Spring Training is officially underway, which means the MLB offseason is nearly over. While several big-name free agents still remain unsigned, most rosters are close to set across the league.
That includes the Philadelphia Phillies, who only made some minor tweaks this winter after reaching the NLCS last year. Their biggest signing was extending Aaron Nola, but beyond that they didn't add much besides signing All-Star utilityman Whit Merrifield.
Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski spoke with the media on Monday to address the state of the roster and expectations for the coming season. For the most part, he sounds content with where things stand heading into camp.
"We like our club. We think our positional players are really set," Dombrowski said, noting that 12 of the team's 13 positional slots have already been filled. That just leaves one position battle for the final offensive roster spot, which remains wide open, according to Dombrowski.
On the pitching side, Dombrowski said, "Our five starting pitchers are set. We have helped the depth of our starting pitching with a lot of moves that we're making."
He feels similarly about the bullpen, saying he's confident in the depth there as well.
Given that, Dombrowski appears unlikely to make a major signing like Blake Snell or Jordan Montgomery before Opening Day. However, he doesn't want to rule anything out just yet and stresses that the organization is keeping an open mind about who's available.
"We'll be open-minded. We'll see what happens, but I can't say that we're actively looking to say we want to add this one particular thing," Dombrowski said.
That's disappointing, but not too surprising based on how this offseason has gone. If Philadelphia does make one more big splash before Opening Day, it will likely be extending Zack Wheeler rather than bringing in someone new.
The Phillies appear to be in good shape heading into 2024, and they can always add pieces at the Trade Deadline if needed. Time will tell if they have enough talent to get past teams like the Atlanta Braves and Los Angeles Dodgers in October.
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