Carlos Estévez, RHP
Without question, the Phillies are looking to improve their bullpen ahead of the 2025 season. What better way to do so than to bring back their valuable trade deadline acquisition from this past year in closer Carlos Estévez?
When Philadelphia’s usually consistent relief corps began to stumble toward the end of the 2024 season, Estévez remained one of the most dominant and reliable arms that Phillies manager Rob Thomson was able to trust down the stretch and into the postseason.
After coming over from the Los Angeles Angels, Estévez took over the closer role for the Phillies and performed admirably in the process. In 20 relief appearances with Philadelphia, he posted a 3-2 record with six saves, a 2.57 ERA and 1.19 WHIP with 18 strikeouts in 21 innings of work.
He continued that success into the playoffs by compiling a 3.38 ERA and 1.13 WHIP, giving up just one earned run with four strikeouts in 2 2/3 innings pitched in three postseason appearances. Unfortunately, that one earned run came from Francisco Lindor's grand slam in Game 4 of the NLDS that ultimately ended the series.
Heading into free agency, Estévez is among the best closers available, along with the likes of Clay Holmes and veterans Kirby Yates, David Robertson and Kenley Jansen. However, unlike some of the other options, Estévez is relatively young at age 31 when compared to most of his counterparts. As a result, those teams looking for multiple productive seasons to help fill their closer role will look toward Estévez, along with potentially Holmes and Tanner Scott as the best options available.
But a couple of things to keep in mind is that Estévez is coming off the best season of his MLB career in 2024. Prior to that, he had never posted an ERA below 3.40 in any of his previous seven seasons. In addition, he has had some trouble avoiding contact, registering a WHIP of 1.49 or higher in three of his previous four seasons.
As a result, with the uncertainty in his potential performance in the long run over a greater sample size, the Phillies would be best served to stay away from Estévez if the cost begins to climb too high.