don't want them to hear about it here. [21:00] The second thing is I want to be in preparation for what we're looking to do [21:04] because we have our meetings with our personnel, our scouts and front office personnel, [21:09] and some of our big league staff members next week, the end of next week. [21:13] So that's an important time period. [21:15] So those areas, no, because those would be important to do anyway. [21:20] But, for example, off-season conditioning programs, meeting players face-to-face, [21:27] making sure they're aware of what we need them to do. [21:29] Those things are already done and will continue to be emphasized. [21:34] But if Carlos Mendoza is going to reach out to our infielders, well, he has to do it before then [21:39] because I don't know what – if we get past December 1st, well, then, in the past, [21:43] that's when all those things you can't communicate with the individuals. [21:47] So some areas, yes, but not necessarily these. [21:49] Let's go to Dave Murphy in the front and middle. [21:53] Dave, do you feel like there's anything you can or need to do differently [21:58] from a front office standpoint when it comes to filling out this roster, [22:05] you know, bullpen and corner outfield specifically, [22:07] rather than fishing in free agent waters and kind of hoping that guys – [22:12] you know, it's kind of a roulette wheel, especially in the bullpen. [22:14] Have you evaluated whether it's how you're evaluating players, how you're prioritizing needs, [22:22] how you're, you know, valuing players? [22:24] Are there any changes that you think you can or need to make? [22:28] Well, that's a tricky question, which you probably – that's why you asked it like that. [22:34] I understand it. [22:35] Because the reality is, is you're always looking at ways to improve yourself. [22:39] I've been doing this a long time. [22:40] Every year we sit down and have a meeting internally and with our staff members [22:44] on how we can get better and how we can improve our methods of what things we're doing. [22:49] We've changed things in our farm system already this year [22:52] on ways we think we can better develop players. [22:56] But we've been always very thorough in doing that anyway, [22:59] but you're always looking to get better. [23:01] We sat down yesterday with Caleb, a pitching coach, [23:04] who I think is outstanding with our pitching people. [23:07] Our pitching has been outstanding throughout the time period. [23:11] We're very contemporary on the things that we do. [23:14] But it's also one of those – like he's already – and I'm not going to say what it is – [23:17] like, hey, we need to make these adjustments with our pitchers [23:20] because the game is changing in that regard. [23:22] Very up-to-date on those type of things. [23:24] But you're always looking to get players however you can. [23:27] So if it's free agency, if it's trades, if it's players from overseas, [23:32] those are all things that we've always been open to do. [23:35] Sometimes you do things – we made – and I've said this before at the trading deadline. [23:39] There's moves that I've made at times that I thought were absolutely outstanding, [23:43] and they didn't work out. [23:45] And I can give one – and I've said it before. [23:47] We acquired Jared Washburn many years ago in his Detroit Tigers. [23:50] He was in the top five in the league in earner and average in wins and everything [23:53] and didn't win a game for us because he pulled a ribcage muscle. [23:58] And then it was a bad trade. [24:01] Aubrey Huff we acquired in a trade at that time [24:04] who we thought would really help us from an offensive perspective [24:07] and didn't perform well. [24:11] And the next year he drove in 100 runs. [24:14] Last year we got Harrison Bader. [24:16] He did very well for us. [24:17] We used a lot of the same ways to end up evaluating players. [24:22] But this year when we get a Brooks-Raley the same way we've done it with our meetings [24:29] and all that, it didn't work out very well. [24:31] But it's not that we weren't very thorough. [24:33] And really we've encompassed so much more information than we have in the past, [24:39] not only just scouting reports but all different type of analytical information that we have. [24:45] And we'll continue to do that. [24:47] But sometimes you make a move and a Killian gets hurt. [24:51] And I don't really, no matter what we do in the future, [24:56] I'm not sure how you prevent those type of things from happening. [24:58] Real quickly, Aiden Miller, the back, is he over that? [25:03] Is that going to be a lingering concern for him? [25:07] You know, obviously you guys were counting on him this year [25:10] and that kind of derailed his whole season. [25:11] Is that something that he's passed right now? [25:13] Well, the doctor has cleared him and he feels fine. [25:18] I'm not to say that I'm not so wise to know what will happen in the future. [25:23] But as far as I have been told, he's really worked his way through this. [25:31] Now, I've never fortunately had a bad back. [25:35] And some of you may have. [25:37] I'm not sure. [25:38] People tell me that every so often when you have a bad back that it's still, [25:41] you feel it every so often. [25:42] I can't tell you if that's how he's going to be or not. [25:46] But I've been told that he's in a position where what he's gone through, [25:50] that he should be fine for the season and be ready to continue to progress. [25:56] Hey, Dave. [25:57] From a league-wide sense, do you expect free agency to heat up when the season concludes [26:03] with the collective bargaining agreement expiring December 1st? [26:06] I have no idea. [26:08] You know, I've been through this before many times, [26:11] but earlier in my career a lot more than I have in the past. [26:14] And I don't really have an answer on that. [26:16] And some people may feel they want to do that. [26:18] I think one of the tricky questions, for me, one of the tricky questions is, [26:22] I don't know what the rules are going to be in the future. [26:25] So I don't know how that, you know, [26:28] and people may determine that they treat those rules unknown in different ways. [26:35] But I don't know. [26:36] You figure when you look at the time frame period of it, [26:39] by the time the World Series ends, the guys file for free agency, [26:43] the players file for free agency, and they have until five days afterwards. [26:47] You get to November 17th or whatever the date is this year, 20th, [26:54] that they have to accept qualifying offers if they're made to them. [26:59] Well, you're only talking about another 10, 11 days, 12 days until that time period comes. [27:04] So I'm not sure how that will end up happening. [27:09] Do you remember any of the challenges or trends from how it impacted free agency [27:13] the last time there was a work stoppage? [27:14] Well, I mean, the most recent one was, you know, we delayed. [27:19] We didn't start spring training on time, but it didn't affect our games. [27:22] That was only five years ago, right? [27:24] So, I mean, basically what it did is, I remember we had conversations with agents beforehand. [27:30] In some ways, they had a hard time deciding if they wanted to make a move at that particular point [27:36] because they wanted to gather more information. [27:39] I remember we were trying to sign Kyle Schwarber at that point, [27:42] and I thought we might get him signed beforehand, but they decided they wanted to wait, [27:46] and then fortunately we were able to pick it up afterwards. [27:50] But what ends up happening is I found that there wasn't that time as much done, [27:58] but as soon as it's over, it is a rush. [28:03] You've got to be prepared for all type of movements and changes and decisions. [28:07] But, again, I don't know what's going to happen this year. [28:11] Tim on the right. [28:12] Hey, Dave. [28:12] Just to clarify, the Mesa deal is an MLB deal? [28:15] Yes. [28:16] Okay. [28:16] And Luis Arise kind of gave you guys a spark when you first came [28:19] and got a little cold and then injured. [28:21] How do you evaluate potentially bringing him back moving forward? [28:25] Well, we like him. [28:26] I mean, he did a good job. [28:27] I mean, he seconded the league, I think, in hitting. [28:30] Of course, in the beginning he did much better than he did the last second month for him. [28:33] But he's a player that we liked. [28:34] He did a nice job for us. [28:36] He fit on our club well. [28:37] And we'll just have to analyze his situation as we build our club with everybody else's. [28:42] But we liked what he did for us, and we liked him as a player and a person. [28:47] Hey, Dave, when you look to kind of rework the roster, improve the roster, [28:52] you mentioned starting pitching as being the strength of the team. [28:55] How open would you be to trading from that depth to maybe add some other impact players? [29:02] And also, how open would you be in trading one of the core guys in the lineup, [29:07] a Harper, a Schwarber, a Turner, if you could find the right deal and if it would make sense? [29:11] Well, I don't think I'd ever talk openly about trading guys like that, period. [29:15] The other thing, when you talk about that, just as most of our, when you talk about those players, [29:22] and you're not talking about the young guy, a jalapeno, they all have no trades or 10-5 rights [29:28] and all that type stuff. [29:29] So I think basically that's our core of individuals that you deal with. [29:33] And we're not looking to trade from our starting pitching. [29:36] I mean, our starting pitching is our strength. [29:40] Dodgers, Brewers, Rays are all well-known to have excellent analytic departments. [29:44] At least that's the reputation they have. [29:46] I don't know. [29:47] But I'm just wondering what you feel, your analytics department, how it performs. [29:52] We talk about clubhouse changes, manager, coaching staff, players, [29:56] but we never get to talk to those guys. [29:58] So can you tell us how you feel that they are performing in their jobs? [30:01] I think they do a very good job. [30:03] I mean, we did, of course, have a transition this past year when Ani left to become the general manager. [30:08] So, you know, he was doing a good enough job to become the general manager at Washington. [30:13] And then we didn't hire anybody to immediately fill that role. [30:18] The timing of it just didn't work out. [30:20] But we have a gentleman by the name of Dan O'Coin who's been part of our organization. [30:24] And I know when I talked to Ani, he said, well, the one guy I think, I don't know if he's quite ready yet, [30:29] but that's up to you guys, that I think can do the job is Dan O'Coin. [30:32] And we basically made Dan our assistant general manager, and he's responsible for that. [30:38] And so he's making some changes. [30:40] He's made some additions. [30:41] I think Dan is a very sharp individual. [30:43] He's hired some quality people. [30:45] They supply good information that we are looking to improve upon. [30:50] But I think they're very good. [30:52] I think that they really have a good foundation. [30:57] And, for example, you can look at it. [31:00] They work with Caleb all the time, right? [31:02] Well, from a pitching perspective, we're known as being very progressive. [31:06] And so I think it's also not only how you get the information, [31:10] but then how other people want to use it too. [31:13] That is information we need to do a better job at using. [31:17] And I don't think that's not the analytic people's fault. [31:20] That's something we need to do a better job in emphasizing ourselves. [31:24] Morning, Dave, here in the middle. [31:26] I wanted to circle back to Trey Turner. [31:28] You mentioned the conversation you had with him about his defense. [31:31] Curious about offensively, as you sit here today, [31:34] are you looking at him as right now being back at one or two in the batting order? [31:39] Or are you open to looking for somebody else to fill that role? [31:43] Well, that's more of a Don Mattingly question if he's hitting one or two [31:47] because that Don makes the lineup out. [31:50] If Trey hits the way he's capable of hitting, he can hit at the top of the order. [31:54] If he hits the way he did this year, [31:55] he probably won't hit at the top of the order on a regular basis. [31:58] I do think Trey, I mean, this is really the first bad year that Trey has had. [32:05] And the other thing that, I mean, the things that are good about him [32:07] in the sense that from an aging perspective, [32:09] he still runs basically as fast as he ever has. [32:13] He still has quick twitch muscles. [32:15] He's very smart. [32:16] He's an extremely hard worker. [32:18] And so I think it's up to us to get with him [32:20] to try to make him that top of the order guy. [32:22] And he's prepared to work to do so. [32:26] But he has to be able to do that. [32:35] Dave, you're under contract through 2027. [32:37] Do you have a new agreement in place? [32:39] How many more years do you expect to hold this job? [32:43] Do you want to do this job? [32:45] Yes, I want to do the job. [32:46] I plan on being here for a while. [32:48] It's not my liberty to announce contracts. [32:52] But it's a situation I plan on being here for a while. [32:54] I enjoy it. [32:57] Healthy, have quality people around me. [32:59] And if I don't feel that way at some point, I wouldn't do it. [33:03] So I would really put it more in that time frame. [33:05] But it's one of those where, yeah, I do plan on being a while. [33:10] You've talked a lot about internal improvements for offense. [33:14] Do you believe that you have the financial or payroll ability [33:17] to go get improvements from outside, [33:21] not just maybe marginal improvements, [33:24] but maybe larger contracts or no? [33:27] Well, our ownership has been as open to doing things [33:33] as anybody possibly can be. [33:35] And so it's a situation where we still haven't sat down [33:39] and set our final payrolls by any means for next year. [33:44] John and the group have always been quite accommodating. [33:47] But we have a lot of high-salary guys at this point. [33:50] So I think you have to figure out which way you go. [33:54] I don't think it's necessarily mean signing all high-salary guys, [33:58] but I do think we have the flexibility. [34:01] I know I read one, you know, it's up to people to do what they want. [34:05] When you have, like when we talk to Todd, he asks a question, [34:08] well, the reality is that, hey, it's up to me. [34:12] I've created this situation, right? [34:14] Even if we wanted to, and I don't want to trade the players [34:19] that you talked about, they have no trade clauses, right? [34:22] So you don't trade them. [34:24] I mean, that's just the way it is. [34:26] I mean, can you work around that? [34:27] Yeah, perhaps, but we're not looking to deal those guys. [34:31] So what I think you need to do is figure out how you get better. [34:35] Now, Kate, for example, I know that the Garcia move didn't, per se, [34:39] work out real well last year. [34:41] But the reality is, you know, there weren't a lot of right-hand-hitting outfielders. [34:47] A, I know a lot of people pushed us that we should sign Bader back, [34:51] and he did a real good job for us. [34:53] He didn't have a great year either. [34:55] But there were not a lot of right-hand-hitting outfielders [34:57] that did have a great year. [35:00] If Adolis, I think, would have stayed healthy, [35:03] he was starting to make some adjustments with his swing. [35:06] He was an outstanding defensive outfielder. [35:08] And he hit, I think he had seven home runs already at that time period. [35:12] So maybe he hits 25 to 30 home runs and plays outstanding defense. [35:16] Maybe at some point he ends up being on a platoon basis with Marsh [35:21] at that point later in the year. [35:22] So I think he could have been helpful to us. [35:25] But I think you have to look at all different ways, [35:29] and not necessarily a big contract with dollars is going to make the difference [35:33] in that regard, because we have a lot of those. [35:34] I think it's important to continue to mesh the young players in. [35:42] I think that's extremely important for us. [35:44] And people talk about, I know that our system is not, [35:47] it gets hit hard from a critical perspective. [35:52] But the reality is, too, is that, like this year, we got, I mean, [35:59] Painter, it took a while to get over the hump. [36:02] I don't know another club in baseball that wouldn't want him in the rotation [36:05] going into 27. [36:07] Crawford did a solid job. [36:09] He needs to get better. [36:11] But sometimes you have to take growing pains at the big league level, [36:15] because I don't know what else he would have done at 3.30 at AAA. [36:19] I mean, sometimes he was better than AAA. [36:22] You need to come here. [36:22] You need to make the adjustments. [36:24] McFarlane, as he continued to progress, I think is going to be outstanding in the [36:28] bullpen. [36:29] And I know even the players I talked to, it's like, geez, this guy's tremendous, [36:32] not only stuff-wise, but makeup-wise. [36:34] And you have the other guys coming. [36:35] But some of our young players, and I think you have to be careful of this now [36:41] because of where we are, we've traded for Lozardo. [36:47] We've traded him for Duran. [36:50] So a lot of them have been used in these type of deals that continue to help us in [36:55] other factors. [36:56] And when you're trying to win, I do think that we're in a position where we have some [37:00] younger players that are good enough that if you live with some of their growing pains, [37:06] which every, almost every young player does, that it's time to mesh some of those in too. [37:11] But it's not to say that we may not make some trades. [37:13] It's not that we may not make some free agent signings. [37:16] But I think the reality is you look at all those combinations and not necessarily just [37:20] a big dollar signing. [37:21] Hey, Dave, just to follow up on that, you mentioned the uncertainty of what the rules [37:33] are going to be with the new CBA. [37:36] When you are looking at those external, potential external additions, I'm sure you have a plan [37:42] for how you want to go about it. [37:44] Does, is that, are those, the uncertainty, is that a limitation for you? [37:49] Or do you look at it and say, hey, this is our plan, we're going to go for it and we'll [37:53] worry about whatever it is after the fact? [37:57] Well, I think you have a plan and, and we have a thought process already, but we're going [38:02] to have our follow-up meetings next week where we talk about every other organization in [38:06] baseball and go over all the free agents and we talk about our different needs. [38:10] And, and one thing with our club is you can look at it that there's different needs. [38:16] I mean, depending upon where does Bryson Stott play, right? [38:18] Does he play second? [38:19] Does he play third? [38:21] How do we cover up the Trey Turner situation? [38:25] Harp's moving to first. [38:26] So we know we need at least an outfielder somewhere. [38:29] I don't think we have an outfielder internally that's ready to fill that on a full-time basis. [38:36] We probably have a good, you know, Marshy looks like he's made himself so far a platoon [38:42] type guy. [38:43] He hits right-hand pitching, hasn't, didn't do very well versus left-hand pitching. [38:48] I think at this point we have to say, okay, for us, we need to complement him. [38:54] I think Crawford and Hill are probably a really kind of good combo as long as Crawford keeps [38:59] growing. [38:59] So you need an outfielder. [39:01] How's the infield going to go? [39:02] Well, how does Miller continue to progress in the Arizona Fall League? [39:05] Let's see how that goes. [39:07] But I think that the factor there is, by the time you decide all those things and the calendar [39:17] gets moving, not that you wouldn't make a trade in the meantime, but usually those don't happen [39:24] that quickly. [39:26] We're going to get to that time period and then we're going to just have to wait to see [39:30] what's going on. [39:31] That would be my instincts. [39:32] I don't know that, but most clubs, you know, you get to this time of year, we just start [39:39] talking to some other clubs, very preliminary fashion about what they're doing. [39:44] Most of them are not even at that point yet. [39:47] Some of them don't have managers. [39:48] Some of them don't have their staff all set. [39:51] So they're not really into the postseason still going on. [39:55] So you usually like to get information from all the clubs and know exactly who may be [39:59] available. [40:01] So I don't think it's going to be any deterrent because I don't think most of the industry [40:08] is not going to move that quickly. [40:10] Although somebody offered us a superstar player for a fringe player, I think we'd be prepared [40:18] to do that right away. [40:19] But that's most likely not going to happen. [40:25] Getting back to Mattingly, you said, you know, you told him he was the leading candidate. [40:28] But you would keep him in the loop. [40:30] Were you optimistic or hoping that like an Alex Cora or other potential candidates would [40:34] either say yes or kind of blow you away that you would want to hire them? [40:38] Or were you just checking the boxes based on the rules? [40:41] Well, the way I looked at it is I had a very good manager that I liked. [40:44] I thought he did a good job for us. [40:45] And I think in Don's case, too, I mean, we had talked about things that he wanted to [40:49] do, things that he had seen. [40:50] Of course, we were doing that all year long. [40:52] But when we got to that point, I think Don Manley did a really good job for us. [40:56] And I was very impressed with him. [40:58] And so, I mean, I guess you never know what ends up happening. [41:05] But I didn't feel that there was a strong chance that we were going to do something else. [41:12] But I still also was required to do those things. [41:17] I mean, the only way you don't have to do that is if you pick up the phone and call the [41:23] commissioner and talk to him about it. [41:26] And I've done that before. [41:30] Not always a conversation you want to have because it's pretty much outlined to us what [41:34] we're supposed to do. [41:36] So Don was understanding of that. [41:40] I'm looking forward to Don having spring training, the ability to start from the very beginning, [41:45] which he didn't have this year. [41:46] And so I wasn't really hopeful that I'd find somebody. [41:50] But I also, there were a lot of names. [41:52] I mean, I always keep a list of people who are potential managers, potential front office [41:58] people. [41:59] That's your responsibility, right? [42:01] And of course, when we were going into April, I had already looked at that type of list and [42:06] had that updated. [42:07] So I look at those. [42:08] There was a list in that we reached out on some people. [42:11] But there was a lot of people we didn't reach out because we basically were like, OK, we [42:16] need to do some of this as required. [42:18] But we've got a good manager and we feel good about that. [42:25] Well, again, you can't do that without going through an interview process. [42:29] So you need to go through an interview process. [42:34] Now, for us, at the end of the year, when you maybe would have done that, for us, it wasn't [42:40] the appropriate time to do that. [42:42] We were playing for the postseason. [42:43] So you really, that's why you see clubs in the middle of the year put guys in interim [42:50] positions because you really can't go through a long interview process during that time period. [42:59] You don't get permission to talk to other people from other clubs. [43:03] So really, that's why you have that because otherwise, you're required to go through a [43:08] process. [43:09] And most clubs just are not in a position to do that. [43:13] Ty on the right. [43:14] Dave, for a lot of this season, you carried three catchers. [43:19] I was wondering what you made of how the two guys behind JT performed. [43:24] And if you do reduce his workload, like you mentioned earlier, do you have in-house what [43:31] you think it would take to make for a productive tandem? [43:35] Well, both those guys did fine jobs as far as being in the receiving defensive perspective [43:42] of it. [43:43] I have no problem, and Marshawn grades out as being one of the best in baseball, actually. [43:47] We didn't get enough offensive perspective out of contributions from that spot. [43:54] And that's something I need to look at. [43:55] Now, the problem ends up being that, okay, you want better offense. [44:00] You can find better offense. [44:02] But then what type of defensive job do they do? [44:05] And for us, we do emphasize defense more in our catching position than we do offense. [44:09] So, and a lot of times, if you're talking about having somebody who can hit and be a [44:14] good defensive person, they're probably an everyday catcher somewhere because they're [44:18] not that tough, easy to find. [44:20] But could it be one of the guys? [44:22] Perhaps. [44:23] Perhaps. [44:24] But I also would look to see what other opportunities may be out there. [44:33] To start calling in the front. [44:37] Last year, Anthony, the manager changed. [44:39] The club's record flipped around pretty drastically. [44:43] Players need to perform to make that happen, obviously. [44:46] But with Don as an individual, what were some of the strengths that you saw that the manager [44:52] had an effect on the team in particular and that helped you make the decision to bring [44:58] him back? [44:59] Well, Don is, and at the time we talked about the change, but a different voice at the time. [45:06] But, I mean, Don Mattingly is very knowledgeable. [45:10] I mean, it's hard to find people that are more knowledgeable about baseball than Don Mattingly. [45:14] He's managed for a long time. [45:15] He's got a pulse of what takes place. [45:17] I think he's on top of issues. [45:19] He's a good communicator with the staff. [45:21] The players respect him a great deal. [45:24] He knows what it takes to be successful. [45:27] And, I mean, I know he's pretty even-keeled, like here, when he talks to people. [45:33] He does a good job at that. [45:34] But he also has a lot of fire in his belly, too. [45:38] So, that combination of factors lead us to be, to me, a really good baseball person, outstanding. [45:45] He's highly respected, not only in our clubhouse, but I think throughout the industry. [45:50] Okay, let's go to Luke, front right. [45:54] When you look around the league and you see some of the teams left and they really preach [46:00] the base running, the defense, and, you know, things that might not always show up in the [46:07] box score, if you have an older group like you guys do, is there a different way that [46:14] you have to approach that for guys that have been, you know, in this league longer? [46:18] And is there a way, you know, to go after that, the base running, the defense, that kind [46:25] of the defense? [46:26] Well, they, those clubs that are playing like, there's a reason why they're playing. [46:29] They've played very well. [46:30] They have good clubs and do the things that you're talking about very well. [46:35] I think you blend what you can do well. [46:39] But I think we have some guys that can run. [46:42] So, maybe, you know, you still, you can still emphasize that. [46:46] We have some good speed on our team. [46:48] Turner's still one of the fastest guys in baseball. [46:51] Crawford's one of the fastest guys in baseball. [46:53] Stott runs well. [46:54] You know, JT runs well for a catcher. [46:56] Excuse me. [46:57] Marsh runs solidly. [46:59] Derrick Hill runs well. [47:01] You probably ask different things of them than you do Schwarb and Harp, because they're [47:07] not those type of guys. [47:08] But I would gather the Milwaukee's and the Tampa's that are doing so well, if financially [47:16] they were in a position, would love to have those type of guys in the middle of their [47:20] lineup too. [47:21] So, I think what it's incumbent upon you is to try to do that, to blend it. [47:25] And that we also need to play better defense. [47:28] It's like we've talked about at shortstop. [47:29] If it's not better, we have to make a change. [47:31] I think Stott's a real good defensive player myself. [47:34] It's second or third base, either one. [47:36] Probably could play short too if he had to. [47:38] He did that early in his career. [47:39] I think Harp can be a very good first baseman. [47:42] Some of those young guys are good defensive players too. [47:45] Marsh is a good defensive outfielder. [47:47] Crawford needs to continue to get better. [47:49] He made strides for a while. [47:53] When I talk to our outfield coach who I respect a great deal, Paco Figueroa, he thinks that [47:58] he can be a very good outfielder, center fielder. [48:03] But I do think it's important that we incorporate the things that they're doing well into our [48:09] game plan also. [48:10] Dave, you talked about moves in the past that have worked and moves that did not work. [48:20] Brooks Raley wasn't good enough to make the postseason roster. [48:23] Caleb Killian got hurt right away. [48:25] When you look at the deadline and specifically the pitching acquisitions, do you say to yourself, [48:30] I should have done more? [48:31] Like what went wrong at the deadline this year? [48:34] Well, I don't think anything went wrong. [48:36] The moves that we talked about, we felt very good about those moves, that they would give us the strength that we needed to. [48:42] You have to go in addition to it. [48:44] I mean, Bolin slipped a little. [48:46] Bolin's a good pitcher. [48:47] He's got an elite fastball. [48:49] He probably tired out a little bit. [48:52] McFarland came up and did a great job for us. [48:55] You know, Kirkering, unfortunately, after the, I mean, he pitched really well the first half of the season. [49:02] Did not do well later on in the year. [49:04] So that hurt us a great deal at that time, too. [49:07] So, and then when you say that, it's like, okay, well, what was the cost of acquisition at that time of some of those guys that you were going to trade for and who went out there and has really performed great afterwards? [49:18] We didn't think that the cost of acquisition was worth it at that time. [49:21] So, no, I don't, not really. [49:25] I think that was, we were comfortable with where we were at the time. [49:28] Unfortunately, a couple of them didn't work out. [49:30] And on the playoff roster, you guys carried three catchers and you had a lot of injuries at AAA. [49:36] In general, are you concerned about organizational depth year to year? [49:41] And do you feel like you have the farm system in place to sustain success over the next few years? [49:47] Yeah. [49:48] Well, organizational depth, yes, I'm very comfortable. [49:51] Now, when I say that, the baseball is designed in today's world that a lot of your depth of six year renewal option players are all free agents at the end of the year and you sign another group. [50:02] That's where you're a lot of guys at AAA are. [50:05] And so some of the people that may be our depth aren't even with us at this point. [50:10] That's just pretty much how it goes. [50:12] Our farm system, we won the championship in AA at Redding with a very prospect-laden club. [50:19] A lot of those guys will be playing at AA and AAA. [50:22] And when you get to the AA level, I think in baseball, if you play well, you're not far from the big leagues. [50:27] I've always believed that and continue to believe that. [50:32] We're in a position where we've got some good young talent down below that we think is still really good. [50:37] Guys like Arentaria, who we're not counting on at this time, but he's hitting third in his winter ball league already. [50:43] Spangler, who we drafted this year, we really like a great deal. [50:47] So, yeah, we have players down there, and we're very happy with them. [50:51] And we have some guys that we think are depth. [50:54] We did get hurt ourselves. [50:56] It was unfortunate. [50:57] We had three catchers. [50:59] Now, when I talked to Don at the time, the one thing about Stubbs, which was different, he could do other things. [51:04] He just didn't have to be a catcher. [51:07] He could run for you. [51:08] He could play another position if you went into extra innings. [51:11] But we did have a lot of injuries at the end of the year at AAA that were very unfortunate for us. [51:19] We probably would have had a different-looking roster for those three games. [51:22] And, I mean, we had a lot of them, of guys that we were talking about bringing up [51:27] and maybe having to be the 26th guy on our roster and do things. [51:30] But it was just the way it went at that time. [51:32] We had a bunch of unfortunate injuries. [51:36] Jeff in the middle. [51:37] Hey, Dave. [51:38] How would you evaluate your minor league system at this time compared to last year? [51:42] And are there any players that you feel could make that leap like Brian Rincone and Alex McFarlane did in 2027? [51:49] Well, as I talked about, I think that our farm system, again, our AAA club was like a lot of AAA clubs. [51:56] They contributed. [51:57] They had some guys that were more of your extra players. [52:00] And we have some of those guys at that spot. [52:03] They were up and down for us. [52:05] And they continue to be that way. [52:06] I think they'll be that way next year. [52:08] Our AA club is probably more encouraging in that regard because we did promote a lot of the guys from A ball to AA. [52:14] And they played very well as a group. [52:17] And there's other guys, too, we're not even talking about. [52:20] We have some guys in the bullpen there. [52:22] A guy like hardly anybody knows Graves. [52:25] Graves moves to the bullpen. [52:27] He's got a chance to be really good and be really good fast. [52:30] So there's names like that that are there. [52:33] You know, down below, we have some good young players. [52:37] We really have done a good job in Latin America, I think, at this point. [52:42] Some of those players that were with our Dominican Summer League team, which had a really good year, are going to come to the states this coming year. [52:49] So there's depth there at this point. [52:51] But those players are not ready to help us at the big league level. [52:54] Hi, Dave. [52:57] Where do things stand with finding a new farm director? [52:59] And what do you expect Luke Martin's involvement to look like in the farm system as he transitions to this new role? [53:05] Well, we've talked to some people about the farm director's job. [53:10] That's been a process. [53:13] We really haven't expedited it at this time because there's still clubs playing. [53:18] And really what we have going on at this point is our high performance camp. [53:23] And so at this point, Luke Martin is down there working with our hitters. [53:28] And he's, of course, been the director of player development. [53:31] So I think what we have now is fine. [53:34] We'll hire somebody as quickly as we can. [53:37] But it's also more important that we hire the right person. [53:40] So that's moving along. [53:44] I can't tell you we're close to hiring somebody, but the process has started. [53:48] And you're asked about Luke Martin's role. [53:51] So, I mean, Luke's done a good job for us. [53:53] We talked about his position before. [53:56] He's really settling in. [53:57] He will be more settled in and dealing with the hitting aspect once we get settled with the director of player development and probably a right-hand person to them. [54:05] That Luke's responsibilities will be the hitting part of our organization from, you know, at the minor league level, from a scouting perspective, from an international perspective. [54:16] And he will relinquish the responsibilities of director of player development when we get that person. [54:25] Dave, you are obviously high on Aiden Miller. [54:27] And you've mentioned the position flexibility that Bryson gives you. [54:32] Is it safe to say that you'll be moving on from Alec Bohm? [54:35] And how do you look back at his time with the Phillies? [54:38] Well, I wouldn't say that we're moving on anybody at this point. [54:41] I think it's too early to make that unequitable statement. [54:45] We'll have to see how everything meshes together. [54:48] If Alec is not back, I just would say he's done a good job for us. [54:57] He works hard. [54:58] He's got a lot of big hits. [55:00] And, you know, it's amazing sometimes when you look at a player day in and day out, sometimes you'll look more at his negatives than you do his positives. [55:10] There's a lot of positives. [55:13] And I know that if he is not back with us, those 90 runs he drives in every year will be missed. [55:22] And we'll have to pick it up in other ways. [55:24] But he's a guy that's done a good job, solid job, solid job for us. [55:32] Dave, you mentioned you have a new infield coach. [55:35] A couple questions. [55:36] One, what do you want the new hitting coach to look like or philosophies to be? [55:42] And then, secondly, going back to the managerial situation, when you remove the interim tag from Rob in 2022, did you have to call the commissioner? [55:51] Yes, I did. [55:53] Okay, so that's the difference there. [55:55] Yeah, but it was pretty simple because we went to the World Series that year. [55:59] So from even the commissioner's perspective, when you say that, we were able to accomplish that. [56:06] But, yes, I did call Rob at that time. [56:08] So then the hitting coach, like what do you want them to be different? [56:13] Well, you know, that's a broad spectrum for a definition of the job. [56:19] Of course, they have to be knowledgeable. [56:22] They have to be able to communicate with our players. [56:24] They have to be able to communicate with the veteran players, but also the young players. [56:28] We'd like them to use a lot of the contemporary analytical information that we have and provide to them, [56:35] use the tools that we have available to them. [56:38] Now, when I do that, there's also a hitting coach and there's an assistant hitting coach, [56:43] and we even have three hitting coaches. [56:45] So you can sometimes work all those guys together in different ways, [56:50] but I do think it's imperative that a lot of the contemporary methods that are available to us that we use. [56:57] Then we'll stop to make time for Don. [57:01] Let's go to Mike from the right. [57:03] Dave, just two quick things about Trey. [57:06] What's your view on the take that if you've moved him off shortstop, [57:10] it might improve him offensively because he'd have less to worry about defensively? [57:15] And two, are you worried about next season becoming a daily referendum on Trey? [57:22] He makes an error in spring training. [57:24] He gets off to a slow start. [57:25] He has a bad week in May, and all of a sudden the debate becomes, you know, [57:29] where is he playing and where should he be in the lineup? [57:32] Well, I think first of all, you know, you can't plan for all that. [57:41] I think in Trey's case, he'll work hard, he'll be open-minded, [57:44] and we'll just have to make a wise decision in that regard, depending on what position he plays. [57:49] I can't control the daily banter about what takes place. [57:57] He's not the first player I've ever been around that has surrounded that. [58:01] He's a smart guy. [58:03] He knows he needs to get better, and I think he'll deal with it. [58:07] But he's got a long time to be here. [58:11] The reason we signed him in the beginning compared to some others, not only was he a good player, [58:18] but we thought that he had the ability to continue to be a good player for a longer time period [58:25] because of his quick twitch muscles, the type of athlete he is, what he possesses. [58:29] And, I mean, he led the league in hitting last year. [58:32] So I was surprised myself on the offensive year that he had [58:37] and that we weren't able to get out of it as he was. [58:41] So it's up to us to try to fix all those type things. [58:47] While attendance was still one of the tops in the leagues this year, over 3 million again, [58:52] it dipped a little bit. [58:55] How worried are you, the business office, John Middleton, [58:59] that fan frustration might leak into it, dip in a little bit more if things don't turn in the direction [59:05] that you guys want it to turn into? [59:07] Well, we have great fans. [59:08] They're very supportive. [59:10] They show up in abundance. [59:11] We still drew, yeah, our attendance was down a little, but we still drew great. [59:16] And I think that we'll have a very entertaining team next year. [59:19] So we look forward to their support. [59:21] But you're always cognizant of the support and fan sentiment in that regard. [59:28] But hopefully we'll show them that we're a good club. [59:31] I mean, no, this is like, I don't know, third year in a row. [59:34] I like a lot of the same five questions come around. [59:37] So it's the same thing. [59:38] We just need to go out there and we need to play well and show them that we have a good club. [59:41] And it's a long time until opening day. [59:45] Hi, Dave. [59:46] You mentioned a bit earlier about Kirkering struggles this year. [59:48] How confident are you that he'll be able to turn things back around? [59:51] And how do you view his future in the bullpen? [59:53] Well, he has the ability to turn it around. [59:56] I mean, he's got a good fastball, he's got a good sweeper, and they've given him the splitter. [1:00:00] He didn't perform to those capabilities. [1:00:04] Am I confident? [1:00:05] I'm not going to go into there and say that he's going to be our setup guy or seventh-inning guy. [1:00:09] Do I think he can turn it around? [1:00:11] I think he can. [1:00:12] But we'll have to wait and see in that regard. [1:00:15] So he has the stuff to do that. [1:00:18] And he performed very well in the beginning of the year. [1:00:22] It's not like he started off as a struggle. [1:00:24] You know, people have talked about we should have moved on after the year that he had, [1:00:28] after what happened in L.A. the year before. [1:00:31] But I thought he approached that very well and did what he needed to do to help himself. [1:00:37] And it was apparent he did it because he pitched well for us. [1:00:40] But that's going to kind of be up to us to try to figure that out with him. [1:00:44] And I do think he has a chance to still be an effective big league pitcher. [1:00:47] Okay, we're going to finish with Ty and then Jimmy. [1:00:50] Or Jimmy, then Ty. [1:00:51] Go ahead. [1:00:52] Dave, just wondering, is Luke Merton, could he be a candidate for the big league hitting [1:00:56] job? [1:00:57] He is not. [1:00:59] And a couple things on Alec Bohm. [1:01:00] One, would you consider a qualifying offer? [1:01:04] And two, when thinking about whether or not to pursue him or move on for him, [1:01:09] do you weigh in just the fact that maybe you think the team needs just to freshen things [1:01:16] up personnel-wise and that might offer an opportunity to do that? [1:01:21] Yeah. [1:01:22] I can't answer in the qualifying offer because we haven't even discussed that. [1:01:25] The second thing is I think that type of thought comes into your mind, [1:01:33] but it's not the deciding factor. [1:01:35] But I do think, for example, that's one thing. [1:01:38] When you talk to Harp, okay, Harp's going to be our first baseman, right? [1:01:41] So if Alec Bohm's coming back, not that if Harp goes out there for 10 games, [1:01:46] forget about those 10 games, that Alec means he has to be our third baseman, right? [1:01:50] So how does that compare with him at third base as all-around player versus some other [1:01:55] things that we could do? [1:01:56] Dave, Zach Wheeler has suggested in the past that his current contract could be his [1:02:04] last. [1:02:05] Do you view next year that it could be his last one in baseball, or how do you view [1:02:10] that and approach that going into the last year of his deal? [1:02:13] Well, I can only, and I've read speculation on it, but when I've talked to Zach about his [1:02:19] contract, it has not been recently. [1:02:21] It was the last time that we did it. [1:02:23] And he had expressed that at that time that he thought 27 would be very much be his last [1:02:28] year. [1:02:29] We haven't discussed it since then. [1:02:31] You know, he came back from the injury and he did a very good job. [1:02:34] He's still a tremendous pitcher. [1:02:36] But we haven't had any further conversations on that at all at this point. [1:02:40] And I guess we'll just wait. [1:02:43] That's really more in his decision in the sense that we all know that he's still a premium [1:02:50] pitcher. [1:02:51] Does he want to keep doing it? [1:02:53] I can't answer that yet. [1:02:54] Thanks, everybody. [1:02:56] Thank you, Dave. [1:02:57] Okay. [1:02:58] Thank you. [1:03:00] We're back to 1145. [1:03:01] There he is. [1:03:02] El Presidente, the president of baseball operations for the Philadelphia Phillies, Dave Dombrowski, [1:03:10] talking with the media this morning. [1:03:13] And frankly, being very forthcoming, you always get the impression that he is telling the truth [1:03:19] as he knows it, as he believes it at that time. [1:03:22] And there were several topics addressed that really came to the forefront. [1:03:27] And in a moment, they'll welcome in Don Mattingly. [1:03:31] We'll have that for you later on Sportsnet Central. [1:03:34] But Dave Dombrowski, as we welcome you back into our NBC Sports Philadelphia newsroom, [1:03:40] Ricky Batalico. [1:03:41] I'm Michael Barkan. [1:03:42] A couple of things, Ricky Bowe. [1:03:44] Number one, two, and three, Trey Turner. [1:03:47] He said flat out that he was displeased with the way Trey Turner played the position in [1:03:54] 2026. [1:03:55] He said if he plays it the way he played it in 2025, he's the Phillies starting shortstop. [1:04:00] If he plays it the way he did this just past season, then somebody else will be. [1:04:05] Very interesting to me that he came out and said this. [1:04:07] I mean, he didn't pull any punches. [1:04:09] He said, hey, I had a conversation with Trey. [1:04:11] Here's what needs to happen. [1:04:13] I mean, but the one thing that kind of stands out to me is when. [1:04:16] When does he prove this? [1:04:17] Is he going to be the starting shortstop at the beginning of the year? [1:04:20] And they give him a month. [1:04:21] And if he's not performing at that position, they move him. [1:04:25] I don't know if that's the greatest thing in the world. [1:04:27] I think this has to be done in spring training. [1:04:30] But you've got to give Dave credit. [1:04:31] He had a tough conversation with him. [1:04:33] That's first and foremost. [1:04:34] Yep. [1:04:35] He talked about Turner flying up from Florida. [1:04:37] They talked for about two hours. [1:04:39] And he said it's got to improve and we'll see whether or not it will. [1:04:43] And there was a question later on which I thought was interesting. [1:04:46] What are you going to do, just now having said this, if he's got a bad week in May and [1:04:51] everyone's going to be speculating, well, is this the time you've got to yank him or [1:04:54] will you stay with him? [1:04:56] That's why I said it. [1:04:57] I think it has to be in spring training. [1:04:59] I think he has to prove that he can play that position in spring training. [1:05:02] If they get to spring training and he's kind of booting the ball around, I think that [1:05:06] decision's already made. [1:05:07] It may be one of those things where Don Mattingly gets to spring training and you say, well, [1:05:13] you know what, Trey? [1:05:14] You're not getting the job done. [1:05:15] I have to make a switch. [1:05:16] The other thing he addressed was the infield and third base coach. [1:05:21] It is Carlos Mendoza who will get the job as Bobby Dickerson is relieved of his duties [1:05:27] and Kevin Long, the now former hitting instructor, relieved of his duties. [1:05:31] There is no current hitting instructor for the Phillies, but your thoughts on Mendoza coming [1:05:37] in and what it might mean for the infield. [1:05:40] A good baseball mind. [1:05:41] Obviously, we saw the fundamentals with this team in the past. [1:05:45] Mendoza comes in. [1:05:46] He was a former manager. [1:05:47] He knows how to handle these guys. [1:05:49] He knows how to handle big time players, too. [1:05:51] I think that's something that's very interesting because Dave brought that up four or five times [1:05:56] when he's trying to make new hires. [1:05:58] These guys have got to be able to adapt to the big stars on the team. [1:06:02] I think you look at Mendoza. [1:06:03] He's been in New York. [1:06:04] He understands what it takes. [1:06:06] He had a lot of big contracts up there. [1:06:09] The one thing that I'm curious about is the hitting coach. [1:06:13] Dave mentioned hitting coach at the beginning. [1:06:16] It almost sounded like he had one. [1:06:18] Again, mentioned it in the middle of his press conference. [1:06:21] It sounded like he had one. [1:06:22] I wonder if somebody's on the verge. [1:06:23] Well, we will see in the coming days. [1:06:26] Certainly, this season is still ongoing with the LCSs and then the World Series. [1:06:32] When you look at this team, the other thing he's asked about is Bryce Harper, Trey Turner, and Kyle Schwarber [1:06:38] and whether or not he would even consider trading him. [1:06:41] He said, I'm not going to address that, obviously, right now. [1:06:45] But also, they have no trade clauses, so you can't do it. [1:06:49] Not that they want to, he said. [1:06:50] It's kind of like running into a brick wall. [1:06:53] You may have a trade on the table. [1:06:54] You go to the player. [1:06:55] The player says, no, I'm not going anywhere. [1:06:57] There's ten and fives out there, which means ten years in the big leagues, five on the same team. [1:07:03] You can't be traded unless you agree to it. [1:07:06] So, all of these guys, regardless, you bring up Bryce Harper, you bring up Schwarber, if they have a trade in place, those are the guys that have the last say. [1:07:14] They could veto it at any point in time. [1:07:16] I mean, I guess there's players that maybe they would want to leave and maybe would agree to it. [1:07:20] I don't see any of those guys doing it. [1:07:22] The other thing Dave Dombrowski acknowledged is the aging of his star players. [1:07:27] By the way, only used the word elite one time in this availability. [1:07:31] And it was not Bryce. [1:07:32] It was not about Bryce Harper, but he did talk about perhaps getting JT Romuto off his feet a lot more than this past season. [1:07:41] Bryce Harper the same, that Harper would go back to first base on a full-time basis, said there might be a handful of games. [1:07:47] They put him in right field, leaves open the question of what happens with Bryson Stott, where does he go, Alec Boehm especially, as well. [1:07:56] It's very interesting because Bryson Stott in this type of situation the Phillies are in right now, [1:08:00] I think the one thing you're going to see from Bryson Stott is that he could play second, he could play short, he could play third base. [1:08:06] Dave said that during the press conference. [1:08:08] Now, where does he play? [1:08:09] I think that matters on number one, Trey Turner. [1:08:12] Does Trey come back and play shortstop? [1:08:14] That's first and foremost. [1:08:15] Secondly, you have Alec Boehm. [1:08:17] Well, he's going into free agency. [1:08:19] That's going to be an open spot. [1:08:20] Third, you have Aiden Miller. [1:08:22] So you have three guys out there that you don't know who's going to be playing where. [1:08:27] And Bryson Stott might be that guy that they could throw anywhere. [1:08:30] So he's the adaptation guy. [1:08:32] He can move to wherever they feel like is necessary within this Phillies defense. [1:08:37] But I mean, other than that, I mean, you're in a weird pickle still because of this Trey Turner situation. [1:08:43] I think regarding Trey Turner and the rest of the lineup, the one thing that has been frustrating for fans and certainly observers of the club is that when guys are underperforming like Trey Turner and like any number of them throughout the season, as happens, they do not shift their position in the lineup. [1:09:01] And we watched last night Shohei Otani go to sixth, arguably the best player in baseball, and they batted him sixth. [1:09:10] There is no willingness seemingly to do that on the part of the Phillies. [1:09:14] But there's no excuse anymore. [1:09:16] The best player in baseball was moved to the sixth spot on the L.A. Dodgers, the highest paid team in the country. [1:09:23] So, I mean, when I look at this and you've got a guy like Trey Turner, if he's hitting 230, 240 at the top of the lineup, you move him. [1:09:30] I think it's that simple. [1:09:32] It just goes to show that you don't... [1:09:34] Number one, the Phillies have not gotten to the point of where they want to be. [1:09:38] Dave Dombrowski said right away in this press conference they weren't happy with what happened last year. [1:09:44] They didn't get to the ultimate goal, which obviously is a World Series when you have this type of payroll. [1:09:48] So, what do you do? [1:09:50] You have to give Don Mattingly the reins and say, hey, if a guy has to be moved from first to ninth, so be it. [1:09:56] Do it. [1:09:57] The one thing about this team, you'll look at numbers one through three, and for some reason, those are the guys that they hesitate to move anywhere right now. [1:10:05] Now, if you look after that, yeah, I mean, they have shuffled the lineup four through nine all the time. [1:10:11] But you have to start including everybody in that. [1:10:14] And I think what the Dodgers did last night gives everybody permission to do it. [1:10:17] I mentioned at the top of our availability here that Dave Dombrowski was forthcoming. [1:10:24] And I think that's the one thing you've got to give him major points for. [1:10:28] Because whether it was last year, and tomorrow is one year to the day, [1:10:32] when he said Bryce Harper was not the elite guy that we had seen in his previous career, and that's one year ago. [1:10:41] And Trey Turner, he just flat out said, if he can perform the way he performed last year in the body of his career, we're good. [1:10:48] Otherwise, there's going to be changes. [1:10:50] Well, he went to the two highest guys on the team when you really think about it. [1:10:53] Bryce Harper last year, and this year he's already had a two-hour conversation with Trey Turner about playing shortstop. [1:10:59] To me, that's at least going right to the top. [1:11:01] You know, it's like the head of the snake. [1:11:03] They're going after the head of the snake. [1:11:05] I think Dave Dombrowski has every right to do that. [1:11:07] Now, when you have these conversations, I think a lot of people think it's like a fight going into this. [1:11:13] That's not how it is. [1:11:14] It is a conversation. [1:11:16] It's a back and forth, and it's going to be interesting to see what happens in spring training. [1:11:20] He also talked, Dave Dombrowski, about Don Mattingly and Mattingly's extension. [1:11:25] We'll take a quick break. [1:11:26] We'll talk about that a little bit as well right here on NBC Sports Philadelphia. [1:11:31] This off-season, we've got to talk about Don Mattingly, but we also need to talk about the fact that there very well will be a work stoppage, a lockout by the owners on December 1st when the collective bargaining agreement expires. [1:14:20] And that throws a lot up in the air, doesn't it? [1:14:24] It's a wrench. [1:14:25] I mean, you heard Dave Dombrowski was talking about what to do. [1:14:28] And the one thing that really stood out to me, he doesn't know what the rules are going to be. [1:14:33] And that, to me, says probably not going to do a lot when you first have a shot at free agency. [1:14:39] You think back a couple of years when there was a strike and they started the season late, they made a lot of moves like right before the season started. [1:14:47] And I could see that happening again. [1:14:50] When you don't have rules, you don't know what the money is going to be. [1:14:52] You don't know what a cap is going to be or the low end is going to be. [1:14:56] I think there's not a lot you could do right away. [1:14:58] But he did say, now this is big. [1:15:01] If something were to happen that is something he couldn't pass up, yeah, he would get it done right away. [1:15:06] But I think this is going to be a very, very long waiting game. [1:15:10] I don't like this whole fact. [1:15:11] I don't like the timing of this. [1:15:13] You've got fans back. [1:15:15] People love the game of baseball. [1:15:17] And this could hurt it big time. [1:15:19] There's no doubt about it. [1:15:20] Yeah, it sure could. [1:15:21] And that would be a shame. [1:15:22] He was asked with respect to Alec Bohm. [1:15:24] Our own Jim Salisbury asked him, would you think about giving him a qualifying offer? [1:15:29] Otherwise, what's going to happen when the whole thing goes kablooey? [1:15:33] He said, not right now. [1:15:35] I'm not going to talk about that. [1:15:36] I'm going to say something that's going to be rather shocking to people. [1:15:39] Alec Bohm, I mean, the guy puts up 90 RBIs a year. [1:15:43] He's not going to be as easy as everybody thinks to just replace. [1:15:47] I know he had struggled at times at third base. [1:15:51] But he did a nice job at first base when he came in last year. [1:15:55] But the bottom line is, where do you get that kind of offensive production? [1:15:59] You think about earlier this year. [1:16:01] He came in with a lot on his mind. [1:16:03] Didn't play that well the first two months of the season. [1:16:05] Now, you go to the rest of the year and where he was in the Phillies lineup [1:16:11] and what kind of production he put up there, that was impressive. [1:16:15] And that, to me, kind of carried the team. [1:16:17] I will say this, and I will put this out there. [1:16:20] Without Alec Bohm on the 2026 team, Phillies do not, do not make the playoffs. [1:16:25] Yep, he came up big with runners in scoring position. [1:16:28] He came up big with clutch hits, with home runs, [1:16:31] and getting those approximately 90 runs batted in. [1:16:35] And this is after a very slow start. [1:16:37] He had personal issues with his parents. [1:16:40] He was involved in a legal battle with them. [1:16:42] And once that was put aside, you could tell on the field. [1:16:47] But the one thing I did take, it doesn't feel like he's necessarily coming back. [1:16:52] I mean, is he completely out of the loop? [1:16:54] Probably not at this point. [1:16:56] But the one thing you have to understand, you have Aiden Miller getting ready to come up. [1:17:00] If Trey Turner is playing shortstop, Stott will be over at second base. [1:17:04] Bryce Harper obviously wants to come back in to play first base again. [1:17:08] It doesn't sound like he's going to be the everyday right fielder anymore. [1:17:12] So it's one of those things where you're starting to run out of room. [1:17:16] You're starting to look and say, well, where do I put him? [1:17:19] Because if Aiden Miller comes up, is Aiden Miller going to play short? [1:17:22] Is he going to play third? [1:17:23] Where is he going to go? [1:17:24] Where is Price and Stott going? [1:17:26] Too many questions, and there's too many people now. [1:17:29] I thought it was a little murky on Luis Arise, who they traded for, [1:17:34] and I thought was a great contributor to the team. [1:17:37] Certainly his batting average went down. [1:17:39] It was at .331-plus when he arrived in Philadelphia. [1:17:42] Wasn't that when the season ended? [1:17:45] But I was unclear as to whether or not they're going to keep him [1:17:48] or whether it was a one-and-done. [1:17:51] I feel like it's a one-and-done, and I'm just throwing this out there. [1:17:55] I just brought up the reasons, I think, too. [1:17:57] Where is he going to sit? [1:17:59] If Dave Dombrowski were to come on and say, [1:18:03] Bryce Harper is going to be our everyday right fielder, [1:18:06] I would have said Luis Arise is staying. [1:18:08] He did not say that. [1:18:09] He said Bryce Harper most likely is going back to first base, [1:18:13] which tells me somebody's out. [1:18:15] Unless, I mean, unless you sign Arise and you trade a guy like Stott. [1:18:19] Nobody brought up possibly trading Bryce and Stott, [1:18:22] but the one thing you go over the fact of that [1:18:25] is that Dave Dombrowski said he loves Bryce and Stott, [1:18:28] and he loves the way he plays the game, [1:18:30] and he thinks he could do it on a longer-term basis. [1:18:34] He just hasn't. [1:18:35] Not really sure why. [1:18:36] So, I mean, there's a lot to kind of piece together, [1:18:39] but you can pick and choose what you want. [1:18:41] When I heard Bryce Harper is coming back into the infield, [1:18:44] that's got to eliminate guys on the rest of your infield. [1:18:47] I also thought about Brandon Marsh. [1:18:50] He was very clear, and I was a little surprised by that. [1:18:53] Here's a guy who was a first-time All-Star, had a great first half, [1:18:56] fell off a cliff in the second half, and he said he's a platoon player, [1:19:01] at least right now. [1:19:02] Well, there's a reason. [1:19:03] You know, everybody says, [1:19:04] well, put Ed Mundo Sosa in there all season. [1:19:07] He could be the everyday player. [1:19:08] There's a reason why these players get labeled. [1:19:10] There's a reason why they say he's a platoon player. [1:19:13] He can't play every day. [1:19:15] He's not one of those guys that you want in there every day. [1:19:18] I think Brandon Marsh actually probably may have been the definition of that this year. [1:19:22] Got off to a really hot start, [1:19:24] may have gotten overly exposed after the All-Star break. [1:19:27] Next thing you know, his numbers start kind of falling down a little bit, [1:19:31] and he went backwards. [1:19:32] He really did. [1:19:33] He went into a big-time slump that he couldn't get his way out of. [1:19:36] The one thing about Major League players, and especially the great ones, [1:19:39] they go into slumps. [1:19:41] They have ways of pulling themselves out. [1:19:44] Brandon Marsh could not find his way through that, [1:19:46] and you saw what happened to his numbers as the season went on. [1:19:49] But it doesn't surprise me at all that Dave Dombrowski said he's a platoon. [1:19:53] Yeah. [1:19:54] Do you think that he sagged in the second half, [1:19:57] one, because of fatigue, [1:19:58] two, because of the way the opponents were pitching him and they figured him out? [1:20:02] Both. [1:20:03] I think it's a mix of both. [1:20:05] When you think about it, [1:20:06] there's a guy that is used to playing 80 games, 85 games, [1:20:09] and all of a sudden he's in games for 120, 130 games. [1:20:13] Now what? [1:20:14] Now what? [1:20:15] Well, fatigue's going to set in. [1:20:16] 100% right, Michael. [1:20:18] But number two is that the focus becomes greater on you. [1:20:21] Why? [1:20:22] Because you have a bigger background. [1:20:24] And when everybody's scouting you, [1:20:26] now they're seeing your at-bats from all season long. [1:20:29] They tend to find holes in your swing. [1:20:31] When they start doing that, they pitch to that. [1:20:33] You don't make adjustments. [1:20:34] It goes downhill. [1:20:36] And then finally, we will get to Don Mattingly. [1:20:38] I promised you. [1:20:39] Sooner or later. [1:20:40] Sooner or later. [1:20:41] Three catchers. [1:20:42] He indicated that he liked the three catchers that they had. [1:20:46] That they would all return. [1:20:48] Even though he wants to get JT Real Muto, as he said, off his feet way more than he did. [1:20:54] When you look at Garrett Stubbs and Gabriel Marchand, they're in there. [1:20:59] Well, I mean, I don't think they're going to keep three. [1:21:02] I think you only keep two. [1:21:04] He seems to love Marchand defensively. [1:21:06] So I have a weird feeling it's going to be Raphael Marchand coming back in next year. [1:21:11] And I don't know what they're going to do with Garrett Stubbs. [1:21:13] Look, he's on the cheap still. [1:21:15] It's not like it costs him a lot of money. [1:21:17] He's the cheap vibes officer on this team. [1:21:20] So when I look at this, I don't think you need three catchers. [1:21:23] I understand Stubbs has speed. [1:21:25] I would probably keep Stubbs over Marchand. [1:21:27] I would, too. [1:21:28] I would, too. [1:21:29] Raphael Marchand, as you noted. [1:21:31] Yes. [1:21:32] Although his friends call him Gabe. [1:21:33] Gabe? [1:21:34] Gabriel. [1:21:35] We'll take a quick time out. [1:21:36] We'll come back. [1:21:37] Talk about Don Mattingly. [1:21:39] And we'll wrap it up on this availability from Dave Dombrowski on NBC Sports Philadelphia. [1:21:45] Shabby. [1:24:23] I mean, you have to look at this whole situation. [1:24:26] You've got to take it literally as a whole meal. [1:24:29] You know, you can't look at it as bits and pieces. [1:24:31] He did bring the team out of the doldrums. [1:24:33] Although, like everybody says, the players have to do their job. [1:24:37] If the players aren't doing their job in those situations, they're not going anywhere. [1:24:41] He does get the team back up. [1:24:43] Yeah. [1:24:44] I think the failure in September was a little bit disturbing, but it sounds as though that [1:24:49] there was really no other choice. [1:24:51] Dave Dombrowski had said, yes, he had to interview some people or at least make some phone calls [1:24:57] to other people, which is, we heard Chase Utley. [1:25:00] We heard Raul Abanez. [1:25:01] You heard Cora. [1:25:02] Obviously, none of those guys. [1:25:04] And this thing was signed on Saturday, and they didn't want a weekend news drop, which [1:25:08] is interesting. [1:25:09] Not with the Eagles playing, et cetera. [1:25:10] Yeah. [1:25:11] But, I mean, I think Don Mattingly is a great baseball mind. [1:25:14] That is one thing that I will throw out there each and every day. [1:25:18] He was one of those guys that I watched as a kid. [1:25:20] I mean, you know, being from Connecticut, that was the games that were on all the time. [1:25:25] Donnie Baseball. [1:25:26] You know, I mean, you get that name for a reason. [1:25:28] He is well-respected. [1:25:29] I thought Dave Dombrowski kind of did the right thing at this point. [1:25:33] Because I don't know, you know, you need a manager that knows the players. [1:25:38] You need a manager that can get along with the players. [1:25:40] The players did say they kind of put their vote of confidence into Don Mattingly after [1:25:45] the season ended. [1:25:46] You could hear that. [1:25:47] Yeah, absolutely. [1:25:48] The other thing that Dave Dombrowski made clear was that the dismissal of hitting instructor [1:25:54] Kevin Long and infield coach Bobby Dickerson were definitely at the suggestion, if not the [1:26:01] outright demand, of Don Mattingly. [1:26:03] I need different guys in there. [1:26:05] Do you wonder how that's going to go over with the players? [1:26:08] Because we all know Trey Turner, Schwarber, Harper, that's their guy. [1:26:13] Kevin Long was their guy. [1:26:14] You have to wonder if that was a little bit of a shock when this came about. [1:26:18] And you have to wonder how they react to a new hitting coach. [1:26:21] I mean, it's not easy. [1:26:23] You heard Dave Dombrowski say they have three hitting coaches right now. [1:26:27] That's not at least assistant hitting coaches. [1:26:30] That's not even without the main guy right now. [1:26:33] So, I mean, how do you really go about things if you have that many people in your ear? [1:26:38] And I think that's what he was referencing in the sense that everybody's got to be on [1:26:42] the same page. [1:26:43] Because you've got to have everybody on the same page with who you're working with. [1:26:46] You don't want to go off in different directions and have different theories about how to hit. [1:26:50] So, whoever comes in, and it sounds like they're close. [1:26:53] I'm just throwing that out there. [1:26:54] Whoever comes in has got to adapt to, obviously, the big three in this lineup. [1:26:59] Then there is Dave Dombrowski himself. [1:27:02] And he says, quote, I plan on being here for a while. [1:27:06] I'm healthy, and I have quality people around me. [1:27:10] And he must have said it, I guess, three, four times if he said it once. [1:27:15] I plan on being here for a while. [1:27:18] How would you assess as the Phillies now complete their fifth straight season of playoff baseball? [1:27:23] He's just finishing his sixth. [1:27:26] How would you assess what he has done in that position? [1:27:29] National perspective? [1:27:30] A lot of playoffs. [1:27:31] You go to the playoffs every year. [1:27:33] You've been to a World Series. [1:27:35] From a Philadelphia perspective, you haven't won the big one. [1:27:39] I mean, isn't that really what it comes down to? [1:27:42] You look at the names on this team. [1:27:43] You look at the money that's been spent on this team. [1:27:46] You look at the starting rotation on this roster. [1:27:49] This team should win big, big games. [1:27:52] They haven't done it. [1:27:53] And to me, this is, I will say, unfinished business. [1:27:57] But in his case, it sounds like he's got an open check to just keep writing himself another year. [1:28:02] So you might as well keep staying. [1:28:04] That's going to do it for our coverage of Dave Dombrowski's availability. [1:28:09] We also mentioned that Don Mattingly is speaking. [1:28:13] And we will bring that to you a little bit later on in the day. [1:28:16] Perhaps during Sportsnet Central as he is given a two-year contract extension. [1:28:21] And we'll see what develops from here. [1:28:24] Hopefully, there will be baseball next season. [1:28:27] There's a long time between now and then. [1:28:29] Fingers crossed, Ricky Bowe. [1:28:31] For Ricky Patelico, I'm Michael Barkant. [1:28:34] Thanks for joining us in our NBC Sports Philadelphia newsroom. [1:28:38] Have a great day.