5 trade deadline disasters that prove the Phillies were right to not go “all-in”
If any of these players would have landed with the Phillies at the trade deadline, things could have been very different right now.
When the Philadelphia Phillies had a somewhat quiet trade deadline, with Michael Lorenzen being the only acquisition made by the ballclub, many of the Phillies’ faithful were worried that they didn’t do enough to strengthen the team going into the stretch run. Just for comparison, all they had to do was just look at their rivals in the Miami Marlins, who grabbed four key players at the trade deadline to help boost their chances in reaching the postseason.
However, when taking a more careful look at some of the results that the trade deadline acquisitions have produced with their new teams, not all have been that rosy. Consequently, it proved that the Phillies were right in not throwing all their chips in and going “all-in” at the deadline to obtain the necessary help, because it could easily have backfired as much as it could have helped the team.
Here, we take a look at five trade deadline disasters that we are glad the Phillies weren’t a part of. Otherwise, they probably wouldn’t be in the firm playoff spot that they are in now, and perhaps even struggling just to make it instead, as seen from the early results of trades made by some of the other MLB contending teams.
Starting pitching help
At the trade deadline, one of the key areas the Phillies wanted to upgrade was their starting pitching. Since beyond their top three in Aaron Nola, Zach Wheeler and Taijuan Walker, there was some uncertainty in the play of both Cristopher Sánchez and Ranger Suárez on whether or not they could maintain their effectiveness down the stretch and into the postseason. In the end, the Phillies did end up grabbing a starting pitcher in the form of Lorenzen from the Detroit Tigers.
Lorenzen has provided some mixed results so far for the ballclub, having posted a 3-2 winning record including a no-hitter, but with a staggering 4.97 ERA, 1.37 WHIP, giving up 21 earned runs, 14 walks and 21 strikeouts in just 38 innings pitched at the same time. Some may be starting to believe that the trade is turning out to be a bit of a bust, but it certainly pales in comparison to some of the other ones we have on this list. Things would have been even worse for the Phillies if they acquired one of following two pitchers.
1. Lucas Giolito
Who could forget the moment when the Los Angeles Angels decided to keep Shohei Ohtani and go for it at the trade deadline, Lucas Giolito was one of the first acquisitions made by the Angels to help enhance their chances at making the playoffs. After all, Giolito had been part of the Chicago White Sox front end of the rotation for the past few years and was having a great year so far in 2023. In 21 starts, Giolito sported a 6-6 record with a 3.79 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, 131 strikeouts in just 121 innings pitched.
However, it has certainly been nothing but chaos once he joined the Angels, as he suddenly became a batting practice machine for opposing hitters. In six starts, Giolito was a horrific 1-5 with a gaudy 6.89 ERA, 1.47 WHIP, giving up 25 earned runs including 10 home runs, 15 walks and 34 strikeouts in just 32.2 innings of work. That was certainly enough to make the Angels raise the white flag recently, essentially ending their playoff run as they waived a whole bunch of their deadline acquisitions to help save money for the future.
More importantly, Giolito has continued to show he was certainly a deadline bust, as when the Cleveland Guardians claimed him off waivers from the Angels, he would subsequently produce a disastrous outing in his first start with the Guardians, giving up nine runs including three homers in just three innings of work. He might have had the pedigree of being one of the more consistent and effective pitchers in all of baseball in recent years, but he has certainly been truly disappointing for his new ballclubs during the stretch run.
2. Rich Hill
If you thought that wasn’t bad enough, Rich Hill unfortunately had been the worst of them all. When the San Diego Padres decided they wanted to give it a go to give the team a chance to make the playoffs, they went out to upgrade their starting pitching by acquiring trusted veteran Rich Hill from the Pittsburgh Pirates. Despite already getting up there in age, Hill has proven to still be a durable, reliable pitcher the past couple of years, maintaining a solid ERA between 3.80 and 4.80 for the majority of the time while making more than 26 starts per season.
However, since joining the Padres for their playoff run, he has probably single-handedly knocked them out of contention for good. In six games, Hill compiled a horrific 0-4 record, 10.71 ERA, 1.97 WHIP, giving up 23 earned runs including eight home runs, eight walks and 16 strikeouts in just 19.1 innings pitched. And remember, he actually started five of those games, so he definitely had really short outings in each instance. To no one’s surprise, the team ended up losing every game in which he pitched.
In doing so, the Padres are currently way out of a playoff spot and have essentially called it a season. Looking back, the best move for the Padres probably should have been not making a move at the deadline in the first place. Things unfortunately have blown up in their face as they now have to resort to looking forward to next season. At least in comparison, the Phillies have gotten three wins from the games Lorenzen has pitched, so he hasn’t affected the team negatively just yet.
Outfield help
At the time of the trade deadline, with Bryce Harper moving to first base on a more permanent basis and with Kyle Schwarber given more DH duties going forward, it had opened up a spot in the Phillies’ outfield that needed to be addressed. They did already have internal options with Johan Rojas and Jake Cave to help fill the void, but they were open to explore potential external help if the opportunity presented itself.
3. Randal Grichuk
One of those options was Randal Grichuk from the Colorado Rockies. After all, despite a little lack of power to show for in 2023, Grichuk was actually having an impressive year with the Rockies, as he was hitting a career-best .308 with an .861 OPS, 120 OPS+, with 40 runs scored, 19 doubles, eight home runs, 27 RBI, two stolen bases, 18 walks and 51 strikeouts in just 64 games played. He had shown in the past to average close to 20 home runs a season, along with providing some solid defence, as he only committed two errors all year with the Rockies. As a result, he would be a prime candidate to help bolster the Phillies’ outfield and offense at the same time.
Grichuk ended up going to the Angels in the end, and boy, are we glad the Phillies didn’t pick him up. Despite showing some pop in his brief time with the Angels with five home runs, he has become a total shell of himself since moving away from the hitting haven of Coors Field. In 33 games, Grichuk has hit a dismal .179 with a .589 OPS, 12 runs scored, four doubles, five home runs, nine RBI, while striking out 30 times in just 117 at-bats. Together with the pitiful performance of Giolito as mentioned before, the Angels became victims of their own undoing from their moves at the trade deadline.
At least both Rojas and Cave have produced respectable results with the Phillies, along with the fact that Schwarber still gets his reps in left field from time to time as well despite his defensive liabilities. Altogether, they have kept the run production up for the Phillies in helping them succeed in their current playoff run.
Bullpen help
In addition to starting pitching and outfield help, the Phillies were open to upgrading their bullpen for the stretch run, due to the struggles of the usually reliable Gregory Soto and Seranthony Domínguez throughout the 2023 season.
4. David Robertson
Being one of the key bullpen targets at the trade deadline, David Robertson was highly sought after by many teams as he has proven to still be one of the premium closers in the game. Even just last season, Robertson was instrumental in helping the Phillies reach the postseason and all the way to the World Series by providing stability in the back end of the bullpen. As a result, wouldn’t a wonderful reunion with Robertson be a great boost for the ballclub going into the stretch run?
It didn’t end up coming to fruition, as Robertson would end up being traded to the Phillies’ rivals in the Marlins instead, as they didn’t have a primary closer for the bulk of the 2023 season. As mentioned before, the Marlins were very active at the trade deadline, with multiple key acquisitions to bolster their lineup down the stretch. Some of them have panned out so far, but in the case of Robertson, it has been a total flop for the big fish.
Since joining the Marlins, he was suddenly appearing to show his age, as he has gone 0-4 with three blown saves, along with a mind-boggling 7.50 ERA, 1.75 WHIP, giving up 10 earned runs, seven walks and 13 strikeouts in just 12 innings of work. On the bright side, at least he was successful in nailing down a save on four occasions, but with a dismal performance like that, the Marlins suddenly find themselves on the outside looking in for the NL playoff picture. It wasn’t just too long ago when they were firmly in a playoff spot and even ahead of the Phillies at one time, but things have certainly changed in a hurry. Luckily, it’s more of the Marlins’ problem now and not the Phillies.
5. Jorge López
Unfortunately for the Marlins, another one of their deadline acquisitions have blown up again in their face with the acquisition of Jorge López from the Minnesota Twins. López was having a down year with the Twins in 2023, but he was only one year removed from his All-Star season last year in which he compiled a solid 2.54 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, giving up 20 earned runs, 31 walks and 72 strikeouts with 23 converted saves in 71 innings of work. So the Marlins took the chance that he could regain his dominant form with a change of scenery.
Well, he sure changed all right, but not for the better. In 12 appearances, López has posted a miserable 9.26 ERA, 2.49 WHIP, giving up 12 earned runs, nine walks and eight strikeouts in just 11.2 innings pitched. Combined with the performance of Robertson above, the duo has certainly done enough damage to push the Marlins right down the standings in the past month. López was so bad that the Marlins eventually waived him and surprisingly, the AL East leading Baltimore Orioles picked him up.
Not a very smart move, as so far in two appearances with the Orioles, López has continued his struggles, giving up two runs on four hits in just 1.2 innings of work. At this rate, the Orioles should be careful that he doesn’t end up jeopardizing their divisional title hopes in the end. Thankfully for the Phillies, they stuck with their own internal options and it has been definitely paying off so far.
One thing is for sure, as the saying goes, sometimes the best moves are the ones you don’t make. So for the Phillies, the minimal action that they took during the trade deadline might have been a blessing in disguise, as they are currently in good position to end the season in a playoff spot and once again challenge for the World Series title.