Many of us are still reveling in (and sobering up from) the Philadelphia Eagles dominant win in the Super Bowl over the Kansas City Chiefs. Because of this, you get a pass if you probably haven’t realized yet that the team across the street from those World Champion Birds is about to begin their own season in chase of a title. The Phillies, like the Eagles, have championship aspirations but have fallen short in the last few years. Both teams lost in the championship round in the 2022 season before a deeply underwhelming postseason exit in 2023. The Eagles were finally able to seal the deal in 2024 and avenge their championship loss. What lessons can the Phillies take from their neighbors as they set out to get over the hump themselves? Before we answer that question, let’s first establish that yes of course we are talking about two drastically different sports. One plays a 162-game regular season while the other plays 17. One has a 26-man active roster while the other has 53. That’s just two of a multitude of differences between the two. In many ways this is an apples to oranges comparison. But that doesn’t mean that there aren’t any lessons to be learned. Don’t panic after a slow start The Eagles started 2-2 in 2024 following a historic collapse to end the 2023 season.
Ideally, you wouldn’t put yourself in said hole to begin with. But the Eagles serve as a reminder that a mediocre start doesn’t always mean that drastic changes need to be made. Don’t be afraid to admit and move on from mistakes But with all that being said, being able to timely identify and rectify mistakes was also a key for the Eagles. The team changed its approach after their bye week and decided to lean more on Saquon Barkley who rewarded them with one of the best seasons for a running back in NFL history. The Eagles signed Bryce Huff to a three year, $51.1M deal before the season and he ended up a healthy scratch in the Super Bowl. Linebacker Devin White was released in October after never having played a snap with the Eagles despite a $7.5M contract. Even great general managers like Howie Roseman make mistakes, but what sets them apart is the ability to identify them and rectify them. For the last two seasons,
the Phillies signed utility players Josh Harrison and Whit Merrifield to one-year deals with varying levels of expected playing time. Both were disasters, as Harrison was worth -0.6 WAR and Merrifield was worth 0.1 WAR. Harrison lasted on the team until August 1st while Merrifield only lasted until July 12th. To the Phillies credit, they eventually realized that these two were sunk costs and decided to move on, but you wouldn’t be wrong to argue that they waited too long. However, their biggest mistake is still on the roster. Taijuan Walker was arguably the worst starting pitcher in baseball last season and yet will enter camp still with the team.
Dave Dombrowski did acquire Jesús Luzardo and the team expects top prospect Andrew Painter to debut around mid-season, so Walker’s spot in the rotation is the furthest thing from guaranteed. But there’s little to no hope that the 32-year-old Walker will regain enough of his form that he could be worth anywhere close to the $36M over two years remaining on his contract. There’s also little evidence that he could be effective in a relief role, and besides the Phillies have their bullpen essentially planned out already.
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