PHILADELPHIA — Free agency is a profit, if it’s done right.
High payrolls are a bonus, when you spend properly.
Who knew?
Definitely not all the various poor patrons of Latest York baseball in 2023, who watched baseball’s two biggest-spending teams endure a season starting from dull (Yankees) to disappointing (Mets).
The Mets and Yankees spent three quarters of a billion dollars counting tax, and had only agita to indicate for it. They’re home now, rebuilding their leadership team (Mets) and reportedly yelling at one another (Yankees), or at the least holding “contentious” meetings with the aim of resolving all their many issues.
Meantime, the Phillies, No. 4 on the payroll parade, keep showing what may be achieved if the precise selections are made in free agency (no Carlos Rodons here!) and just about all the loot is spent shockingly properly. Because of a succession of superb nine-figure calls (or close) over the past few years, the Phillies are bludgeoning folks with power and pitching this postseason, and Game 1 of the NLCS was one among their higher displays — a 5-3 victory over the Diamondbacks that featured three early solo homers, all lasers into the precise field bleachers.
“Game 1’s huge,” Zack Wheeler said. “We now have to set a tone.”
They did so — for the sport and the series.
On Phillies superstar Bryce Harper’s thirty first birthday, the Phillies turned the series opener into a celebration, including noisemakers, aka the Philly faithful, who make Residents Bank Park easily the loudest place in the sport. Leadoff man Kyle Schwarber’s first-pitch, first-inning homer ignited a nine-inning celebration and sent word that this may increasingly indeed be the reddest October yet.
It was a fun night for the house folks, and the enduring backstory is that nobody spends their money higher in free agency than the Phillies. This mustn’t be a shock for a team of legendary baseball man Dave Dombrowski, who put the ending touches on the team after predecessor Matt Klentak began a Phillies trend of clever megadeals that seems to elude many other major-market teams with winning deals for J.T. Realmuto, Zack Wheeler and the massive one for Harper.
One high-ranking rival exec succinctly summed up Dombrowski, aiming to make it back to the World Series for a sixth time.
“Dave is the perfect,” the exec said. “He doesn’t go for all that bull—-.”
Analytics are great (no letters please!), but Dombrowski still seems proud to emphasize good old-fashioned scouting. He uses analytics, but he doesn’t overdo it. He also emphasizes personality and fit — for the clubhouse and for town.
“In case you’re going to make here in Philadelphia, and we’ve an important fan base, you higher be tough,” Dombrowski told The Post. “Some players can’t take being booed.” (That is something the Yankees need to think about. Joey Gallo seemed overwhelmed by boobirds in The Bronx.)
Some data-driven teams have to re-evaluate rather a lot greater than that. That features the Yankees, on a three-year streak of losing transactions — from Josh Donaldson to Frankie Montas to Rodon. There’s also the blokes they passed on (and missed on), including Harper.
Under Dombrowski and owner John Middleton the Phillies ran their payroll as much as $240 million, fourth highest behind the Mets, Yankees and Padres. But no one does free agency higher; the Phillies’ recent free market record is almost perfect. When I discussed that to Middleton, he demurred, modestly saying something about of them being fortunate.
In that case, it’s quite a lucky streak. Dombrowski tipped his cap to Middleton and Klentak, now a Brewers executive. Game 1 changed into a celebration of all their smart moves, each before and after Dombrowski got here (AD).
- Wheeler ($118M, five years), pitched six good innings punctuated by eight strikeouts. He turned down a rather higher offer from the White Sox, starting a trend where folks actually prefer to be in Philadelphia (more on that later).
- Harper (a then-record $330M over 13 years), unloaded on the primary pitch he saw for a protracted home run and singled in a run. He made like he was blowing out a candle after he crossed home on the homer. “He’s hot, the guy’s on fire,” Turner said.
- Schwarber ($79M, 4 years), began things with a rope to right.
- Nick Castellanos ($100M, five years), made it 3-0 by the second inning by lining a homer to right field. If Harper isn’t the October MVP, he’s.
- Trea Turner ($300M, 10 years), who turned down $342M from idyllic San Diego, doubled and scored.
- Realmuto ($115.5M, five years), singled home a run.
Dombrowski added Schwarber and Castellanos, who he knew from Detroit, then Turner. He gauged their human qualities, from their toughness to their team-first attitudes and envisioned three beautiful matches.
It actually may be done with all or mostly analytics way, too. But there’s room for some old style guys. And there’s reason to think about character. All these positive personalities actually make for a helluva party, and it appears like it’s just getting began.
