Phillies reportedly ‘looking for role players and bullpen depth’

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Could the Philadelphia Phillies have a 2008-type approach before the July 30 trade deadline?

While there’s been speculation about the Phillies pushing all their chips to the center of the table in pursuit of a center fielder like Luis Robert Jr. or Cody Bellinger, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic wrote Tuesday that president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski may have a more modest approach in the coming weeks.

“The Phillies are looking for role players and bullpen depth because they already have MVP-caliber talents and top-of-the-rotation starters who can swing playoff series.”

Rosenthal did add the caveat that a major injury could change how the Phillies operate, but this suggests that the club doesn’t plan to empty out their farm system in pursuit of a star center fielder.

Over the weekend, former MLB general manager Jim Bowden predicted that the Phillies would trade No. 2 overall prospect Aidan Miller, ultimately landing one of three star center fielders — Jazz Chisholm Jr., Robert or Bellinger. Rosenthal’s reporting pours cold water on that idea.

Of course, there isn’t a universal definition of what a “role player” is. It could just mean some upgrades at the bottom of the bench. It may also be a right-handed hitting outfielder that gets a good amount of at-bats in left field down the stretch, either because Brandon Marsh is in center field or not playing against a left-handed pitcher. Perhaps there will be multiple smaller additions that improve the overall depth of position players the Phillies have behind their stars; Bryce Harper, Trea Turner, Kyle Schwarber, Alec Bohm and J.T. Realmuto.

The idea of adding to the bullpen is interesting. Jeff Hoffman and Matt Strahm are All-Stars, while José Alvarado and Orion Kerkering have largely pitched very well also. It will be interesting to see how the Phillies view Seranthony Domínguez and Gregory Soto — two arms that have late-inning stuff but haven’t been consistent — before the trade deadline.

Soto in particular is interesting because he has one more year of arbitration eligibility. At his best, Soto is someone who you could imagine facing the likes of Shohei Ohtani, Matt Olson and Freddie Freeman in the postseason. But his tendency to have occasional blowups makes him difficult to plan for. Could the Phillies move Soto’s high upside and additional year of team control in a deal for someone like Tanner Scott of the Miami Marlins, who isn’t as talented as Soto but is more reliable right now? It’s definitely worth pondering.

Also possible is that the Phillies cross their fingers that at least one of Domínguez and Soto can take down medium-leverage postseason innings consistently, and try to upgrade from José Ruiz. There is a case for trying to keep Ruiz, though. His 3.91 ERA doesn’t jump out, but he’s had some impressive outings this year and can’t become a free agent until after the 2026 season. But he’s out of minor-league options, so if the Phillies acquired a reliever at his expense, he would have to be designated for assignment, where he would definitely be claimed.

Overall, the idea of tweaking around the edges probably won’t be popular, but might make sense. In 2008, Phillies general manager Pat Gillick watched the Milwaukee Brewers acquire CC Sabathia and the Los Angeles Dodgers land Manny Ramirez. Both turned out to be among the greatest trade deadline additions in MLB history. And both lost to the Phillies in the playoffs, with more modest additions like Joe Blanton and Matt Stairs paying dividends en route to a parade down Broad Street.

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