Carlos Estévez trade grade: Phillies land massive bullpen upgrade for high price

After landing their outfield piece in Austin Hays, the Philadelphia Phillies have followed it up with an even bigger splash in the trade market by acquiring elite closer Carlos Estévez from the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday. Going the other way in the transaction were two promising pitching prospects in Samuel Aldegheri and George Klassen.

With the quick strike, the Phillies appear to have been aiming to address their needs early to avoid the pandemonium that could occur right before the trade deadline at 6:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday.

So after the solid deal with Hays, how well did the Phillies perform this time with the addition of Estévez?

Carlos Estévez trade grade: Phillies land massive bullpen upgrade for high price

Estévez established himself as one of the best closers in the game after joining the Angels through free agency for the 2023 season. After spending his previous six seasons with the Colorado Rockies, Estévez flourished in his first crack at the closer’s role on an underachieving Angels team. He registered a career-high 31 saves, along with a 3.90 ERA and 78 strikeouts in just 62 1/3 innings pitched, earning his first All-Star nomination in the process.

This season, Estévez has taken his game to another level, resulting from greater control of his command. He has a sparkling 2.38 ERA and 0.73 WHIP, with only five walks all season long and 32 strikeouts in 34 innings pitched over 34 appearances. His 0.73 WHIP trails only Emmanuel Clase among qualified relievers in all of baseball.

The Phillies haven’t directly anointed Estévez as their new closer, but according to MLB.com's Todd Zolecki, Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski indicated that he wouldn’t be surprised if Estévez gets the ball for a lot of ninth innings, while others slot in behind him.

The addition of Estévez not only significantly upgrades the Phillies’ relief corps but it also gives them added flexibility to deploy their top back-end relievers. Also, by giving struggling bullpen stalwart José Alvarado more of a breather, it could help him regain his prior dominant form to form a three-headed monster with Hoffman and Estévez to finish off games.

For the price of Aldegheri and Klassen, the Phillies were taking a huge risk by giving up two of the fastest-rising prospects in the organization this season. Aldegheri had become the Phillies’ No. 7 prospect, according to Baseball America (subscription required) after putting together a solid 2024 season. He sports a 6-5 record, 3.23 ERA, 1.09 WHIP and a whopping 109 strikeouts in just 78 innings pitched across two minor league levels.

Klassen, the Phillies’ No. 5 prospect according to Baseball America, has had an even more spectacular breakout season, going 3-2 with a stellar 1.97 ERA and 0.98 WHIP with 89 strikeouts in just 59 1/3 innings of work in 14 starts split between Single-A and High-A. But as they say, you need to give up quality to bring in quality, so hopefully the trade-off will pay off in the end.

Carlos Estévez trade grade: The Verdict

With the Phillies seriously needing a boost to their bullpen after recent struggles, the addition of Estévez will no doubt provide the much-needed spark to get the team back in the right direction.

The cost may seem high, with the Phillies potentially giving up two top 10-caliber prospects who could turn out to be eventual front-end starters in the big leagues. According to Scott Lauber of the Philadelphia Inquirer, even Dombrowski conceded as much (subscription required), saying that it was “probably a little more than you like to give up for a rental.”

However, Estévez was one of the top closers available in the market, so he should be worth every penny spent. He could potentially provide even more return value when Dombrowski also briefly suggested that the Phillies could re-sign him once the year is over.

In addition, for a season in which the Phillies need to be all-in in their pursuit of the World Series, the fact that they didn’t have to move any of their top prospect capital or so-called untouchables in Andrew Painter, Aidan Miller and Justin Crawford to get it done is already a huge win.

As Dombrowski expressed, per Lauber: “It’s going to hurt at some point when you make a trade to try to win. We are trying to win. We think [Estévez] is a guy that can be a real significant piece to that.” 

With that winning mentality and focus, the Phillies deserve a well-earned A for this trade.

Carlos Estévez trade grade: A