With plenty of the offseason to go, what’s the next move for the Phillies?

Midway through baseball’s three-day winter meetings last week, Phillies officials sat in a 23rd-floor suite overlooking Dallas and talked through potential trades and free-agent additions.

The conversation, as Dave Dombrowski put it, got “quite heavy.”

But they left without trading for Garrett Crochet. Or Devin Williams. Or Kyle Tucker. Or Cody Bellinger. They didn’t unearth a left fielder or starting pitching depth. They signed late-inning reliever Jordan Romano to a one-year contract but didn’t get to the finish line on any of “20 different things,” by Dombrowski’s estimate.

And so, fans are restless.

» READ MORE: Winter meetings takeaways: Dave Dombrowski unwilling to sacrifice Phillies’ future, even for Garrett Crochet

OK, some perspective: When Walker Buehler (a free agent, by the way) struck out Alex Verdugo (also still unsigned) to end the World Series, it gave the Phillies 147 days to augment the roster before opening day. There are nearly 100 days left. If the offseason was a game, it would be the fourth inning.

There’s still time, then, to smooth over warts, which tend to be more noticeable this time of year, especially after the Mets threw $765 million at Juan Soto and the Dodgers reeled in Blake Snell. As the other National League powers load up, it’s reasonable to feel angsty that the Phillies might run back the roster for a second consecutive winter.

Dombrowski said he still wants to “change the mix” after a 34-35 stretch run preceded the four-game divisional round ousting by the Mets. But even if the changes aren’t drastic, the consensus within the industry is that the Phillies will be fine.

In an informal survey this week, five talent evaluators from opposing teams agreed that, absent a big move, the Phillies remain among the three best teams in the NL. Three placed them second, hot on the Dodgers’ heels.

“They are pretty firmly second behind the Dodgers, and they are closer to them than the third- and fourth-place teams are to the Phillies,” said one NL evaluator. “Unless the Mets spend super-aggressively and the Padres land Roki [Sasaki], I don’t know how anyone leaps the Phillies and Dodgers.”

Said another NL evaluator: “I think [the Phillies] are still in the top two. Dodgers still [have] the slight edge.”

» READ MORE: Phillies’ response to the Mets signing Juan Soto: We’re still good, and remain ‘open-minded’ with moves

The Phillies have a few obvious weaknesses, notably in left/center field and the fifth-starter spot (at least until Andrew Painter makes his hotly anticipated major league debut). But Dombrowski has outlined an “open-minded” approach to improving the roster, such as dealing from one position to improve another and then restocking.

As such, the Phillies have discussed scenarios involving Alec Bohm. The Royals, Mariners, and A’s are among teams exploring help at third base. Some of those talks could resurface later in the offseason once free-agent third baseman Alex Bregman signs and if the Cardinals trade Nolan Arenado.

But rivals wonder now if the Phillies will settle on a more direct approach.

“I thought we could be more open-minded to potentially making those adjustments, but I think we have to be careful to not just [do] things to make you a worse team. That’s not what I want to do,” Dombrowski said. “I don’t want to force it. I don’t think that’s smart with where we are because we have too good a team and too many good players.”

A year after debating Johan Rojas’ viability as an everyday center fielder, the Phillies are still having the same conversation. Through Tuesday, he was batting .307 with three doubles, one homer, 18 stolen bases, and a .784 OPS in winter ball in the Dominican Republic. Maybe it’s a sign of improvement.

But the Phillies ranked 20th and tied for 15th in OPS out of center field (.644) and left (.710), respectively, after sticking primarily with Rojas and Brandon Marsh last season. They almost certainly will upgrade, at least with a righty-hitting platoon option.

» READ MORE: J.T. Realmuto or … who? The Phillies will face a complex decision with their star catcher.

Executives from outfield-needy teams expected the free-agent dominos to fall rapidly once Soto chose his team. But Teoscar Hernández and switch-hitting Anthony Santander and Jurickson Profar are still unsigned amid trade activity.

They figure to come off the board now that the Cubs snagged Tucker in a blockbuster with the Astros and spun off Bellinger for salary relief from the Yankees. Even so, the cost for Hernández, Santander, and Profar will rise after the Orioles gave Tyler O’Neill a three-year, $49.5 million contract and Michael Conforto received $17 million for one year from the Dodgers.

The going rate for starting pitching is robust, too, with mid-rotation and No. 5 types cashing in. To wit: Luis Severino (three years, $67 million from the A’s), Frankie Montas (two years, $34 million from the Mets), Matthew Boyd (two years, $29 million from the Cubs), and Alex Cobb (one year, $15 million from the Tigers).

Those prices probably still aren’t high enough to off-load Taijuan Walker, whose 7.10 ERA last season was the worst for a Phillies pitcher (minimum 80 innings) since 1930. But would a team in need of an innings-eater take a flier if the Phillies agreed to pay down more than half of his $36 million guarantee over the next two years?

If not, the Phillies will bring Walker to spring training and gauge whether their multiphase conditioning and throwing program helped him to regain his diminished fastball velocity. He then would compete for the fifth-starter spot.

The Phillies hope for a meeting with 23-year-old phenom Sasaki, who is expected to begin seeing presentations from teams this week. But they face challenges in that they have never signed a player directly from Japan. The Dodgers and Padres are viewed as favorites.

» READ MORE: The Phillies are interested in world-class pitcher Roki Sasaki. But can they overcome their history of inaction in the Japan market?

One other way to improve is to deepen the bullpen. Romano will slot into the late innings, with Orion Kerkering and lefties Matt Strahm and José Alvarado. Dombrowski has said he’s “comfortable” without another bullpen addition, even though the Phillies could lose two free-agent relievers (Carlos Estévez and Jeff Hoffman).

The Brewers got a solid return for Williams, acquiring lefty starter Nestor Cortes and infield prospect Caleb Durbin from the Yankees. Maybe it will compel the Cardinals to swap Ryan Helsley, also entering his walk year before free agency, although they have signaled they intend to hold on to him. The Rays reportedly are open to trading Pete Fairbanks.

Tanner Scott is the top closer on the free-agent market. Neither Hoffman nor Estévez has signed yet. Multiple sources confirmed that Hoffman is open to following the trend of relievers who sign as starters (Seth Lugo, Reynaldo López, Jordan Hicks, Clay Holmes), and with the price for starting pitching, it’s easy to see why.

A number to keep in mind: $301 million, the fourth luxury-tax threshold, which triggers a 110% tariff. The Phillies’ projected payroll stands at approximately $286.25 million.

“I can’t tell you it’s a deterrent from anything we’re doing,” Dombrowski said. “You never like to get a penalty for anything. It’s not something we want to do, but it’s also not going to stop us from making moves at this point.”

And there’s still plenty of time.