But how do you build a team that can win the World Series? Playoffs are still a small sample with a lot of randomness and luck. Did the Dodgers really "fix" their 2021-2023 approach or did they just finally catch the right break to go all the way? And MLB is riddled with teams and Hall of Fame players who came up short and small in them, until they didn't. Would replacing Alec Bohm actually have been guaranteed to make the team better in October? Replacing Nick Castellanos would almost surely make the team better overall but he had a 1.059 OPS in the Mets series, and a 1.796 OPS in the 2023 Braves series, or 2023 would have been just like 2024. Never mind what he played like next because that just proves the point. Had they not blown that series he might have still been World Series MVP, or the other two guys who came up small could have been.
But most of all,what did the Phillies miss out on that would have actually been good moves, both for the players they'd get and what they'd have to give up? Luzardo deal seems much more judicious than Crochet would have been. None of the FA outfielders besides Soto were that appealing, big or small, and Kepler was actually one of the few who meets the team's stated goal of adding a different type of hitter (whereas Santander or even trade option Robert are just more of the same). Not sure Bregman really was either.
The future of the Harper/Turner core is a huge concern, and so is what do after this season over the last two years of Wheeler's contract (as decisions are made on Schwarber, Realmuto and replacing Nick). But mostly running back a team that probably would have won 100 games doesn't seem like a bad thing. If they lose in the NLDS or NLCS again that's just baseball. A bigger concern would be if they have a 2025 like the Diamondbacks' 2024 (or the Braves for that matter, they were barely a playoff team).
Now, we can certainly have this conversation again on August 1. We know they will add a relief pitcher then if they have to, and the stakes are also high enough that if they need a position player nobody will be off the table (to get or give).
