Phillies: Former GM Questions Trade Deadline Plans

Former Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. isn’t sure this Phillies team should “go all in” at the Trade Deadline…

After finishing the first half of the season strong, the Philadelphia Phillies have scuffled since returning from the All-Star break.

Over the last week, they’ve dropped both games of a mini-series against the New York Yankees, and two of three games in this weekend’s four-game series against the Atlanta Braves.

This season, the Phillies have never been more than four games above .500, and that was in the first week of April. They haven’t been in first place since early May, and over the last week, the space between them and the first-place Mets has grown from two games to four-and-a-half.

The Phillies might have a fairly light schedule in terms of opponents in the second half, but over the week or so, their play has caused many to question whether or not the front office should be buyers at the deadline this week.

During Saturday night’s game, former Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr., known to live-tweet the games when he isn’t serving as one of the broadcast’s color commentators, made an observation about the problems this Phillies team is facing in light of the impending trade deadline.

Amaro isn’t wrong.

If the bullpen was this team’s only problem, upgrading at the deadline would be a no-brainer. Go all-in on a closer like Craig Kimbrel, and he’s the last piece of an already almost-complete puzzle.

But that isn’t the case for the Phillies. In addition to a bullpen that leads MLB in blown saves, they are dealing with injured starters, ineffective starters, and COVID-19 cases that continue to plague the roster as half the team refuses to get vaccinated.

Amaro knows firsthand how difficult it is to construct a roster. He served as an assistant GM to the Phillies immediately after retiring in 1998 and served in the role for a decade before being named GM in November 2008. He led the Phillies in that role until September 2015.

It’s worth noting that Amaro was heavily criticized for many of his moves as GM, including his contract extension to Ryan Howard in 2010. But he also assembled the Phantastic Phour by trading for Roy Halladay and Roy Oswalt, and re-signing Cliff Lee to join Joe Blanton and Cole Hamels in what is considered the best rotation in franchise history.

At this point, the Phillies rotation is essentially Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola. Wheeler has been excellent for almost the entire season, but the same can’t be said for Nola. Zach Eflin went on the 10-Day IL earlier this week with right patella tendinitis, joining bullpen arms Bailey Falter and J.D. Hammer.

Vince Velasquez, who made the start on Saturday night, now has a 7.15 ERA against every team that isn’t the Miami Marlins. He lasted just 2 1/3 innings and allowed six earned runs; for the sixth time this season, he allowed multiple home runs. He became just the 19th pitcher in franchise history to allow 100 home runs. The Phillies had to resort to infielder Ronald Torreyes pitching in the eventual 15-3 loss to the Braves.

On Monday, the Phillies begin a four-game set against the Nationals, before spending the trade deadline weekend with the Pittsburgh Pirates. In theory, they should be able to end their recent skid and inspire some confidence.

But as their list of needs continues to grow, Amaro is right to question if this team should be buying at all.