The 2025 Major League Baseball trade deadline has come and gone. The Philadelphia Phillies were relatively active this time around.
The front office made two separate swaps with the Minnesota Twins, who seemingly dealt much of their Major League roster prior to Thursday's deadline. The biggest splash that president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski made was acquiring Jhoan Duran, one of the top closers in the game, on Wednesday.
Hours before the deadline, the Phillies upgraded their outfield by adding right-handed hitting Harrison Bader in their second trade with Minnesota.
However, Dombrowski and company weren't completely finished as they made one more swap with another American League Central team.
Phillies make last-minute trade deadline deal for Tigers’ former first-round pick
Just before the deadline, the club added right-handed pitcher Matt Manning from the Detroit Tigers in exchange for 18-year-old, minor league outfielder Josueth Quiñonez. Detroit had previously designated their former prospect for assignment following their trade for relief pitcher Paul Sewald earlier on Thursday.
The 27-year-old Manning was sent to Single-A Clearwater upon his acquisition by the Phillies and was added to the 40-man roster following Devin Sweet's designation for assignment.
This may not be the foundation-shaking move that Phillies fans were hoping for as the time for trades expired, however, Manning could provide some valuable depth in the organization's minor league system.
The ninth overall pick in the 2016 MLB Draft, made his big-league debut in 2021. Since then, Manning has made 50 Major League starts. In 2022, the former Tiger pitched 63 innings over 12 games with a 3.43 ERA. The following season, was also solid for Manning as he logged 78 innings with a 3.58 ERA over 15 games pitched.
Recently, Manning has struggled. Last season the right-hander posted a 4.55 ERA over just five starts for the Tigers. At Triple-A Toledo, the former first rounder had a 4.28 ERA over 69 1/3 frames.
His overall career numbers are lackluster to say that least. He is not a needle-moving piece, however, he was once a highly touted prospect. Baseball America ranked Manning as the No. 17 prospect in the game prior to the 2020 season. Before the 2021 campaign, he was ranked as the No. 30 prospect.
Manning offers a wide pitch arsenal according to Baseball Savant. He leans on a mid-90s four seamer coupled with a sweeper that can be an out-pitch as hitters batted just .161 against the pitch in a small sample size in 2024.
The pedigree was there at one point and the Phillies are willing to take a shot on trying to tap into some of his previously heralded potential. If it turns out that they can get something out of him, even as a relief option, it could pay off as a depth move down the road.