Philly Front Office

About a month ago, I was wallowing in some angry Phillies self-pity and contemplated who they could sell at this year’s Trade Deadline (August 3 at 6pm). Well, things have slightly improved so I figured I would get on the more positive side of things. Let’s take our first stab at trying to improve the team. What do we need, who is selling, and who is available?

Needs

Through 6 weeks, Brandon Marsh is exceeding everyone’s wildest expectations and Justin Crawford is right behind him. Meanwhile, Adolis Garcia has been…fine. He’s been much better than Nick Castellanos, but Nick has also been one of the worst players in baseball. The story on the corners though is the splits. Marsh is hitting better against lefties, but he still isn’t very good. Garcia though is doing MUCH better against lefties. Either adding a platoon partner for Garcia or putting them together and adding an everyday player in right wouldn’t be a bad idea.

Alec Bohm and Bryson Stott have been hitting better lately, but unless either of them catch fire, these are the most likely positions for serious upgrades. Though their gloves have both been good (shocking for Bohm), the offense has been anemic. Since Bohm is in the last year of his contract, look for him to be the one to go.

Bullpens can always use help. Jose Alvarado has started coming around and Orion Kerkering has been solid but Brad Keller and even the mighty Jhoan Duran have been shaky. We don’t need to go all in on a closer this season, but another solid setup guy would be a very good idea.

Andrew Painter has been bad. Aaron Nola has been not good. Jesus Luzardo has been very up and down. That being said, unless there is an injury this is probably the rotation for the rest of the year. Going Sanchez, Wheeler, Luzardo, and Nola in the playoffs is much better than damn near anyone else. I could see the team adding a low end starter though because the depth in the high minors is simply terrible.

To sum up, the Phillies need:

• Platoon Outfielder (or an everyday if the upgrade is enough)
• 3rd Baseman
• Setup Man
• 5th starter level depth

Phillies at the Trade Deadline 1.0

Definite Sellers

As much as Mets fans have been ready to jump off a cliff this season, they are nowhere near definite sellers. I doubt they get to the deadline without going on some kind of run. Same goes for the Red Sox, Blue Jays, Tigers, and Astros. They would all really shake up the MLB landscape if they sold, but let’s not dream on the unlikely. The rest of the bottom of the league is a different story though. The Rockies and Angels were expected to be on the bottom and are proving it. The White Sox, Marlins, Twins, and Nationals were also expected to cellar dwell, but they are overachieving so far. Meanwhile, the Giants and Orioles simply stink. Let’s focus on these 8 teams.

Every Year With Mike Trout

Inventory

• LA Angels – Some surprisingly attractive infielders
  • Mike Trout – CF – Is he a great fit? Yes. Will he get traded? No. See Above.
  • Jo Adell – RF – He made some highlight reel catches this season but isn’t backing up his unexpected 37 HRs from last year. He does mash left handed pitching though. He makes $5.2m this season and has one year of arbitration left. He would be a very high-end platoon partner and I don’t know if the Phillies would go that high.
  • Oswald Peraza – 2B/3B – After a rough few years with the Yankees, Peraza is finding himself in Anaheim as a right handed utility man. The Phillies already have this covered with Edmundo Sosa, but he’s crushing lefties so much that you can’t rule him and his minimum pre-arb salary out for some kind of role.
  • Vaughn Grissom – 2B – After flaming out in Atlanta, Grissom has resurfaced a few years later as a reverse split righty on a pre-arb minimum contract. His good all around hitting could make him a valuable trade commodity if the Angels don’t want to keep him.
  • Yoan Moncada – 3B – Moncada isn’t doing much of anything this year but has always been a strong side platoon that masquerades as an everyday switch hitter. His 1/$4m contract is easy to move. You have to think the Angels move at least one of these 3 infielders.
• SF Giants – They already started selling, but this is a terrible roster with some truly awful contracts
  • Luis Arraez – 2B – The hitter keeps hitting but is surprisingly playing a solid 2B this year. Is he that much of an upgrade over Bryson Stott? Overall, probably not, but he is simply much more consistent. Arraez is just never going to strike out in a big situation. He also can’t handle 3rd. Any possibility of moving Stott to 3rd and Arraez to 2nd? His 1/$12m contract might be a little tough though.
  • Matt Chapman – 3B – Chapman is still a great 3rd baseman, but he’s been a disaster at the plate this season. He’s now 33 and has 4/$100m on his contract after this season. The Giants would be selling very low and would need to pick up a ton of his contract in order to make a trade work. Taking on Bohm this season AND paying down $50m might not be enough to make it work.
  • Erik Miller – LRP – Old friend Miller is in his 3rd season but has been simply dominant since he got to the majors. He is still pre-arb, but could fetch a hefty price on the market. Depending on how Alvarado and Tanner Banks perform the next few weeks, the Phillies could be in need.
• Marlins – Only a few things left to sell
  • Sandy Alcantara – SP – Sandy has 1 year left on his extension after this one and is finally healthy and dealing again. He isn’t a Cy Young contender, but he will complete a pitching staff. The Marlins are not going to want him on the roster for $21m next year so will take what they can get at this deadline or in the offseason.
  • Pete Fairbanks – RRP – Fairbanks was signed for the purpose of being traded. The only problems with that are that he’s hurt and stinks. If he can get some action in before the deadline and prove his effectiveness, the Marlins will 100% deal him for the best offer (which might not be much)
• Nationals – Overachieving for now, but they will still want to sell
  • CJ Abrams – SS – Abrams looked to be on the team just to be auditioned for other teams this year, but he has so far put together his best season at the plate with a .900+ OPS. His salary is only $4m and he has two years of control left. Though he would cost a lot, could you see Abrams playing 3rd base?
  • Foster Griffin – SP – Griffin is fresh off re-inventing himself in Japan and is shoving. His $5.5m 1 year contract is guaranteed to get moved this year as long as he doesn’t fall off. The Phillies could be interested if Painter continues to struggle.
  • Joey Wiemer – RF – Wiemer has bounced around 4 teams in 4 seasons but has had a great start to the season as a platoon bat. He has WRECKED lefties this year with a .353 AVG and all of his power numbers. At the minimum with tons of control left, he could have some value to a team like the Phillies.
• Orioles – Not supposed to be like this
  • Taylor Ward – I don’t know what the hell happened to this guy, but he is a completely different player in Baltimore. He went from 36 HRs to 1 so far, but 75 walks all last season turned into 41 while his 175 Ks are down to 34. He leads the AL in OBP and doubles but isn’t slugging at all. WTF? He would be the everyday RF acquisition.
  • Rico Garcia – RRP – The former Met has been one of the best relievers in baseball this year. He has only let up 1 hit through 64 batters. This might seem foolish next time around, so check out his Savant page while you can.
• Rockies – That was nice while it lasted
  • Mickey Moniak – OF – In 2026, former Phillies #1 overall pick Mickey Moniak leads the NL in slugging. He’s actually pretty good, as long as he doesn’t have to face a lefty. We could do a whole lot worse than Moniak sharing reps in right field with Adolis Garcia. He makes $4m this year and still has another year of arbitration left. Wild.
  • Antonio Senzatela – RRP – Who? I didn’t know either. He has been with the Rockies for years and is making $10m this season in the final year of a 5/$50m deal that paid him to be a starter. Now he’s essentially the closer in Colorado and thriving with a 1.11 ERA in 24 innings. We’ll see how this holds up.
• Twins – Sellers gonna sell and the Twins like selling to the Phillies…not much is left though
  • Trevor Larnach – LF – He can hit righties a ton, he cannot hit lefties at all (.309 vs .063 AVG). As $5m with a year of control, think of him as a Garcia Platoon. Great eye at the plate
• White Sox
  • Munetaka Murakami – He’s probably not on the radar for the Phillies, but don’t think for a second that the White Sox won’t trade the one good thing they have going for them. They know they stole him and could flip him for a huge prospect profit.
  • Sean Newcomb – LRP – the long time ago Brave is now working on his second straight year of bullpen success. He makes $4.5m this season and could be a legitimate lefty weapon.

While the pickings are slim right now, expect some movement as other teams shake free from mediocrity and plummet all the way to the basement of the standings

Contracts: Spotrac

State: Baseball Reference