Phillies reliever Pat Neshek sought out by playoff competitors

The Phillies look to be hard sellers come deadline day, and their veteran reliever is getting some hard looks.

No surprise here. The Phillies signed Pat Neshek to bolster their bullpen, but more so to reap some minimal trade deadline value. Neshek came into the season at 36-years old, and decided to sign with Philadelphia to prove his value to the league.

Coming off two seasons with a 3.00+ ERA, Neshek returned to All-Star form in 2017. Recording a 1.12 ERA in his 43 appearances put him amongst the top late inning pitchers in the league. His control was regained and he’s on pace to surpass the strikeout totals he put up in each of the last two seasons.

His value of a setup man is not as crucial for this rebuilding organization as it is for a contender, making him the unsurprisingly most tradable player on the roster when considering all aspects. Neshek is garnering the attention of the Nationals, Red Sox, Dodgers, Rays, and Cubs, as they try to secure more bullpen help in their respective playoff runs.

Neshek probably won’t bring in a huge return, but a return of something nonetheless. His timeline is far beyond that of the Phillies, and the intention was for him to build his trade value to its highest point–and he did just that.

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Matt Klentak made a good offseason signing that will now bring him somewhat of a return at the July deadline. It’s been what the Phillies have tried to do the past two offseason, but have failed to see a totally positive return. This could be a signal of better days ahead for Philadelphia, who have seemed to do a complete turnaround since the All-Star break.

Along with Neshek, the Phillies will be sure to shop some of their other players as well. There were early murmurs of Maikel Franco possibly being shipped to Boston, but those talks have failed to gain any traction.

Matt Klentak and the Phillies will sell some non-core pieces until they can’t sell anymore, and hopefully they strike gold in their findings. The Phillies should be feeling a lot better on what their sitting on now compared to just a few weeks ago. Their top prospects are performing, they are winning games, and now they can try to collect some more assets.

Next: Williams starting to blossom

Maybe trusting this process isn’t the worst idea. And maybe by this time next year we see the Phillies try to cash in on some assets.