Phillies, David Dombrowski Agree to New Contract After World Series Appearance
November 22, 2022
Fresh off an appearance in the World Series, Dave Dombrowski has had his contract extended by the Philadelphia Phillies to remain president of baseball operations.
The team announced Tuesday that it signed Dombrowski to a three-year extension that runs through the 2027 season.
The Phillies front office was in a state of uncertainty following the 2020 season. Matt Klentak stepped down from his post as general manager after five years.
At that point, the franchise had gone nine consecutive seasons without a playoff appearance or winning record.
Dombrowski signed a four-year, $20 million contract in December 2020 to become the Phillies' president of baseball operations. He was coming off successful stints running the front office for the Detroit Tigers (2002-15) and Boston Red Sox (2015-19).
The Tigers made five playoff appearances, including two trips to the World Series, from 2006 to '14. Dombrowski made the trades that brought Miguel Cabrera and Max Scherzer to Detroit.
After leaving the Tigers late in the 2015 season, Dombrowski joined the Red Sox front office. He made several aggressive moves, most notably trading for Chris Sale and signing J.D. Martinez as a free agent.
The deals paid off, as the Red Sox made the playoffs in three consecutive years from 2016 to '18. The 2018 team won a franchise-record 108 games and defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series.
Dombrowski's aggressive-spending style has continued during his first two seasons with the Phillies. He has spent big money to re-sign J.T. Realmuto (five years, $115.5 million) in January 2021.
The Phillies brought in Kyle Schwarber (four years, $79 million) and Nick Castellanos (five years, $100 million) last offseason. All of the moves paid off to get the team back to the playoffs in 2022 for the first time in 11 years.
Despite winning just 87 games during the regular season, the Phillies went 9-2 in the first three rounds of the postseason to reach the Fall Classic for the first time since 2009. They lost in six games to the Houston Astros.