Phillies reportedly overpaid in David Robertson trade

Some believe the Phillies overpaid to acquire David Robertson from the Cubs.

Philadelphia Phillies President of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski has received overwhelmingly positive reviews for the trio of moves he made in advance of Tuesday’s trade deadline — acquiring starting pitcher Noah Syndergaard and outfielder Brandon Marsh from the Los Angeles Angels, followed by closer David Robertson from the Chicago Cubs.

There has been differing views as to whether Dombrowski overpaid to get Marsh — who is slashing just .226/.284/.353 this season — by trading prized catching prospect Logan O’Hoppe to the American League West club.

Now, there is recent added speculation as to whether the World Series-winning executive overpaid for the 37-year-old closer Robertson as well — parting ways with right-handed pitching prospect Ben Brown.

John Harper, of SNY.tv, recently reached out to a pair of minor-league evaluators about the trade — given many New York Mets fans have wondered, amid a quiet trade deadline, why they could not offer more to the Cubs than what the Phillies did.

Harper tweeted that both of his evaluator sources said Brown is “good enough” that they consider the Phillies trading him as an “overpay” for a rental in Robertson.

The Phillies’ former No. 26-ranked prospect by MLB Pipeline, the East Setauket, New York, native was selected out of high school in the 33rd round of the 2017 draft. The 22-year-old reached as high as the Advanced-A level in the Phillies system with the Jersey Shore BlueClaws this season.

In 16 appearances (15 starts), Brown went 3-5 with a 3.08 ERA and 1.041 WHIP. Most impressive, however, was Brown striking out 105 batters and walking just 23 across 73 innings. Of course, whether those numbers translate across the Double-A, Triple-A, and major-league levels remains to be seen.

For now, however, the Phils are thrilled to add Robertson to their bullpen mix and likely believe trading Brown to acquire him was worth it. The right-hander has already recorded a save for them against their division-rival Atlanta Braves — securing the win following Nick Castellanos’ clutch home run on Wednesday. Robertson only lengthens the Phillies bullpen depth and, hopefully, will ease some pressure off of Seranthony Dominguez, Brad Hand, and Corey Knebel, among others.