Dave Dombrowski couldn't be bothered to even make an attempt at Juan Soto

It's been an awfully quiet first few weeks of the offseason for the Philadelphia Phillies. After a second straight disappointing playoff exit, something big needed to change, and the options seemed endless: Everything appeared to be on the table, from a run at a big-time free agent to trading core pieces like Alec Bohm and Nick Castellanos.

And yet, Thanksgiving has come and gone, the Winter Meetings almost upon us, and it's still nearly radio silence in Philly. It's not just that Dave Dombrowski hasn't made a move yet; it's that there hasn't even been a hint of something brewing, even while their rivals in the National League are busy engaging in an arms race. If any team needs to go all-in on 2025, it's the Phillies. There's no way they can afford to let this winter pass without making a major upgrade. Surely Dombrowski is just moving in the shadows, right?

Well, it's beginning to look as though there hasn't been much to report on the Phillies offseason so far because ... they haven't been doing all that much. Maybe Dombrowski still has something up his sleeve, but if the team's reported stance toward the winter's biggest free agent is any indication, fans should be bracing themselves for disappointment.

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Phillies reportedly didn't even make a contract offer to Juan Soto

Just 12 hours or so after Juan Soto's agent, Scott Boras, confirmed that the star outfielder had begun eliminating teams from contention, The Athletic's Matt Gelb poured cold water all over Phillies fans' pipe dream, reporting that the team not only hadn't met with Soto — they hadn't even made him a contract offer.

The Phillies weren't among the five teams confirmed to have held an in-person meeting with Soto, so on the one hand, this isn't much of a surprise. But throughout Soto's free agency, Philly lurked on the periphery, listed by several insiders as a potential mystery team. Dombrowski has always loved a big-name star, and we already knew that the team was looking for ways to upgrade its corner outfield situation (and add a more patient left-handed approach to its lineup).

So to find out that Philly apparently never even bothered to check in with Boras is a stunner. Maybe it's just posturing; it's possible that the Phillies were one of the teams eliminated early this week, and this was simply a team source using a reporter to try and save face. But in either case, it's not a great look for Dombrowski as he embarks on a tremendously important offseason. The Phillies need to make noise this winter, and badly, especially if Soto winds up with the division rival Mets. Going into 2025 with the same lineup that fizzled out this past October isn't an option, not with Bryce Harper, Trea Turner, Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola not getting any younger.

But if the team's finances are such that they're not even close to Soto's number, that precludes a lot of potential impact additions. Soto's market is in a league of its own, but so far Dombrowski's lack of urgency has to be alarming.