The Phillies have long been known to be keeping an eye out for starting pitching depth in order to fortify their rotation, particularly given that Zack Wheeler is expected to open the year on the injured list. President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski spoke to reporters (including Todd Zolecki of MLB.com) earlier today about the team’s pursuits, and Zolecki reports that despite the team’s desire for pitching help, they were not involved in the market for future Hall of Famer Max Scherzer before he returned to the Blue Jays on a one-year, $3MM guarantee. Dombrowski went on to indicate that the remaining top starts available, Lucas Giolito and Zack Littell, are “not a fit” for what the Phillies are looking for either.
That might seem like a surprise on the surface, but it’s fairly understandable. All three hurlers are major league quality starters who figure to have the expectation of getting the opportunity to make a full slate of starts, health permitting. That’s not something the Phillies can offer, given that any addition would come in behind at minimum Wheeler, Jesus Luzardo, Cristopher Sanchez, and Aaron Nola on the team’s depth chart. That theoretically leaves one spot open at the back of the rotation even when Wheeler is healthy, but the team has not made it a secret that they hope to give Andrew Painter a significant opportunity in the rotation this year, perhaps as soon as Opening Day. If the rest of the rotation is healthy and another regular was added to the mix, pushing Painter in would either force the club to go to a six-man rotation or demote someone to the bullpen.
Given that, it’s perhaps not too surprising that Dombrowski indicated players like Giolito, Littell, and Scherzer aren’t fits for what they’re looking for. There’s a number of veterans left who seem likely to have to settle for minor league deals such as Patrick Corbin, Tyler Anderson, and Marcus Stroman, but outside of that group the pickings are rather slim. Even if one of those players were open to joining Philadelphia, it might not be an ideal fit. Dombrowski highlighted in his comments to Zolecki that the club’s preference is to add arms that can be optioned to the minors, given that Wheeler could return from the injured list as soon as early April.
It’s not impossible to find optionable starters on the free agent market, as shown by the teams recent minor league deal with right-hander Connor Gillispie. Dombrowski’s comments about their continued search for pitching came after the Gillispie deal, however, suggesting the team is still on the hunt for more talent. That’s not exactly a shock, given that Gillispie has just 34 big league innings under his belt and struggled badly in six starts with the Marlins last year. Fringe big leaguers like Gillispie are par for the course when it comes to free agents available who can still be optioned to the minors, however, and that makes it easy to understand why Dombrowski has indicated in his previous comments that he’s interested in swinging a trade for rotation depth.
Looking around the league, there’s certainly a handful of teams with an excess of optionable starters who could fit the Phillies needs. The Cubs (Javier Assad), Dodgers (Landon Knack), Tigers (Keider Montero) and Giants (Hayden Birdsong) are among the teams with optionable starters who have notable big league experience but are likely to be squeezed out of the club’s rotation entering the year. It’s not easy to get clubs to part with optionable rotation depth given the value of that resource, but if the Phillies are sufficiently motivated those teams could be better equipped to part with the sort of arm Dombrowski seems to be looking for than most. Failing that sort of trade, a non-roster invitee to Spring Training like Bryse Wilson, Tucker Davidson, or perhaps Gillispie (if he received a big league camp invite as part of his deal) seems likely to be where the Phillies turn as they look to give Painter competition for the vacant Opening Day rotation job.
Assad is a useful piece for Cubs themselves
Should have traded for Ryan Weathers or Reid Detmers.
Fire Dombrowski. This is his constant mantra, we can’t promise the player enough playing time. How are other teams loading up on depth? They have the same damn issues. The game has passed Dombrowski and the Phillies need to wake up and hand over the reigns to Mattingly.
You funny!
Sign up here for a free pitchfork and torch Bart. Join Cambo in his quest.
Stop with the reality check.
Done booing Santa Claus?!
Now time to boo the future 1st ballot Hall of Fame MLB Executive
who made the Phillies relevant again?!
Without Dombrowski, Phillies would still be in a 10 year rebuild like the White Sox.
The Phillies are so cooked this season
foolish to count a team with that much talent out
Which of the four elements of cooking are we talking about here – salt, fat, acid, or heat?
More importantly, how are they cooking?
Cooking with gas
Cooking with wood
Cooking with oil
Cooking with solar oven hoping for sunlight?
I used to love the old PBS show ‘Cookin’ Cheap’.
Tough division but they’ll be straight
The Phillies will win the division comfortably. The Braves have two key starters out until at least mid – June, and the Mets pitching is not good enough.
It’s debatable whether Littell and Giolito are quality SPs, at least in the opinion of teams. Comparing them to pitchers like Ranger and Cease isn’t quite apt, since they are regarded by teams as quality SPs.
Not saying Littell and Giolito can’t be useful, but the expectations for each pair aren’t the same. And perhaps many teams may feel they can get similar production from their in-house options.
That’s what’s so odd. Giolito was worth 2+ bWAR last season; Littell was 3+ bWAR. Both are in their early thirties. Giolito has a bit of scary injury history but also has received down-ballot Cy votes 3 different years. Both have higher bWAR than Cease did last year!
It just seems like someone would have signed him. *Scherzer* got a deal. Maybe I’m missing something.
max got a deal because he took 3 mil.
I’m sure both of them can get a deal but they haven’t gotten what they want to sign by this point
joey bob, Giolito has been hugely inconsistent. Last season was good, but teams might see that as an outlier. He wasn’t good in ’22 or ’23, and missed all of ’24. Teams will also look beyond WAR. His Statcast page for ’25 is not good. Cease has a better body of work, and his Statcast page is redder than Texas.
On Littell’s Statcast page he’s below average in every category except for his Chase% and BB%. But my point was there has to be a reason why teams don’t seem to be interested in those 2. The Phillies might be thinking they can get about the same production from the guys on their 40-man as they can from Littell or Giolito.
And if you are not getting what you want as a SP….Just wait for the Injury Bug to hit and teams get desperate.
The injuries are inevitable. Teams are well aware of that. Again, do they spend on imperfect choices like Littell and Giolito when they happen, or dip into their MiL depth? The answer is easy if they feel that the MiL depth will provide production equal to what they’d get from Littell and Giolito.
Giolito and the Littel aren’t signing with a team that can only guarantee 10 starts.
With the Phillies, it would be 5 starts or less. Once Wheeler comes back, Walker goes to the pen.
Either are qualified to start in the Phillies rotation once you get past Sanchez luzardo and Wheeler.
Well they’re clearly back end starters. Maybe they’ve overestimated their markets to this point but the Phillies back end starters with Wheeler out to start the year – Walker and Painter – are far from sure things themselves. And after that there’s not much at all. Plus Nola struggled himself but they just have to hope for a rebound there.
All that said the need for added depth – even optionable depth – was obvious in November. But perhaps a guy like Corbin, Jon Gray, or Ian Gibaut can be had on a cheap minors deal still to perhaps bridge the depth gap. There’s really no one in the system or on the 40 man to step up if the need gets more acute.
John Gray seemed to be leaning toward retiring after being diagnosed w/TOS last August. That ended his season, and he was quoted as being “noncommittal” about playing beyond 2025. Injuries forced him to the pen in 2025. Maybe he’s decided to fade away.
But that is why the Phillies want Optional Starters….Especially based upon Early Spring scouting reports……Wheeler may be back by Mid-April, Painter is looking much better again this spring after fixing Arm Slot issues, and Nola is looking better…even if not as good as his salary says he should…
So the Rotation leavig ST will be Luzardo, Sanches, Nola, Painter, and Walker….with Walker going to the Pen when Wheeler is back. So there may be Zero assured starts. But clearly Wheeler, Painter, and Walker could falter…..So someone they can stash in AAA and keep strethced out as a starter is better than a Vet who has to be on the 26 man roster and but a long-man who may not then be stretched out properly to start right away when the need arises and who likley will be unhappy being the 2 inning guy from the pen.
At some point, they are going to get together with Brewers on some form of a deal, right? The Brewers have a few pitchers who must fill their need of pitchers with minor league options. Coleman Crow, Shane Drohan, Kyle Harrison, Chad Patrick may not have enough options, but one of them must fit the bill, and can’t cost a kings ransom, right? A Phillies prospect that is somewhere between #10-15 range and one in the #20 and lower, has to get that done, right?
None of those guys (maybe Crow or Carlos Rodriguez) could be had with prospects in the Phils system in that range. Milwaukee values its depth.
But are those guys ready to plug in?
Brewers feel very very highly of those names pitchers. It will take much more to grab a pitcher with options and years of control.
The Brewers said they were concerned about pitching depth before trading for Harrison & Drohan, so dont think they are itching to move anyone. Think Milwaukee has more than enough pitching, but there are enough questions with each of top 9/10 guys, that injuries/underperformance could knock 2-3 guys out of the rotation by July.
I could see them moving a guy like Carlos Rodriguez, and he probably wouldn’t cost much.
Cubs have a couple young guys but it’s gonna cost you
Stroman. Phils need a workhouse
A workhouse? Is that anything like a toolshed?
No. Read almost anything written by Charles Dickens.
Thanks, Dunsel. I hope Big whiffa meant a workhorse instead of a home for the destitute who are required to serve hard labor.
No, he meant workhouse.
Did you ask him?
Surprised that the Phillies where not in on Quintana
It’s because Quintana would not be keen on being optioned to the minors. Just like Giolito or Littel.
Truth is Dombrowski got his feelings hurt when he couldn’t land Bichette (which I think would have been a mistake anyway) and he has been pouting ever since. Get the guy out of here and let him work on the expansion Nashville team.
Truth is Dombrowski has limits to what he can do in his position that you can’t imagine. He has a budget. He knows how other teams value the players he is willing to trade. He has to deal with the reality of that. You’ve chosen not to.
He blew his budget on walker, Nola, Nicky and half dozen other brutal contracts. Terrible player development. Not so productive trades.
He’s trying to think of more ways to alienate Bryce Harper.
Harper is all fired up to have a banner year!
Have not seen Harper this fired up in years.
So Dombrowski knows what he is doing.
That’s funny Cambo. When Dombrowski left Nashville for the Phils job, he said that he believed that there wouldn’t be expansion in Nashville for 10 years or longer if even then. Atlanta, Cincy, and StL will do their best to squash any chance of expansion happening in Nashville. Portland, Montreal, and somewhere in Mexico probably better bets. Charlotte’s a darkhorse.
Name another baseball head of operation for the Phillies that made the playoffs 4 straight years.
The negative talk about The Phillies and Dave Dombrowski in the comments is ridiculous, they have won the division the last 2 years with one of the best records in baseball each year. What are they suppose to do a total over-haul because they lose a 5 game series to The Dodgers?? Wheeler could very well be back by May and only miss a few weeks. When Wheeler is back they will have 1 of the best starting rotations in baseball!
Wheeler will be back in April. He will miss between 3 – 5 starts. Painter will be ready to go, when they break camp.
The Phillies have won more games every year under Dave Dombrowski.
He is one of the best in MLB history and will be a 1st Ballot Hall of Fame MLB Executive.
No doubt that Dombrowski still has some trades and moves up his sleeve for the 2026 Season.
First, the Phillies have to see what they have with the team and if Wheeler
can be at least a middle of the rotation starter.
Can Painter establish himself as a good major league starter?
Can Nola b0unce back?!
Is Crawford ready to take over and produce on both sides of the ball in CF?!
The Phillies will get answers to those questions and then tackle the trade market to upgrade key parts of their team.
Dombrowski is not just going to ride the current roster for all of 2026.
Phillies Yearly Record Under Dombrowski
2021: 82–80 (.506)
2022: 87–75 (.537) – World Series appearance
2023: 90–72 (.556) – NLCS appearance
2024: 95–67 (.586) – NLDS appearance
2025: 96–66 (.593) – NLDS appearance
@chandlerbing
I’m sure the Phillies would consider them if they wouldn’t mind pitching in the minors when not needed. They would also have to be willing to accept the pay that goes with that type of role. I would guess they wouldn’t be interested.
Keider Montero’s bbref page says he’s 6’1” 145lbs! That can be right, he doesn’t look malnourished. Hes footage be at least 185lb.
*got to be
Wheeler will only miss 4 or 5 starts at the most. Painter is going to be in the running for the rookie of the year. Walker is the odd man out. He goes to the pen in long relief, when Wheeler returns. The Phillies do need another starter, but as was stated in this article, neither Giolito or Litell, are looking to be “insurance”!!
Painter is a long way away from rookie of year, the Phillies have huge questions in their starting rotation after Sanchez and luzardo.
Painter is their top prospect, 16th overall. He’s only 22 with a 70 grade fastball and a 60 grade slider. Odds are against him winning ROY, as it is for all rookies, but it’s not unreasonable that he could win it.
How do you know Wheeler is missing only up to 5 starts and not going to have a recurring injury or that painter won’t stink?
I wouldn’t bank on Wheeler’s health or painter overproducing when considering other SP
You are a very optimistic person. Wheeler is coming off a very sketchy health scare and we have no idea how he responds. Painter was horrible in Lehigh Valley against AAA competition last year. Even Nola is a question mark as he has been trending down for a couple seasons.
Phillies will miss Suarez more than people are thinking. Although he had been injury prone, he added much depth to the rotation for large portions of the season. I would have preferred Ranger to signing Schwarber honestly. Im not convinced the Phillies will score more runs then they allow this year.
Say it w/me Chandler. “I remember the basic rules of upper case, lower case, sentence structure, and punctuation usage.” Try it Chandler. Please. Do it before we all go blind from reading your gobbledygook.
Excellent analysis of Dromboski’s options and approach. Well done, Nick
Dombro should have re-signed Walker Buehler, especially since it only took a minor league deal to get that done. Not saying he let a CYA winner walk away, but Padres may have gotten a real find. Buehler, albeit in limited duty, did pretty well in Philly last year.
Still, Dombro has to get some SP depth. Don’t know what problems Wheeler may experience after surgery. Plus, he’s getting long in the tooth. Nola is another former reliable arm with question marks heading into 2026. Taijuan Walker, along with Castellanos, was wasted money. Painter? Who knows? His AAA numbers were horrible.
If I’m Dombro, I’d call the Pirates to see if Keller is available. Also, Phillies still need a RH bat to platoon with Marsh in LF. Not a big Otto Kemp fan.
Other than all that, I’m good (Tsk, tsk!).
Backup I’m not buying what dombrowski is trying to sell. Otter Kemp is a journey man at best. Counting on walker Nola and painter is foolish.
There is nothing on the Phils that the Pirates would want for Keller.
At this point, it seems like the Phillies are gonna wait for cutdown day to see if any unexpected pitchers pop up. Like the guy from the Dodgers, Landon Knaack. Probably can get him on a split deal.
The Dodgers aren’t trading Knack to the Phillies. They value quality depth, and there isn’t anything the Phillies have that they need. Unless it’s top prospects that’ll come in handy in a few years.
But even then, given the Dodgers last two years having issues with starting and bullpen arms, they’ll likely keep all the known quality pitching they can in house.
It’s going to be a long year for the Phils