Dombrowski: “We’re basically pretty well set out there.”

The Phillies held a press meeting over Zoom to officially introduce free agent outfielder Adolis Garcia, whose contract with the team became official today. Phillies President of Baseball Operations, Dave Dombrowski spoke to the media and seems to be okay with the outfield alignment now that the team has signed Garcia, who played with the Texas Rangers last season.

“With this signing, we look at him being our right fielder and then I think we’re basically pretty well set out there,” said Dombrowski. “With Justin Crawford out there and being able to play center, left, and Brandon Marsh the other, mixed in with a little Otto Kemp out there [Johan] Rojas is a backup in centerfield, too. And then, with [Gabriel] Rincones coming too.”

Earlier in the offseason, the only position that appeared to be set was having Crawford in left field. Prior to Dombrowski’s comments there was thought that the team would still be in contention to sign or trade for a center fielder, with Garcia settling into right. The big name was Harrison Bader, who declined a player option for 2026 and became a free agent. Bader is still unsigned, but reports have him looking for a three-year contract which is at least one year longer than the Phillies would like to sign him for.

Now, it appears Crawford may be the center fielder on Opening Day with Marsh platooning with an unnamed right-handed hitter in left and Garcia in right. Otto Kemp or Weston Wilson are possibilities. With an impressive spring, Johan Rojas would put himself in position to regain his platoon spot with Marsh in center field, pushing Crawford to left. In other words, while Dombrowski feels the team is “pretty well set out there,” you have to ask: “But are they?”

The move from Nick Castellanos – who is just waiting to find out where he is going to be traded to – to Garcia in right field is still an undecided as to whether it is an upgrade or not. Defensively, it is a big upgrade, but offensively, Castellanos and Garcia had very similar numbers in 2025.

Of course, that’s not what the Phillies are hoping for. What they’re hoping for looks a lot more like these numbers put up in 2023 by Adolis Garcia.

“It’s really about getting back to basics a little more; controlling the strike zone,” said manager Rob Thomson on Tuesday. “His power stands out to any part of the ballpark; I’m really excited about this, I really am. He’s a good defender, he can really throw and he’s a good guy; he’s really good friends with [Edmundo] Sosa, so that tells you something about the guy. I think that if Adolis does what he normally does, then I think he’s one of those protector guys for those left-handed bats; I’m expecting really good things from Adolis.”

Keep in mind that when Dombrowski says “we’re basically…” it doesn’t close the door on anything. If a trade opportunity opens up or the price drops on a free agent that the Phillies like, Dombrowski is not handcuffed to sticking to this alignment.

Scroll down to the comments and tell us what you think about the signing of Adolis Garcia. Also, if the Phillies are done with their outfield, what are your thoughts on how it looks?

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