I’m thinking that the flight back to Philadelphia from Los Angeles was a long one for the Phillies. Not just the players, but the everybody associated with the team. From the folks in the owner’s box to the ones in the team executives box, to the manager and coaches, and of course, the players. Uncertainty can be the worst part of any situation. It’s what all of those people face after a brutal end to Game 4 in L.A.

“Progress is impossible without change…?”

George Bernard Shaw

Likely the first person needing to make a decision is majority owner John Middleton. He wants a World Series trophy very badly and he thought this would be the year. He waited through a somewhat quiet offseason, saw the team start to roll and add some needed pieces at the trade deadline. Then, he watched as the team dominated opponents and won a team record 55 games at home and finished with the second best record in the National League. The High Hopes continued into the postseason and that team that was so good at Citizens Bank Park lost the first two games there, the second in an incredibly ugly fashion. He heard the talk of winning three straight and watched his team regain their swagger in Game 3 in Los Angeles only to come out the next night and go back into their collective shell and be eliminated.

Middleton really has just one question to ask himself: Is Dave Dombrowski the guy to put together a World Series championship team? The assistant GM, Sam Fuld, is highly respected around baseball and it’s possible that another team might call – or perhaps, already has called – about hiring Fuld away from the Phillies. Does Middleton hand things over the hot shot younger guy or stick with the grizzled veteran? After all, the Phillies have taken a step backward in the postseason or in the case of last season and this season, stayed at par from year to year.

Besides wondering if Middleton might replace him, Dombrowski has to be wondering if Rob Thomson is a guy capable of getting the team through the playoffs and hoisting a World Series trophy at the end of the run. The Phillies reached the World Series in 2022 under Thomson, but then fell short and finished in the NLCS in 2023, and now have been eliminated in the NLDS in each of the past two seasons. Getting to the postseason is great, but that’s only half of the job and each successive season has shown diminishing returns.

And of course, if he is back, Rob Thomson has to be asking himself why he can’t get this team a bright shiny trophy. He also has to examine how and why things went so haywire in Game 2 of the series. Much of the blame fell on his managing and it was placed there legitimately. Hopefully, Thomson can learn from the mistakes he made and not repeat them down the road.

It is very likely that this winter will be a winter of change in Philadelphia. The change may come from the top or it may be simply among the players. Whichever the case, it’s time for changes.