The Philadelphia Phillies are undeniably a very good team. Dave Dombrowski has built his reputation around aggressive spending and splashy acquisitions. He is a champion — a front office legend, if such a thing can exist. So, why does it feel so bleak in Philly right now?

And no, I’m not talking about the Sixers. There is plenty of Phillies angst to test a man’s limits. It’s essentially a double-edged sword situation. The Phillies are good enough to inspire legitimate World Series aspirations, which makes each shortcoming, each self-inflicted wound, all the more painful.

Dombrowski’s reputation is what it is based on decades of high-level success. The last year or so, however, has left fans wanting more. Dombrowski was atypically restrained at the 2024 trade deadline, opting against a blockbuster trade for Garrett Crochet or Luis Robert Jr. Now it’s the offseason and Philadelphia was nowhere close to Juan Soto, not to mention Crochet, who’s on his way to Boston.

This Phillies team feels like it’s a piece away — one more bat or one more elite arm to really tie everything together. Maybe a few pieces. So far, however, the offseason has been a net negative. Dombrowski inked Jordan Romano to an affordable prove-it deal, but Carlos Estevez and Jeff Hoffman both feel destined to leave, with the Austin Hays nontender stands out as the culmination of Dombrowski’s trade deadline failure.

The latest update on Alec Bohm’s trade status does nothing to assuage concerns.

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According to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, the formerly-of-Oakland Athletics called about Phillies third baseman Alec Bohm, who has been at the center of trade speculation all winter. Philadelphia took the call, but Dombrowski asked for All-Star closer Mason Miller in return. That ended the call, then and there.

Phillies fans are understandably uneasy about Dombrowski’s apparent unwillingness to engage in serious trade

discussions.

This isn’t the first absurd demand we’ve heard connected to Bohm. There’s a difference between trying to flip Bohm for a useful upgrade or a better positional fit, and whatever this is. Sure, Bohm is ‘available,’ it seems, but the Phillies don’t appear particularly keen on trading him. They’re just getting laughed off the phone with ridiculous asking prices.

Bohm could’ve been the centerpiece in a trade for Crochet or Kyle Tucker, but instead, the Phillies are trending dangerously in the direction of ‘run it back.’ Bohm made the All-Star game last season at 27. He’s a solid player at worst, posting a .779 OPS with 15 home runs and 97 RBI. One could argue that his cold second half shouldn’t overshadow what was a genuinely dominant beginning to the campaign.

That said, the Phillies need consistency on the postseason stage, which Bohm has not provided to date. Folks love the idea of Alex Bregman, for example, but Dombrowski has shown no actual willingness to spend on that level — much less trade top prospects, or an established weapon like Bohm, unless it’s for the sun and the moon.

Mason Miller would be awesome in Philadelphia, but Bohm is not getting you close to a 26-year-old, outlier-dominant closer with two years of team control left (not to mention Miller’s potential to transition into a starting role down the road). The dude posted a 2.49 ERA and 28 saves last season on a crappy A’s team, averaging 100.9 MPH on his fastball. Honestly, what did Dombrowski expect to happen here?

The Phillies just aren’t operating with the same level of actual aggression as the Mets or Dodgers, which bodes poorly for their odds in an increasingly competitive National League. Unless Dombrowski can turn back the clock and start negotiating with a certain seriousness, one can’t help but be pessimistic.