Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports
Philadelphia Phillies Reveal MLB Trade Deadline Plans
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There are around seven weeks until the MLB trade deadline and there's a clearer picture of who will be buyers and who will be sellers.
Philadelphia Phillies President of Baseball Operations David Dombrowski made it clear the squad is in no position to be a seller at the trade deadline.
Speaking to The Athletic, he highlighted his reasons.
"We have really good starting pitching. When it’s pitching well, it can shut down anybody. We have a really good bullpen, a shutdown bullpen," said Dombrowski. "Our good hitters can hit good pitching as well as anybody when they’re playing well. That’s the key for us. If we can get to that point, once you get in, then you take your chances.”
The Phillies are 29-32 in the National League East and three and a half games back of the final NL Wild Card spot. More than two months into the season, the defending NL champions are one of several high-priced but under-performing clubs.
Philadelphia opened the season with a franchise-record $243 million payroll, the fourth highest in the majors. That came from adding free agents shortstop Trea Turner and pitcher Taijuan Walker heavily contributed to the number climbing that high, making it just over $45 million combined this season.
The team hasn't played well but it's not Dombrowski's fault. Injuries to first basemen Rhys Hoskins and Darick Hall, outfielder Bryce Harper, and now-returned pitcher Ranger Suárez haven't helped.
Philadelphia could make a deal to fix their four-man rotation. They'd have to find a team that’s out of contention and looking to get a jump on rebuilding for 2024 before the August 1 trade deadline.
But the reason why the Phillies won't be big sellers at the deadline is simple: their window to win isn't closing.
They do have a few trade chips they could shop in a worst-case scenario involving a summer of selling. Pitcher Aaron Nola is one of them.
But six teams in the NL will get into the postseason. Philadelphia thinks they have a team that could just as easily be that final ball club again.
Their record is two games shy of where they were in May 2022. They wound up sealing the third NL Wild Card spot.
It was also a slow start in a similar way last season. They fired manager Joe Girardi and went on to make additions at the deadline for players like Brandon Marsh, Noah Syndergaard, and David Robertson.
That helped their deep playoff run before ultimately losing to the Houston Astros in the World Series.
Riding a four-game winning streak, the Phillies have shown life recently. There will be no managerial move but things are improving.
Suárez pitched seven innings during his outing against the Washington Nationals. Left fielder Kyle Schwarber had two homers during the same series and was the lone scorer in Tuesday's 1-0 win over the Detroit Tigers.
The players have a little under two months to convince the front office they’re worth the faith of the front office to improve. The talent level is too vast not to see movement on that front.
Getting rid of parts of this team would only hinder their 2023 playoff chances.
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