3) Phillies trade target on the Nationals: Trevor Williams
A completely different type of pitcher for the Phillies to pluck away from the Nationals is Trevor Williams. The numbers don’t do him justice this season. He’s 5-5 with a 4.45 ERA in 18 starts. With a $6 million salary this year and $7 million for next season, he’s clearly nothing but an innings eater out of the rotation for Washington.
We need to go back to the year prior to find where Williams has the most value to the Phillies. In 2022, Williams was a member of the New York Mets flipping between the rotation and bullpen. He made 9 starts and 21 relief appearances working mostly as their long-man. Williams ended up going 3-5 with a 3.21 ERA that season in 89.2 innings of work. The exceptionally rare accomplishment—at least in the modern baseball world—was good enough for the Nationals to consider him as a full-time starter this year.
The Phillies might not want to look at Williams this way. His salary isn’t outrageous nor is the contract length which would keep him around through 2024. It’s actually kind of perfect. Williams in the exact same role he had with the 2022 Mets is what the Phillies could use.
Unanswered questions about the fifth starter spot should have the Phillies looking for a big addition as well as a smaller one. Starting pitching depth is far from a strength of this team. Williams, inserted as a bullpen arm to go multiple innings, would be a nice touch to have and an obvious place they could turn on short notice to give them four or five innings from the first inning onward.