Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski spent 45 minutes on Tuesday answering questions about the team’s early exit from the NL Division Series; what needs to change in the future; and why you probably won’t see the Phillies add another star player to a roster that has languished in the second half of the season. Of course, there is one star player eligible to become a free agent in November who would solve many of the Phillies’ batting problems. At the very least he would be a significant upgrade over left-fielder Brandon Marsh, who has yet to prove he can hit the ball left-handed. That’s Yankees outfielder Juan Soto, who has hit 41 homeruns, batted .288 and walked 129 times this season.

Juan Soto The Chosen Juan Shirt

Acquiring Soto would certainly require “stupid amounts of money” that Phillies owner John Middleton has been willing to spend over the years, starting with $325 million for Bryce Harper and $300 million for Trea Turner, along with nine-figure deals for Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, JT Realmuto and Nick Castellanos. Harper, Turner and Kyle Schwarber all played with Soto in Washington, where current Phillies hitting coach Kevin Long serves in the same role. But Dombrowski seemed to rule out pursuing such a player on a team with a $260 million payroll this season, the third straight time the Phillies have exceeded the luxury tax threshold.