The Philadelphia Phillies have some decisions to make in the coming days as the trade deadline nears with the cutoff on July 31. The most recent name they've reportedly checked in on is Pittsburgh Pirates center fielder Oneil Cruz as a supplemental piece for the outfield. He would provide some power as a left-handed hitter and also speed from the outfield position.
Cruz is a converted shortstop — he got moved to the outfield in August of last season. He's an electric player when he performs, but he's not the type of fit that will solve the Phillies' issues at the trade deadline or in the future.
Trading for Oneil Cruz makes zero sense for Phillies
The 26-year-old is an exciting player with huge upside in the power and speed department. Everything else is where the major drop off is. Even with those concerns, the Pirates are currently listening to offers for Cruz. The Phillies are among teams to check in on Cruz recently, per Andrew Fillipponi of 93.7 The Fan in Pittsburgh.
Source: The Phillies are one of the teams that’s trying to trade for Pirates CF Oneil Cruz. Philly has gotten terrible play in CF this year. And they are interested in seeing what Cruz could do in a lineup with Harper Schwarber and Turner. Good veteran influences. Stay tuned. pic.twitter.com/wLmSG02yrO
— Andrew Fillipponi (@ThePoniExpress) July 24, 2025
Teams calling about a deal to trade Cruz isn't surprising, but at this point the Pirates aren't expecting to deal him, per MLB.com's Mark Feinsand. They would have to be blown away by an offer.
If the Phillies were to put a package together, Cruz would be an upgrade for the Phillies. It just may be marginal. He makes for great highlights with his light tower power, which was on full display in the 2025 MLB Home Run Derby, per MLB.com's Andrés Soto, but that's the absolute best-case scenario for him and his potential future club.
THINGS ARE GETTING OUT OF HAND 🤯
— MLB (@MLB) July 15, 2025
ONEIL CRUZ HITS THIS BASEBALL 513 FEET and 118 MPH 🚀 pic.twitter.com/2mtVUCSyEn
Cruz would be another left-handed hitter in an already crowded lefty-heavy Phillies lineup. Against left-handed pitching this season, he has only a .128 batting average with a .471 OPS in 86 at-bats. In 243 at-bats against right-handed pitching, he's batting .251 with an .834 OPS, so there's little to gain by adding another lefty with such drastic splits.
He also strikes out at an absurd rate. This season, he has 123 strikeouts through 91 games played. His 31.9 percent strikeout rate is currently the third-worst in MLB behind only the Detroit Tigers' Riley Greene (32.2 percent) and the Colorado Rockies' Michael Toglia (38.4 percent). According to Statcast, Cruz is also in the third percentile when it comes to whiff rate at 33.8 percent. His chase rate is a little better, in the 56th percentile at 26.6 percent.
Cruz is exactly the profile of player the Phillies are looking to get away from. He's another left-handed hitting outfield bat with some power, but is among the worst in the sport in striking out and chasing. His power is a bonus, but all the power he possesses has only amounted to a season-high of 21 home runs, which Max Kepler is still capable of hitting in 2025. It's also hard to expect the Phillies to move on from potentially multiple top draft picks to get him.
There are also questions about his lack of effort that got him benched, per MLB.com's Ryan Herrera. You pair all of this together, and the Phillies would end up with the same scenario that they're dealing with with their current outfield uncertainty. There's room for Cruz to grow as a player with major upside, but the Phillies need established talent, not a reclamation project for their roster. That's assuming they go all-in on for an offensive piece at the trade deadline in the first place.