Philadelphia Phillies Boss Dombrowski Made 'Hall of Fame' Trade for Lorenzen

One of the most impactful trades of the 2023 MLB season might have been done by the Philadelphia Phillies at the trade deadline.

While the majority of the conversation was around them acquiring an outfielder to improve their defense, Phillies President of Baseball Operations, Dave Dombrowski, identified they needed pitching help.

Michael Lorenzen was having the best year of his career for the Detroit Tigers this and was selected to his first All-Star game. Dombrowski acquired him by trading the organization's eighth ranked prospect Hao-Yu Lee.

Before the deadline, Christopher Sanchez was the only starting pitcher in the rotation to have under a 3.00 ERA. Zach Wheeler and Aaron Nola were not performing at their normal ace level capabilities.

So with all the noise swirling about acquiring an outfielder, Dombrowski pivoted to starting pitching instead.

That pivot has paid off in a big way for Philadelphia.

In his two starts, Lorenzen has an outing of eight innings with two earned runs and a no-hitter in his most recent start.

The Lorenzen acquisition is reminiscent of the trade the Phillies made for Cliff Lee at the trade deadline in 2009. In Lee's first start, he threw a complete game and was a big catalyst for the getting the team back to the World Series so they had a chance to repeat.

A rival team of Philadelphia told Jon Heyman of The New York Post, "That’s why Dave Dombrowski is in the Hall of Fame."

The Phillies executive had a case to make the Hall of Fame before this trade. He's a two-time World Series Champion and two-time Executive of the Year.

However, if this deal gets Philadelphia into the winner's circle as World Series champions, he'll have to start writing his Cooperstown speech immediately.

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