National League Cy Young race, behind the Nationals' Max Scherzer and the winner, the Mets' Jacob DeGrom. Building a winning team (2019–present) The Phillies intended to start targeting valuable free agents as soon as the 2018 season was over. Owner John Middleton said they were willing to "spend stupid money". During the off-season, the Phillies signed Andrew McCutchen, David Robertson, and made the splash of the offseason by signing Bryce Harper to a 13-year, $330 million deal, taking him away from the division rival Washington Nationals. The team also made many trades, including trading for the Mariners' shortstop Jean Segura and the Marlins' catcher J.T. Realmuto. The Phillies got off to a hot start the first two months, going 33–22 but collapsed from there. They were eliminated from the playoffs on September 24 in the first game of a day-night double-header against Harper's former team and the eventual World Series champions, the Nationals, on their way to finishing with a record of 81–81. Owner John Middleton fired Manager Gabe Kapler on October 10, 2019, after ten days of intense deliberations with insiders and outsiders alike. On October 24, 2019, the Philadelphia Phillies announced Joe Girardi as their 55th manager of the team, signing a three-year deal with the Phillies with an option for the 2023 season. The team failed to get a winning season in the COVID-shortened 2020 season and finished with a 28-32 record and failed to enter the playoffs, and the Miami Marlins, a team sometimes ridiculed as weaker than Phillies, ended up getting in playoffs in 2020, so on October 3, 2020, Matt Klentak was relieved from General Manager. On December 11, 2020, the Phillies hired Dave Dombrowski as the President Of Baseball Operations. On December 22, 2020, Dombrowski hired Sam Fuld as the General Manager. In 2021, the Phillies finished the season with an 82-80 record, the first winning season since 2011, but failed to make the playoffs. One major highlight of the season was Bryce Harper winning the NL Most Valuable Player Award for the 2021 season. The team targeted high profile free agents during the offseason and improved their lineup by signing outfielders Kyle Schwarber and Nick Castellanos. 2022 World Series The Phillies got off to a sluggish 22–29 start to the 2022 season. On June 3, the Phillies fired manager Joe Girardi and replaced him with bench coach Rob Thomson, who was named