3 prospects Phillies fans are relieved weren't traded in deadline deals

The 2025 MLB trade deadline has come and gone, and the defending NL East champion Philadelphia Phillies did exactly what they needed to do to repeat as division champs. They acquired one of the best players available in flamethrowing closer Jhoan Duran and improved their outfield situation for the time being with Harrison Bader.

Those two separate deals with the Minnesota Twins required the Phillies to give up four prospects, including the highly regarded Mick Abel and Eduardo Tait. That was a relatively minor hit to the Phillies' farm system, as they managed to hold onto their three most highly regarded prospects, much to the delight of their fans.

The "Big 3" Phillies prospects who fans are relieved survived the trade deadline

Andrew Painter, No. 1, RHP

As the most hyped Phillies pitching prospect in a decade, Andrew Painter was untouchable in Duran negotiations with the Twins, and making a deal for Griffin Jax seem likelier. Thankfully, the Phillies were still able to fulfill Minnesota's wish of two top-100 prospects for Duran with their inclusion of Abel and Tait.

Painter is the consensus highest-rated prospect in the Phillies organization and is knocking on the door of the majors. The 22-year-old righty is throwing for Triple-A Lehigh Valley after working his way back from 2023 Tommy John surgery. His season stats currently include a 4.75 ERA and 1.36 WHIP, which the team would love to see lowered before Painter gets his first call-up.

Painter had been pitching well as of late, twirling two consecutive quality starts, before another rough outing on Tuesday.

It's pretty encouraging that Painter is finally being pushed to hit a triple-digit pitch count and it means the Phillies feel like he's in the final stage of his rehab and very close to contributing to the club for the rest of 2025 and beyond.

Aidan Miller, No. 2, SS

The Phillies got a steal when they selected Aidan Miller 27th overall in the 2023 Draft. Miller's stock fell due to a fractured left hand, and he's done enough in his brief professional career to rank as MLB Pipeline's No. 18 prospect in all of baseball. His slash line of .234/.353/.375 for Double-A Reading isn't where the Phillies would like it to be, though Miller is still just 21 years old and carries a 60-grade power tool.

Although he's played exclusively shortstop in the minors, a position change, perhaps to third base, may be in the cards for Miller with Trea Turner locked up long-term. MLB Pipeline lists Miller's major league ETA as 2026, and the Phillies must think highly enough of Miller to instead include Tait in the Duran package.

Justin Crawford, No. 3, OF

Phillies fans have to see Justin Crawford in the majors within the next month, right? The 21-year-old outfielder was the second of the three straight first-round picks on this list when the Phillies drafted him 17th overall in 2022. Since then, Crawford has done nothing but hit, with him in the midst of hitting over .300 with at least an .800 OPS for the third straight season.

The fact that no Phillies outfielder comes close to that kind of production makes it all the more confusing that Crawford isn't in Philadelphia already. Sure, the Bader trade will help them defensively, but he's never been an imposing bat. Crawford has that same elite defense with one of the best contact tools in all the minors, and his 75-grade speed would become an instant factor on the base paths.

President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski gave an incredibly frustrating answer on when Crawford might be called up in his post-trade deadline briefing. He won't admit that the only reason the MLB-ready Crawford isn't up yet is that Dombrowski doesn't want to admit his Max Kepler signing was a colossal failure. The solution is very simple: cut ties with Kepler so that Crawford can play every day and worry about the defensive positioning later.

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