Grading the Phillies Moves At The Trade Deadline

Dave Dombrowski was asleep for about a week, up until approximately 3:30 on Tuesday afternoon. As the rest of the baseball world was reacting to the shockwaves of the Nationals being a poverty organization, rest assured Dombrowski wasn’t missing his daily cat nap.

 

Then, out of seemingly nowhere, the Phillies made two trades in a matter of minutes, and a trade right before the proverbial deadline buzzer. Lo and behold, Dombrowski is alive and well, folks! It’s so on brand for a Philadelphia team to wait until the last minute to make their moves, causing the fan base to freak out. It’s one of my favorite traditions.

 

Before we get into the deals that were made, I’d like to address the REAL winners from the Phils moves: us, the fans. Why, you ask?

 

 

AHHHHHHHHHHHHH HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. YEEEESSSSSSS. OUR LONG NIGHTMARES ARE OVER!

 

No longer will we be tortured by Odubel Herrera swinging at a pitch at his ankles, and being the absolute dumbest baseball player we’ve ever seen. No longer will our buttholes clench as Jeurys Familia serves up batting practice, making a 6-run game a 1-run game. We deserve this. Thank you for righting your wrongs, Dave. Although, you probably could have done this a long time ago.

 

Grade: A+

 

ANYWAY, I’ve spent more than enough time talking about those bozos. Let’s grade these trades.

 

Phils Get A Legit Center Fielder

 

 

I did not expect this one. There were rumblings earlier in the day that if the Phils were to get Marsh, he’d likely be attached to Noah Syndergaard. That wasn’t the case, but as you’ll find out later in the article, they ended up with both anyway.

 

Marsh is a former top prospect of the Angels, that has struggled to find any sort of groove since being brought to the big leagues in 2021. He’s played in 163 games in his career, essentially the equivalent of one major league season. His total numbers aren’t very impressive, as his on-base percentage is just .299 to go along with 10 homers and 56 RBI.

 

That being said, Marsh is still a young guy trying to find his stride in the majors. There are a couple of positives to this move for the
Phils. In the short term, this gives manager Rob Thompson some flexibility in the outfield. Marsh is a legitimate center fielder, unlike anyone else they have on the roster. It also means that if both Marsh and Matt Vierling are in the lineup, one of Nick Castellanos or Kyle Schwarber can DH, making the Phils outfield defense much better.

 

In the long-term, this is the type of move Dombrowski loves to make: trading for a guy with a ton of club control going forward. Since Marsh is in just his second season, he will be under team control through 2026. If Marsh is able to figure it out, which he certainly could in a new, much more hitter-friendly environment, this could be a legitimate solution to the Phils center field woes.

 

 

Now, for the people complaining that the Phils gave up Logan O’Hoppe in this deal, I hear you. O’Hoppe is a top five prospect in the Phils system, you’d think his trade price would be worth more than an underperforming youngster. In reality, though, O’Hoppe being a top prospect in the Phils system equates to him being ranked somewhere in the teens in a normal farm system.

 

More importantly, O’Hoppe was never going to play here. There was nowhere on the roster for the young fella. J.T. Realmuto is getting paid a lot of money to be the Phils catcher through 2025. I shouldn’t have to explain that O’Hoppe was never going to see consistent time over Realmuto. The Phils also have Rafael Marchan and Donny Sands at catcher in the minors, each of whom are farther along than O’Hoppe.

 

Finally, there’s no guarantee that O’Hoppe would have turned that potential into something at the big league level. Let’s be honest with ourselves here for a second, it’s rare that a Phillies prospect turns out to be impactful at the Major League level.

 

All-in-all, this is a low-risk move by Dombrowski that addresses a position of need. If Marsh ends up playing well, then this deal will look like a steal considering the amount of club control left on his service time. That, however, is a big if.

 

Grade: B-

 

No Need To Photoshop

 

 

Well, well, well. Look what we have here. Welcome back, David. I mean that with the utmost sincerity. It was unfortunate the way his first go-around with the ballclub went, when he signed a 2-year, $23 million deal before the 2019 season. He pitched just 6.2 innings with the Phils before suffering an elbow injury that required Tommy John surgery.

 

After being a cog in the U.S. Olympic team bullpen en route to a silver medal, Robertson rebuilt his value. Not only that, he has once again become a legitimate shutdown reliever out of the bullpen. This season with the Cubs, Robertson has a 2.23 earned run average in 40.1 innings pitched, along with 51 strikeouts. He even shut down the Phillies twice in their sweep in South Philly two weekends ago, recording a win and a save without allowing a run.

 

Again, for the people complaining that the Phillies gave up Ben Brown, please do not make me tap the sign again.

 

 

Brown has been in the Phillies system for over five years and was called up to AA for the first time in his career yesterday. He’s a 33rd round draft pick who has only recently pitched to an ERA below four in single A. Quite frankly, all he did with his fantastic performances in the minors this year was create trade value for himself. He wasn’t likely to ever wear Phillies pinstripes in a regular season game.

 

This was a good move to sure up the back end of the Phils bullpen. If nothing else, Robertson replaces Familia, which is a trade I’ll make every day of the week.

 

Grade: A

 

 

No More Bailey Falter

 

 

Not sure why they didn’t just do this trade and the Marsh trade at the same time, but whatever! If nothing else, the Phillies have acquired two dudes with luscious locks from the Angels today. In all seriousness, I’m going to have to do more convincing with this move than the other two.

 

Syndergaard has been inconsistent this season, to say the least. He’ll have starts where he absolutely shoves, and he gives up one run over six or seven innings and truly dominates the way he used to in Queens. Then, there will be a game where he’s mind-numbingly inaccurate in the zone, serving up meatballs while allowing five runs before getting out of the fourth. In essence, he has been a true Jekyll and Hyde.

 

With that being said, this was about as low-cost of a move as Dombrowski could make. While some would say they wanted Carlos Rodon from the Giants, his cost was astronomical compared to the pennies the Phils gave up to get Syndergaard. I wanted to believe in Mickey Moniak, especially after the Spring Training he had. Unfortunately, at the big league level he stepped into the batter’s box and looked like he’d never done that action before in his life.

 

The Phils needed a legitimate starter to fill Zach Eflin’s spot in the rotation. Syndergaard checks that box, and the Phils didn’t have to give up much of anything to do it. That being said, Syndergaard is going to have a disastrous start at some point. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

 

Grade: B+

 

Final Thoughts

 

Overall, none of the Phils moves on Tuesday were Earth-shattering. Yet, Dombrowski made this team better, and at this point that’s all you can ask for. With Jean Segura likely back on Thursday, and our sweet prince Bryce Harper hopefully back by the end of the month, this is a roster that should compete for a playoff spot. Hopefully, they get there and are able to make some noise once they get there.

 

Considering the lack of weapons the Phils have at their disposal in the minor leagues, Dombrowski is playing this game with one arm tied behind his back. Taking that into consideration, he did about as well as he could have without relinquishing Andrew Painter, Mick Abel, Ethan Wilson, and Griff McGarry.

 

 

DID THE AIRPORT GUY SAY TWO TO THREE WEEKS?!?!

 

Final Grade: B+

 

 

By Matt Szczypiorski | August 2, 2022
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