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Phillies trade news: Unexpected deal with the Pirates

By Gabrielle Starr

BRADENTON, FLORIDA - MARCH 02: Braeden Ogle #71 of the Pittsburgh Pirates throws a pitch during the fourth inning against the Detroit Tigers during a spring training game at LECOM Park on March 02, 2021 in Bradenton, Florida. (Photo by Douglas P. DeFelice/Getty Images)
BRADENTON, FLORIDA - MARCH 02: Braeden Ogle #71 of the Pittsburgh Pirates throws a pitch during the fourth inning against the Detroit Tigers during a spring training game at LECOM Park on March 02, 2021 in Bradenton, Florida. (Photo by Douglas P. DeFelice/Getty Images) /
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The Phillies are acquiring LHP Braeden Ogle from the Pirates ahead of the trade deadline.

In a stunning development, the Philadelphia Phillies have done something ahead of Friday’s 4 PM EST trade deadline.

According to FanSided’s MLB Insider Robert Murray, the Phillies are acquiring a pitcher from the Pittsburgh Pirates.

No, it’s not Tyler Anderson. That Pirate ship has sailed to Seattle. Too soon?

It’s also not closer Richard Rodriguez, who is one of the better arms still available.

According to Murray, the Phillies will be getting minor-league LHP Braeden Ogle from the Pirates. In exchange, they are sending minor-league catcher Abrahan Gutierrez to the Pirates, one of the two prospects in the original Anderson trade that fell through on Tuesday.

Ogle, who turns 24 today (July 30), was Pittsburgh’s fourth-round pick in 2016. He finished the 2019 season in High-A but has spent this entire season so far in Triple-A, despite the cancellation of the 2020 Milb season due to the pandemic.

This season, Ogle has a 3.13 ERA over 24 appearances for the Indianapolis Indians, Pittsburgh’s Triple-A affiliate. Over 31 2/3 innings, he’s struck out 42 of the 137 batters he’s faced, sporting a career-best 11.9 SO/9. He’s only given up two home runs all year, in line with his low HR/9 rates throughout most of his fledgling career.

https://twitter.com/TalkPirates/status/1369841075666436097?s=20

As of Friday morning, the Phillies bullpen has a combined 4.57 ERA. It’s likely that Ogle will make his big-league debut at some point this season, but fair warning: he walks a lot of batters, too. His BB/9 rate this season is 6.5; it was 2.7 across 43 innings in 2019.

Fans’ reactions to the trade were predictably hilarious:

This isn’t the most exciting deal, but it could pay dividends in the future if the Phillies can keep this young pitcher on track.

Restocking the farm is a more realistic general outcome for the Phillies this week anyway. As Jayson Stark reported on Friday morning, the Phillies have inquired about many players from different teams, but likely don’t have enough “premier prospects” to do anything big. That’s been fairly obvious to most from the beginning, which is what made Dombrowski’s proclamation that they’d be “aggressive” so puzzling. Maybe he meant being aggressive about replenishing the Phillies’ depleted farm system.

On the one hand, when the clock strikes four on Friday, fans can’t technically say the Phils didn’t do anything at the deadline.

On the other hand, hopefully, this is just the first of multiple moves they make with the time remaining.

Next. WATCH: Brad Miller makes Phillies history. dark

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