Philadelphia Phillies feel "very good" after adding bullpen help, right-handed bat at MLB trade deadline
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Hours after Rob Thomson said he was content with the ball club he had, the Philadelphia Phillies finalized two deals just minutes prior to Tuesday's MLB trade deadline. The Phillies acquired Tanner Banks from the Chicago White Sox in exchange for High-A infielder William Bergolla, adding another bullpen piece to a unit that needed some reinforcements in the coming weeks.
Once the Phillies acquired Banks, they traded Gregory Soto to the Baltimore Orioles for minor league pitchers Seth Johnson and Moisés Chace. In what appeared to be a slow deadline day for the Phillies, turned out to be four trades over the span of five days to bolster the club.
Joining the Phillies over the last few days are Austin Hays (outfield bat), Carlos Estévez (closer), and Banks (left-handed reliever). Leaving the major league roster are Seranthony Dominguez (right-handed reliever), Cristian Pache (outfielder), and Gregory Soto (left-handed reliever).
Minor tweaks to a championship-contending roster for a major payout come October.
"We feel very good about it," Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said regarding his deadline. "I like our ball club. We set out a goal to try and get a right-handed bat, which was Austin Hays. We wanted to get another back-end type guy in Carlos Estévez. Somebody that could close games and pitch in those high-leverage situations. We ended up getting Tanner Banks with an arm out there."
The Phillies insisted they were content with their club. Deadlines spur action.
Philadelphia was 21st in bullpen ERA (4.32) and 25th in home runs per nine innings (1.25) since June 1. Soto had a 2.84 ERA in that stretch but struggled in high-leverage situations when the Phillies gave him the opportunity late in July. Dominguez had a 3.71 ERA since June 1 and was moved down the bullpen depth chart thanks to the emergence and Jeff Hoffman (0.93) and Orion Kerkering (2.95).
So did Soto fall out of favor with the Phillies?
"He pitched overall OK when you look at his numbers," Dombrowski said. "We didn't necessarily get him as a closer. I think a lot of times he envisions himself as a closer, which is fine. But he's done fine for us. We weren't dissatisfied with him. The way we use our pen, I'm just not sure there was a way he felt comfortable in that regard."
The Phillies reworked the bullpen depth chart with Estévez and Banks, as Estévez, Hoffman and Jose Alvarado are expected to be their high-leverage relievers. Matt Strahm can also fill that role, as Alvarado has struggled with his control of late (5.50 ERA since June 1).
Banks fortifies the left-handed arms in the bullpen, as left-handers are hitting .184 off him. Dombrowski wanted to keep three left-handed throwers, so there was no more room for Soto once the team acquired Banks.
"We liked him for a long time," Dombrowski said. "He's been one of the best pitchers against left-handed hitters in baseball in that regard. We thought he was a better fit for our bullpen at this time than Soto was."
The Phillies didn't part ways with any of their big prospects to make these deals. Their top-10 prospects all remain in the system (via MLB.com) as the deadline passes. Of the top 30 prospects in the system, William Bergolla (No. 11), Samuel Aldegheri (No. 23) and George Klassen (No. 28) were dealt. Bergolla and Klassen were rising prospects at High-A Jersey Shore while Aldegheri made just two starts at Double-A Reading when he was dealt in the Estévez deal.
"We have some guys we really didn't want to trade," Dombrowski said. "There are a good upper echelon of guys, which is why I'm absolutely thrilled we made the moves we made. We have some guys who we were extremely high on. We feel we have a really good ball club in the farm system."
Of the players the Phillies didn't want to trade: Andrew Painter (No. 1 prospect), Aidan Miller (No. 2), Justin Crawford (No. 3), Starlyn Caba (No. 5), and Eduardo Tait (No. 8). The Phillies didn't give up any of their elite prospects while improving their major league ball club in search of a World Series.
The Phillies did appear to look at potentially acquiring another bat after the Hays trade, but the price wasn't worth the cost.
"The one thing we just kinda looked at was would we get a guy, a right-handed hitting center fielder, at some point if the right guy came around," Dombrowski said. "It just didn't work out for us. And we have a guy like [Johan Rojas] we can use. We just didn't feel there was a big upgrade."
The Phillies made a few tweaks to their roster to prepare for the stretch run, without gutting the farm system to do it. Dombrowski certainly set the Phillies up to make a championship run in 2024, while keeping the window open longer than this season and next.
