PHILADELPHIA — When Dave Dombrowski addressed the media after the 2022 season, the status of Bryce Harper’s elbow loomed over everything the Phillies president of baseball operations said.
This offseason, it’ll be Harper’s whims that will determine the organization’s strategy.
Dombrowski said he hasn’t yet discussed with the one-time National League MVP whether he prefers a long-term future at first base or a return to the outfield. But with the pending free-agent status of Rhys Hoskins, Harper’s preference will go a long way toward shaping the offseason priorities of a club that has made back-to-back NLCS appearances without a world title to show for them.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen with Bryce,” Dombrowski told media Thursday, two days after the Phillies lost Game 7 of the NLCS to Arizona. “We need to sit down with Bryce and ask him what his preference is and sit down for a heart-to-heart on what he wants to do and how he would like to approach going forward. I don’t know what he’s going to do yet at this time, but it’s something we have to do relatively soon.”
Harper has not played the outfield since April 16, 2022, when pain cropped up in his right elbow. His last 90 appearances in 2022 — around rehabbing his elbow and a fractured hand suffered on June 25 — came as a designated hitter.
The elbow ligament was repaired with Tommy John surgery in November. Harper returned May 2, ahead of even the most optimistic schedules. With the Phillies struggling for consistent production at first after Hoskins tore his ACL on March 23, Harper made the jump to the infield for the first time in his career, debuting on July 21.
Harper played 36 games at first plus all 13 postseason games. He committed one error in 279 chances in the regular season.
“I thought he was great,” manager Rob Thomson said. “I was pleasantly surprised by how he played. I don’t know whether it takes its toll more playing in first base or the outfield, because at first base, you’re moving all the time.”
With Harper having completed year five of his 13-year, $330 million contract, a move to first base seemed in the cards eventually.
But the 31-year-old will have a significant say in whether that change will come now. Dombrowski portrayed the feedback process as similar to last offseason with Bryson Stott upon the signing of Trea Turner, though Harper’s face-of-the-franchise stature shifts the power center.
“I also don’t want to put it on Bryce,” Dombrowski said. “That’s something that we have to decide ourselves. We want his input because it’s his career and all, but then we have to adjust from there.”
If Harper chooses first base, it would close the door on Hoskins’ return. The 30-year-old missed what would’ve been his seventh MLB season, after 30 homers in 2022. He is a pending free agent who can test the market. He could return to the Phillies by accepting a qualifying offer set at $20.5 million, or the sides could reach a long-term deal.
Hoskins made $12 million last year. Dombrowski declined to say if they plan on extending a qualifying offer.
Hoskins and Aaron Nola are the 1A/1B offseason priorities. Nola’s case, Dombrowski said, is more straightforward.
The Phillies hope to round out their rotation.
Zack Wheeler, Ranger Suarez and Taijuan Walker are back, with Cristopher Sanchez having earned a starting spot. Dombrowski wouldn’t christen any of the young arms in the system as ready, and he’s not counting on Andrew Painter until 2025 after his Tommy John procedure.
Nola, who has made 235 starts with the Phillies since 2015, is the type of top-end pitcher the team wants.
But the Phillies fell short in a bid to re-sign him in spring. Nola played out the last year of a four-year, $45 million contract and will easily command nine figures on the market at age 30. While he’s professed a desire to stay in Philadelphia, the price would have to be right for player and club.
If that price can’t be found, then the Phillies have to pivot to fill an ace-sized hole.
“We love him,” Dombrowski said. “He’s been tremendous for the franchise. He’s played very well for a number of years. He’s a Phillie. We hope to retain him, but if we don’t, to me that would be our No. 1 area. We need to then replace him. We need to be in a position to have somebody else as a starting pitcher of quality in the rotation. It’s either Aaron or someone else.”
This is unlikely to be a winter of upheaval, NCLS disappointment notwithstanding. Dombrowski offered a full-throated endorsement of Thomson, though he said they’ve haven’t broached the topic of extending a contract set to expire after the 2024 season. Thomson echoed that he isn’t losing sleep over that.
Beyond Nola and Hoskins, the other pending free agents are Michael Lorenzen and Craig Kimbrel, both of considerably lower priority. The lineup is mostly set. When given a chance to assess if his team needs a defined, everyday closer, Dombrowski demurred.
So, by and large, it looks like the bulk of a team that has fallen a combined seven wins shy of the last two world championships will, with minor alterations, get after it again next spring, which Dombrowski is fine with.
“I think if we do those things, we go into it being a World Series contender,” he said. “I think we’ve got a really good club. I think we have better than a 90-win club, myself.”
Source: Berkshire mont