The Phillies wish to add a front-of-the-rotation kind of arm, with The Athletic’s Jayson Stark (Twitter links) writing that the Phils need “a starter who can begin a playoff recreation.” To this finish, the membership has been linked to such arms because the Reds’ Tyler Mahle, the Angels’ Noah Syndergaard, and the Pirates’ Jose Quintana — three of essentially the most distinguished beginning pitchers remaining on the trade market.
Mahle is managed by means of the 2023 season, whereas Syndergaard and Quintana could be pure leases as gamers who’re scheduled at no cost company this winter. As such, Mahle would absolutely price essentially the most in a commerce, and Syndergaard carries a little bit of a monetary hit, with roughly $7.2MM nonetheless owed to him over the rest of the season. In contrast, Quintana is owed solely round $675K for the remainder of 2022, however Quintana additionally has a shaky observe file over the previous couple of seasons earlier than righting himself this yr in Pittsburgh.
Dave Dombrowski, Philadelphia’s president of baseball operations, recommended earlier this week that his crew hoped to bolster the rotation, however the Phils have been additionally hesitant about dealing any of their high prospects. Stark backs up that assertion, noting that the Phillies haven’t been prepared to maneuver any of Mick Abel, Andrew Painter or Logan O’Hoppe (the Phils’ consensus top-three prospects within the view of Baseball America and MLB Pipeline), or right-handed pitching propects Griff McGarry or Ben Brown. BA ranks McGarry fourth and Brown seventh of their rating of Phillies prospects, whereas Pipeline is rather less bullish, rating McGarry eighth and Brown twenty sixth.
Because the Phillies’ system isn’t thought of to be too deep general, it isn’t any shock that the entrance workplace isn’t eager on parting methods with any of the comparatively few premium names readily available within the minors. Nonetheless, as Stark observes, the Phils will discover it troublesome to acquire higher-tier pitching until they’re open to buying and selling prospects. Given the quantity of curiosity Mahle has obtained from across the league, and given what the Reds simply obtained from the Mariners within the Luis Castillo deal, it will appear nearly unattainable for the Phillies to land Mahle with out no less than one of many blue-chip prospects.
Syndergaard and Quintana would come at a lower cost tag as rental gamers, however Stark notes that Dombrowski additionally prefers controllable starters. This was Philadelphia’s technique in touchdown Kyle Gibson from the Rangers finally yr’s deadline, and touchdown a starter who’s managed by means of no less than 2023 would give the Phillies some cowl since Gibson and Zach Eflin might each be free brokers this winter.
The rotation appears to be Philadelphia’s high precedence at this level, as Stark says that the Phillies aren’t targeted on any bullpen strikes for the second. This can be a little shocking given the Phils’ longstanding wants within the aid corps, nevertheless it could possibly be that Dombrowski is first exploring his choices with the starter market earlier than turning to the (comparatively) simpler route of including relievers. Additionally, just about each contender in baseball is on the lookout for relievers proper now, so Dombrowski could possibly be opting to make some late strikes after the primary wave or two of bullpen trades have been made.
