The offseason moves to help the Philadelphia Phillies return to the World Series

After getting within two wins from reaching the mountain top and being enshrined in history as World Champions of baseball, the Philadelphia Phillies started this season knowing they had one goal in mind: World Series or bust. Unfortunately for the Phillies, this story didn't quite have the storybook ending after so many amazing memories and moments.

While the city of Philadelphia is currently reeling at this moment, you have to continue forward and look at the bright side to all of this. Philadelphia will be back and will continue to build. This will be another learning moment for this team and a motivator to be better.

During the Phillies postgame, color analyst Ben Davis said it best.

"You know, I never thought I would see this team get complacent. During this series, I saw this team become just that."

It hurts to admit, but it's true. Everyone from the mainstream media to the fans in Philadelphia all thought this was a walk-in series and believed this team was invincible. Fans were planning out what they were going to be doing for the World Series. Everyone believed this team was the team of destiny that got humbled.

While the blame can be equally distributed from Dave Dombrowski not adding enough at the trade deadline, Rob Thomson refusing to make any sort of adjustments and mismanaging his bullpen and of course, the stars falling short of having any sort of impact. Between Nick Castellanos returning to post-All-Star Game form and Trea Turner regressing back to his pre-ovation self. It was just a series meant for disaster.

"Got a heater and just missed it. He threw me the pitch I wanted. I went 2-1 and he threw me a heater. Man, just not being able to come through in the moment just devastates me personally. I feel like I let my team down and let the city of Philadelphia down as well."

You have to feel for Bryce Harper. Harper bleeds red pinstripes and loves this city and has done a lot of work into recruiting pieces that make up this lineup. When it's all said and done and Harper hangs up his cleats, he will be in the conversation for maybe the greatest Phillie ever.

However, the road back to the World Series starts with the offseason. Dave Dombrowski is going to have some decisions to make. There are a few roads he can go down to help make this team better. Let's take a look at some of these scenarios starting with the bats and fielders.

Could the Philadelphia Phillies add Juan Soto?

A top 10 player and generational talent is currently wasting away in San Diego. Juan Soto, former National and teammate to Bryce Harper, Trea Turner and even Kyle Schwarber (even if it was short). Soto could be the perfect player this roster is missing. While it may cost you some pieces, bringing Soto in this offseason to gel with this lineup would do wonders.

Everyone knows Dave Dombrowski likes to go star hunting and has no problem selling the farm to get what he wants. However, this could be a double-edged sword depending on what it costs you. Obviously Johan Rojas and a pitching prospect might have to go back in the trade, but there could be a scenario where Nick Castellanos might be dangled out there as bait.

Here is a scenario where Nick Castellanos isn't in the trade talks and you can just move prospects to get Juan Soto. The Padres should be in complete rebuild mode and tear this team down. After losing their manager to the San Francisco Giants and the rumors swirling around potential trades of stars, it just seems like their blueprint just crumbled overnight.

Obviously making a move for Juan Soto would mean Bryce Harper would stay at first base. In order to make this happen, you might have to give up something similar to what the Padres gave the Nationals for Soto. While the Padres also received Josh Bell, they had to give up some major league talent and their 1st, 3rd and 14th prospect. So if the Phillies aren't moving Castellanos in this scenario.

INF Edmundo Sosa, OF Johan Rojas, OF Justin Crawford (Number 3 prospect), RHP Orion Kerkering (Number 7). in return you would receive Juan Soto.

Now if you add Castellanos into the deal, it might look something like this: OF Castellanos, OF Johan Rojas, RHP Orion Kerkering and a lower prospect. This really depends on if the Padres would want to flip Castellanos or if they are still looking to compete.

Soto would add another bat that can hit for contact or power. Depending on which route you go with either having Hoskins stay and trading Castellanos or keeping Castellanos and moving on from Hoskins. Your one through four hitters have just become much more dangerous and harder to pitch to.

Obviously, the pitching staff is going to need some upgrades and some new faces. Let's take a look at some potential adds to this staff.

What about the Philadelphia Phillies pitching?

Dave Dombrowski has another long-time Phillie on the end of his contract. While it is uncertain whether or not Aaron Nola will return, one thing is for certain — this pitching staff needs another ace and a closer. A bullpen arm would be nice, but focus on bringing in some aces first.

I think the Phillies fanbase is currently torn on whether or not they want Nola to wear the red pinstripes again. If Nola isn't brought back, there are two names the Phillies should keep an eye on: LHP Blake Snell and RHP Sonny Gray. As for relievers, Matt Moore, Jordan Hicks or Wendy Peralta are names to watch. As for the closer, Josh Hader is the name here.

The Phillies should consider moving Chris Sanchez back to the bullpen and bringing in two more starters, especially since we didn't see Walker pitch a single game through out this postseason, even though he was available. Yes, he was struggling towards the end with a dead arm, but the guy is a workhorse. Making him your number five and Suarez your number four would give Rob Thomson so much depth moving forward.

Another big reason to getting two aces would be the playoffs. It just seems like Dombrowski has been searching for a number four pitcher for the playoffs and has struck out every time. First was Kyle Gibson, then Noah Syndergaard and now Michael Lorenzen. The Phillies need a guy they can trust to go deep into a game.

Blake Snell might be on his way to receiving a Cy Young for this season. The southpaw pitched extremely well this season even with a "bad team" behind him. Snell went 14-9 with a 2.25 ERA. He pitched 180 innings with 234 strikeouts and a WHIP of 1.189. The one big area of concern was his walk rate, which was at an all-time high with 99.

If a righty is what you desire, Sonny Gray is a great option. While Gray is heading towards the wrong side of 30, his numbers have been going down for the past couple of seasons, including this year with an 8-8 record with a 2.79 ERA. Gray threw 184 innings with 183 SO and 1.147 WHIP. Only giving up eight homers this season is a really nice number to see for 32 games pitched.

Let's talk about the Philadelphia Phillies bullpen

As for relievers, you are most likely going to add only one arm and find yourself a closer.

Going back to the previous slide, Hader is a no-brainer. Hader should have been a Phillie the year he was on the trade block with the Brewers. However, the Padres were able to snatch him up. Now the Phillies have been in search of a closer and obviously Craig Kimbrel cannot be brought back to be in any sort of high leverage role after seeing his collapse in the second half of the year.

The lefty is boasting a 1.28 ERA in 56.1 innings and 61 games pitched. With 85 strikeouts and a WHIP of 1.101, Hader would be the perfect addition to this team. However, this would be mean you would have to find some righties for your bullpen.

While Matt Moore and Wendy Peralta brings experience, they are also both left-handed pitchers. Jordan Hicks is a right-handed pitcher who can throw gas. Hicks is still a young arm and can max out his velocity between 101-105 MPH. He also has some good breaking balls that could make him a hard hit. Hicks could be used the same way Jeff Hoffman was this season and would give Thomson another reliable arm. The big question mark, as any reliever that throws 100 plus, is his control.

There are some ways that Dombrowski can play this offseason, but as long as he doesn't get complacent and makes the right moves, this team could be well on track to get back to the Fall Classic.