Well, yeah, which is why I said it was not supposed to be the plan at the Phillies payroll level, especially with the money tied up in Kingery and Herrera (both surprises, for different reasons). It's a great plan for thrifty teams.
No, the Phillies' plan as publicly stated was that the 2019 team was playoff-worthy and just needed a new manager, and the plan as publicly stated this year was that merely bringing back the 2020 team with a better bullpen and a few tweaks by a better front office was playoff-worthy... even when last year's team couldn't make an expanded post-season. But both of those teams did buy at the deadline, sort of (while also not being deemed worthy a of paying the luxury tax). So here we are again, and the only way to not get the same result again is to either go big or go home.
I don't think they are willing, either by words or action, to make a statement that says "well, our unvaccinated #2 pitcher stinks and so does our SS, and our rookie 3B hit the wall, and oh yeah, we never managed to fill the CF hole or find a credible 4th starter or a truly reliable new reliever, especially after we hired Trevor Bauer's favorite pitching coach and then the league cracked down on sticky stuff, so oh well, let's start playing for the draft pick. Rebuilding would be popular with a small segment of fans, including many here (myself included). But this manager and GM aren't here to do that. We'll see if the numbers in the standings change enough to make them re-think I guess (one way or the other).
