PHILADELPHIA — Free agency is a benefit, if it’s done right.
High payrolls are an advantage, if you spend wisely.
Who knew?
Certainly not all the many poor patrons of New York baseball in 2023, who watched baseball’s two biggest-spending teams endure a season ranging from dull (Yankees) to disappointing (Mets).
The Mets and Yankees spent three quarters of a billion dollars counting tax, and had only agita to show for it. They are home now, rebuilding their leadership team (Mets) and reportedly yelling at each other (Yankees), or at 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 can be accomplished if the right selections are made in free agency (no Carlos Rodons here!) and almost all the loot is spent shockingly wisely. Thanks to 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 of their better displays — a 5-3 victory over the Diamondbacks that featured three early solo homers, all lasers into the right field bleachers.
“Game 1’s huge,” Zack Wheeler said. “We have to set a tone.”
They did so — for the game and the series.
On Phillies superstar Bryce Harper’s 31st birthday, the Phillies turned the series opener into a party, including noisemakers, aka the Philly faithful, who make Citizens Bank Park easily the loudest place in the game. Leadoff man Kyle Schwarber’s first-pitch, first-inning homer ignited a nine-inning celebration and sent word that this may indeed be the reddest October yet.
It was a fun night for the home folks, and the enduring backstory is that no one spends their money better in free agency than the Phillies. This should not be a shock for a team of legendary baseball man Dave Dombrowski, who put the finishing touches on the team after predecessor Matt Klentak started a Phillies trend of wise megadeals that seems to elude many other major-market teams with winning deals for J.T. Realmuto, Zack Wheeler and the big 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 best,” the exec said. “He doesn’t go for all that bull—-.”
Analytics are great (no letters please!), but Dombrowski still seems proud to stress good old-fashioned scouting. He uses analytics, but he doesn’t overdo it. He also emphasizes personality and fit — for the clubhouse and for the city.
“If you’re going to make here in Philadelphia, and we have a great fan base, you better be tough,” Dombrowski told The Post. “Some players can’t take being booed.” (This is something the Yankees need to consider. Joey Gallo seemed overwhelmed by boobirds in The Bronx.)
Some data-driven teams need to re-evaluate a lot more than that. That includes the Yankees, on a three-year streak of losing transactions — from Josh Donaldson to Frankie Montas to Rodon. There’s also the guys they passed on (and missed on), including Harper.
Under Dombrowski and owner John Middleton the Phillies ran their payroll up to $240 million, fourth highest behind the Mets, Yankees and Padres. But nobody does free agency better; the Phillies’ recent free market record is nearly perfect. When I mentioned that to Middleton, he demurred, modestly saying something about of them being fortunate.
If so, it’s quite a lucky streak. Dombrowski tipped his cap to Middleton and Klentak, now a Brewers executive. Game 1 turned into a celebration of all their smart moves, both before and after Dombrowski came (AD).
- Wheeler ($118M, five years), pitched six brilliant innings punctuated by eight strikeouts. He turned down a slightly 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 first pitch he saw for a long home run and singled in a run. He made like he was blowing out a candle after he crossed home on the homer. “He is hot, the guy’s on fire,” Turner said.
- Schwarber ($79M, four years), started 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 is.
- 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 fits.
It certainly can be done with all or mostly analytics way, too. But there’s room for some old school guys. And there’s reason to consider character. All these positive personalities certainly make for a helluva party, and it feels like it’s just getting started.