When Dave Dombrowski took over as the Philadelphia Phillies’ president of baseball operations in December, many fans worried that the longtime executive’s hire meant the team would be overaggressive in dealing top prospects for immediate gains. Dombrowski’s track record — which included trades of eventual Hall of Famers Randy Johnson and Trevor Hoffman in their rookie seasons; then-No. 1 overall prospect Yoán Moncada in 2016; and two Top 10 prospects in 2007 — certainly suggested he wasn’t afraid to do just that.
But regardless of your opinion about Friday’s Spencer Howard deal, a report coming out of the trade deadline indicates that Dombrowski at least has a limit to his win-now approach.