A sleeping giant has been woken up. The Philadelphia Phillies are beginning to show the rest of the National League East they are not a team to roll over and let the New York Mets take it without a fight. Along with the Atlanta Braves, the division race has suddenly gotten a light tighter this month.
The Phillies are positioning themselves to become trade deadline buyers rather than sellers. In order to catch the Mets as they did in 2021, they’ll need to make a few trades.
What can Dave Dombrowski do for this team? Acquiring any of these three players could be a good start.
1. Philadelphia Phillies trade to catch the Mets: Luis Castillo.
Cincinnati Reds pitcher Luis Castillo should be on the move this summer. A trade candidate throughout the offseason, Philadelphia was never really a destination for him because of the starters they already had.
Upon further review, it looks like the Phillies could use another arm for the rotation.
The plan should be to acquire a more experienced starter and move Ranger Suarez to the bullpen. He hasn’t been quite as effective as the Phillies need him to be. Plus, he could give them the left-handed reliever their bullpen needs. Two problems are immediately solved.
Castillo has proven he can pitch in a hitter’s ballpark effectively. Also under team control through next season, he is more than a rental. The Phillies can just as easily consider him the replacement for Kyle Gibson—an upgrade over him as well.
The trouble with acquiring Castillo is the high price for him. Martin Perez of the Texas Rangers might be a nice alternative pitcher to look at as well. The Rangers and Phillies always seem to have a conversation each year at the trade deadline. This season might not be an exception.
2. Philadelphia Phillies trade to catch the Mets: David Bednar.
David Bednar fits perfectly into what the Phillies tried doing with their bullpen this offseason. They packed it in with three former closers who had fallen on hard times. It has been pretty effective thus far.
Bednar is currently with the Pittsburgh Pirates and looking like one of the best closers in baseball. The only problem is that each save he gets for Pittsburgh is far less important than the ones he could be having with their Pennsylvania rivals out east.
There is no immediate need for Pittsburgh to trade Bednar which works against the Phillies and any other team seeking a bullpen upgrade. The pre-arbitration closer is no payroll burden on the Pirates. Prying him away might be too costly.
An alternative to him might be Colorado Rockies closer Daniel Bard. He’s having a fine year with them which should definitely catch everyone’s attention. Anytime a Rockies pitcher has success, rival general managers should start drooling at the idea of what they can do for them.
Bednar is about a whole decade younger and could become a vital part of the Phillies bullpen for several more years. He’d be the preferred choice. Bard isn’t a half-bad consolation. The last thing the Phillies need is to get caught with no closer options at all.
3. Philadelphia Phillies trade to catch the Mets: Ian Happ.
There aren’t too many great center field options we should expect on the market this summer. One guy the Phillies could shoehorn into the job is Chicago Cubs outfielder Ian Happ. As part of their expected continued fire sale this summer, Happ is one of the players Chicago could be prepared to move on from.
What’s most intriguing about Happ is how versatile of a defender he is. Mostly a left fielder this season, he has spent his career bouncing all over the place with innings literally at every position aside from shortstop and catcher. A negative defender at most places he plays and in most metrics, he’d be someone to start in center field then move to a corner position late in the game while being replaced himself by someone with a better glove in center field.
The problem the Phillies created for themselves defensively may have them needing to double-down and not so much worry about the games they’ll lose because of bad defense. Happ is a bit of a “hedge player” in that he isn’t a great defender or hitter but isn’t too atrocious in center field and has a good enough bat to be in the order every day.
Happ does have a year of control left so Chicago might want to hold onto him. There aren’t too many better options to take over at center field. Perhaps pairing Rockies outfield Randal Grichuk with Daniel Bard is something to consider. Grichuk is less versatile than Happ as a fielder but far more experienced in center field.
The Phillies probably won’t go into the trade deadline and make one major move. Expect, if they continue to win, for some lighter moves than one major swing.