Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski spoke this week at the GM meetings regarding the team’s plans for the offseason. Dombrowski obviously did not fully tip his hand on anything the Phillies will do, but he did outline their shopping list of an outfielder, a utility infielder, and starting rotation depth. However, Dombrowski also hinted at the possibility that the Phillies will not be among the biggest spenders this offseason, as they are perhaps running up against some sort
of internal cap on payroll.
Here are Dombrowski’s comments as provided by Matt Gelb for The Athletic:
“I don’t know,” Dombrowski said. “I guess it just depends on what ends up happening with different things. … We have a lot of high-end salary players. They’re not young. They’re not old, but they’re in that age bracket. You have to make a decision. Maybe we have enough high-end players, and we can complement them with other players overall. That’s a decision we have to make. But I’m not necessarily looking for our club to continue to get older. So you kind of factor all those things in and make a decision.” – from Matt Gelb in The Athletic
The Phillies finished last season with a $322 million payroll after factoring in competitive balance taxes according to Cot’s Contracts, placing them with the fourth highest payroll in baseball. As of right now, the Phillies are projected to have the third highest payroll for 2027 at $281M, once again factoring in CBT penalties. The biggest numbers that came off of their payroll were the final years of dead money for Nick Castellanos and Taijuan Walker.
That total number for 2027 will likely change for two reasons. One is the obvious that the Phillies will make at least a few signings even if they are not major, while the second is that the financial system of the sport may be dramatically different in a new collective bargaining agreement, thus possibly changing the amount owed with CBT penalties in the future. The second would likely not directly affect 2027, as one could assume that there would be at least a one-year grace period, but it may affect how the team views its long term payroll.
However, Dombrowski later reiterated that he has still been given authorization from principal owner John Middleton to have a healthy payroll. His direct quote once again from Matt Gelb in The Athletic:
“John’s always been tremendous,” Dombrowski said. “He’s very flexible, but I have a proximate area of what we’re going to be. And it’s very generous.”- from Matt Gelb in The Athletic
That gives no indication that the Phillies will necessary be looking to slash their payroll, but it paints a full picture of the team perhaps having placed an internal cap on their spending. They will in all likelihood still be among the top five in money spent for 2027, but they may not reach the number they hit at the end of 2026.
So, how much do you think the Phillies will spend this offseason? Will they hand out a multi-year deal to an external position player for the first time since 2023?
