3 Biggest Swings and Misses The Phillies Made at the Deadline
Let's look at the Phillies' 3 biggest swings and misses at the 2023 trade deadline.
At the August 1st Major League Baseball trade deadline, the Philadelphia Phillies made one significant trade and one smaller trade to round out the roster before beginning the final two month stretch of the 2023 regular season.
Philadelphia traded infield prospect, Hao-Yu Lee to the Detroit Tigers for starting pitcher Michael Lorenzen. Lorenzen will be used as a back end starter and could be used out of the bullpen in the postseason.
The team also traded left-handed pitcher Bailey Falter to the Pittsburgh Pirates for infielder Rodolfo Castro. While both trades will help the Phillies make a push towards October, there were still more players the team could have acquired to improve the roster. Here are three players that were traded that the Phillies will regret missing out on.
Let's look at the Phillies' 3 biggest swings and misses at the 2023 trade deadline.
1. Jeimer Candelario
Candelario has had a fantastic season in 2023 for the Washington Nationals. He has been valuable offensively and defensively. On the offensive side, he has an OPS over .847. This impressive stat line has been pushed heavily by his high slugging which is just under .500. Candelario has 16 home runs and 54 RBIs so far this season, which puts him on pace to easily pass his previous career highs. Candelario is on a one year $5 million contract that expires at the end of this season, making his production extremely valuable for his price.
Defensively, Candelario is one of the best in the sport and possibly the best to be moved at this years deadline. His outs above average are in the 91st percentile and his DWAR is 0.3.
In total, Candelario's WAR sits at 3.5, which ranks 25th in MLB in 2023. Candelario will be a big boost to the Cubs down the stretch as Chicago pushes for a Wild Card spot. Philadelphia could have used a player just like Candelario. His switch hitting with his ability to play great defense in the corner infield spots made him one of the best infielders available. Instead they went a cheaper route, acquiring Castro who has a similar archetype to Candelario with way less production.