Friday, the Philadelphia Phillies officially admitted defeat in the trade deadline acquisition of Dave Dombrowski for the 2024 season.

Austin Hays arrived in Philadelphia with high expectations, seen as the right-hander platoon the Phillies lacked opposite Brandon Marsh in left field. He is now a free agent, having been passed over by the Phillies just months after his arrival.

Such a short-lived mandate speaks to the failures of last season. Hays was a good addition, but he shouldn’t have been Philadelphia’s player only offensive upgrade at the trade deadline. The Phils were coming out of the gate last season, but the offense began to collapse midway through the campaign. Rather than aggressively address the Phillies’ deficiencies in the outfield or at second base, Dombrowski opted for a cheap and unspectacular specialist.

Hays was immediately backed as a full-time left field option, but a kidney infection limited him to just 22 regular season appearances. His numbers in that limited time — .256/.275/.397 with two homers in 78 at-bats — weren’t exactly what the Phillies envisioned. After all, this was a Marsh platoon. Nothing more.

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Better days lie ahead for the 29-year-old, but the Phillies should feel some sense of how the Hays era has unfolded. The traditionally aggressive Dombrowski has taken an unusually low-key approach to the 2024 trade deadline. He has talked depth and prospect reserves, rather than pursuing star talent. A stinking NLDS against the New York Mets was the ultimate result.

Dombrowski essentially tried to take a shortcut, hoping Hays would surpass expectations and deliver star-level value at a fraction of the price. Unfortunately, the Phillies weren’t aggressive enough. More ambitious targets, like Luis Robert Jr. or Cody Bellinger, existed on the market. They always do it. Rather than trying to do more with less, Dombrowski should simply accept the inherently expensive nature of building a contender in the MLB and go all out.

The Phillies face teams full of stars, like the Los Angeles Dodgers And Atlanta Braves. The Mets want to pay more than $600 million to Juan Soto. THE San Diego Padres are loaded with major bats. That’s the way the National League is going right now, and the Phillies understand that trend as well as any team. We’ve seen Dombrowski pay top dollar for stars time and time again, and he regularly reaps the rewards of that aggression.

This must be the mindset for the 2025 campaign. Hays was on the periphery of Baltimore’s roster last season; the Phillies must seek full-time, long-term solutions to their on-field deficiencies. Not a platoon for Marsh or Johan Rojas – a replacement. Even if the Phillies have to dip into the top tier of the luxury tax to get there.

All signs point to Philadelphia seeking All-Star talent, potentially even Juan Soto. The Phillies are saying all the right things, no doubt spurred by the sting of another early playoff exit. This window with Bryce Harper and Trea Turner won’t stay open forever. It’s high time for the Phillies to act financially reckless.