Phillies Trade Value Update
By Ethan Witte
The Philadelphia Phillies season has crumbled once again, and with the MLB non-waiver trade deadline now just six weeks away the club could make a number of moves.
Earlier this season, I wrote a piece detailing the trade value of some of the players the Phillies had on the roster, and whether their stock was up or down at that time.
At the time that post was written, the team was a surprising 24-18 and incredibly looking into the idea that perhaps they might be buyers, adding to the roster rather than subtracting.
It’s truly amazing what a month can change, as the Phils have gone 6-23 since that time. They are now solidly in the “seller” portion of the national trade conversation.
Naturally, with that comes a look at what the team might have to peddle to other clubs out on the trade market. The Phillies do indeed have a number of veterans who could be valuable additions to contending ball clubs.
Let’s take a look now at three of those veteran players: a relief pitcher, a starting pitcher, and a position player.
Trade Value Up
Gomez was a good addition to the bullpen last year and has solidified himself, thanks to Hector Neris‘ decline, as its best and most consistent member this year.
Emerging as the Phillies’ surprising closer, Gomez has saved 19 games in 21 chances. He’s doing it by getting grounders at a 51.5% clip, keeping men off the bases by not walking people, and keeping the ball in the ballpark.
His 3.00 ERA is a bit of a mirage, as he’s posted a 3.76 FIP and a 4.46 DRA, meaning that regression could be coming at any time. But otherwise, the righty has provided the team with great value for his contract.
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Before coming to the Phillies last year, Gomez was looked at as more of a swingman/mop-up duty type of pitcher. Last year, he was used in high leverage situations more and more as that season wore on. This year, Pete Mackanin called upon him to end games once several others failed to do so in the early weeks of the season.
That type of flexibility could be very valuable to contending teams who could use Gomez as a type of closer insurance in case of injury, or as a reliever that could be trusted in high leverage situations.
With the defending World Series champion Kansas City Royals showing in each of the past two seasons what a dominant bullpen can do once the playoffs begin, teams like Detroit, Washington, and Texas with 2016 playoff aspirations, but whose bullpens have struggled, might be some of the first called on by Matt Klentak as the deadline approaches.
Next: Trade Value Up on a Starting Pitcher