5 Phillies who survived the trade deadline but will be gone this offseason
These Phillies players are safe in the organization for now, but it's getting harder to tell what will happen in the offseason.
The trade deadline has come and gone for the Philadelphia Phillies, with hopes that they made the necessary moves to help bolster the team’s chances for a World Series title.
Some players on the Phillies’ 40-man roster had to be sacrificed to get the job done. For those who remain, they will now get to play out the season with a winning organization. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that they have all secured their jobs beyond this year.
5 Phillies who survived the trade deadline but will be gone this offseason
Let's take a look at five Phillies players who may have survived the deadline, but will likely be gone following the end of the 2024 MLB season.
Weston Wilson
One may find the name of Weston Wilson appearing on this list a bit surprising. With the ability to hit for power, along with his speed on the basepaths, together with the versatility to play multiple positions both in the infield and outfield, what is there that isn’t to like about him?
On top of that, he has performed admirably for the Phillies at the major league level so far, posting a solid .286 average and .858 OPS, with nine runs scored, one double, three home runs, eight RBI and four stolen bases in just 49 at-bats over 23 games. Pretty amazing production for the limited playing time that he has been given.
Well, the main reason is exactly that, the fact that he had just seen limited action in the big leagues so far. Entering the 2025 season, Wilson will be 30 years old and will have spent the past 10 seasons trying to establish his major league career.
He had already shown to have success both at the minor and major league levels now, and may be getting too good to remain in a reserve role for long. With the Phillies having a loaded lineup from 1 through 9, the chances of Wilson getting more playing time will be slim, as he would likely be limited to a bench role for the foreseeable future.
As a result, he would relish the opportunity where he could be given the chance to play almost everyday and be able to finally prove his worth. He'll need to leave the Phillies organization to get that chance.
Yunior Marte
One of the more puzzling pieces in the Phillies bullpen puzzle, it has been surprising that Yunior Marte has yet to establish himself as a reliable, dominant reliever in his MLB career. After joining the Phillies via a trade with the San Francisco Giants during the 2022-23 offseason, Marte has struggled in his two on-and-off seasons.
Marte has appeared in 62 games during his time with the Phillies, posting a 1-1 record with a 5.83 ERA and 1.74 WHIP. He has given up 41 earned runs, including 11 home runs, along with 31 walks and 61 strikeouts in 63 1/3 innings. His last appearance against the Diamondbacks was an embarrassing seven-run implosion.
However, in his minor league career, he has been able to provide much more consistency, compiling a solid 3.79 ERA and 1.36 WHIP with 605 strikeouts in 600 2/3 innings pitched.
Even though Marte possesses a strong three-pitch arsenal featuring a devastating high-90s sinker to go along with his four-seam fastball and a mid-80s slider, he has somehow failed to harness their effectiveness against MLB hitters as he has in his 10+ years in the minors.
Given that he profiles similarly to Seranthony Domínguez and Gregory Soto both in pitch selection and performance numbers, with Domínguez and Soto being dispatched from the organization at the trade deadline, the fate of Marte will likely be the same in the upcoming offseason.
Rodolfo Castro
Things certainly haven’t gone Rodolfo Castro's way since joining the Phillies at the 2023 MLB trade deadline. Acquired from the Pittsburgh Pirates to help fill the role left by DFA'd veteran utilityman Josh Harrison, Castro ended up failing miserably to provide any value to the club during their stretch run.
Despite displaying some potential power with 11 home runs in just 71 games played with the Pirates in 2022, he appeared to have suffered a major outage in his stint with the Phillies. Castro batted just a measly .100 with a .256 OPS, along with just two runs scored, two RBI and 12 strikeouts in the 14 games of action he managed to get into.
He didn’t fare too well in the field either, committing two errors in 68 innings for a disappointing .909 fielding percentage. As a result, he wasn’t a part of the Phillies’ 2023 playoff run.
Looking for some redemption in the 2024 season with the club, Castro never ended up getting that opportunity as he has spent the entire year in the Phillies’ minor league system. More notably, he suffered a left shoulder injury that put him out of action for almost three months before recently returning to action in mid-July.
With Edmundo Sosa showing this season that he's more than capable of being a reliable and productive versatile backup in the infield for the Phillies, there doesn’t appear to be a role available for Castro heading into the 2025 season.
David Dahl
It has been quite the whirlwind season for veteran outfielder David Dahl, who signed during the offseason to a minor league contract to help add some valuable outfield depth to the organization. Little did the Phillies know that Dahl would end up torching minor league pitching, forcing the Phillies’ hand to give him his shot in early June when Brandon Marsh landed on the IL. They selected his contract and added him to the 26- and 40-man rosters.
He started off strong, belting two home runs in his first three games following his promotion. However, that turned out to be the main highlight of his Phillies’ tenure. He struggled to a .154 average and .427 OPS, with three runs scored, one home run, six RBI along with a whopping 20 strikeouts in 52 at-bats over his next 16 games.
So when the Phillies needed to make room for Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber to return from the IL in early July, Dahl was designated for assignment and elected free agency after clearing waivers.
Lo and behold, Dahl returned on another minor league contract at the end of July. However, with the Phillies adding Austin Hays at the trade deadline, it gave the team a luxury of riches in the outfield with either Johan Rojas or Brandon Marsh as their backup fourth outfielder.
The chances of Dahl getting another opportunity with the club seem slim, and he'll likely be gone at season’s end, especially when the Phillies even pivoted to Cal Stevenson instead of Dahl when Hays landed on the IL recently.
Garrett Stubbs
As one of the Phillies fan favorites, probably never in a thousand years would they want catcher Garrett Stubbs to leave the organization. After all, not only does he bring character, joy and excitement to the Phillies’ clubhouse, but he has done a decent job as J.T. Realmuto’s trusted backup for the past three seasons, at least from a defensive standpoint.
However, the Phillies' hand may be forced to do the unthinkable because they have the heir to the backup catcher role waiting in the wings. When Realmuto was out after meniscectomy surgery on his right knee earlier this summer, Rafael Marchán was called up to help fill the catching position to work in tandem with Stubbs.
Marchán made the most of his brief audition with the Phillies, posting a stellar .294 batting average and .894 OPS, with eight runs scored, four doubles, three home runs and six RBI in just 17 games. For comparison, Stubbs is hitting .191 with a .525 OPS with 13 runs scored, three doubles, one home run and seven RBI over 45 games this season.
It wasn’t just only Marchán's bat doing the talking. He held his own defensively as well, registering one defensive run saved with no passed balls, with a .985 fielding percentage and a strong 33 percent caught stealing rate.
With the mileage adding up in Realmuto’s legs as he enters the 2025 season at age 34, the Phillies will likely need his backup to play more and be productive at the same time. With the greater offensive potential that Marchán can provide, look for him to overtake Stubbs this offseason, leaving Stubbs without a secure role going forward.
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