The Philadelphia Phillies' final deal on MLB trade deadline day came out of nowhere, but now it makes a whole lot of sense, given all the facts uncovered.
After trading for left-handed reliever Tanner Banks from the Chicago White Sox, the Phillies swiftly sent southpaw Gregory Soto to Baltimore to join the growing contingent of other former Phillies who are now Orioles.
After a couple of All-Star seasons as Detroit's closer, during which he racked up 48 saves with a 3.34 ERA, Soto came to the Phillies in 2023. Unfortunately, he never seemed to get himself comfortable in a bullpen situation in which he wasn't the top dog. He went 5-for-9 in save chances and finished his Phillies career with a 4.42 ERA.
Phillies admit Gregory Soto, who wanted out, was never a fit in the bullpen
The problem with Soto in the Phillies bullpen was that he was never brought here to be the closer. He was supposed to slide in as another interchangeable late-inning, high-leverage arm, but that didn't sit well with the 29-year-old, it seems.
He was unreliable as a high-leverage option, posting a 6.33 ERA and a dismal 35.9 percent strand rate in those situations as a Phillie. He went on a good run this season, but after reportedly asking for more high-leverage chances, he couldn't perform. A big part of his problem was his 12.1 percent walk rate — which ballooned up from a career-best 8.8 percent last year (he has a career 12.2 percent walk rate, for reference).
Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski made it clear after the trade deadline that he didn't feel that Soto was a fit in the Phillies bullpen as currently constructed, according to MLB.com's Todd Zolecki.
“We didn't necessarily get him as a closer,” Dombrowski said, per Zolecki. “I think, a lot of times, he envisions himself as a closer, which is fine. He's done fine for us by all means. We weren't dissatisfied with him. But the way we use our 'pen, I'm just not sure there ever was a way that he felt comfortable in that regard.”
Soto wanted out, requested the chance to pitch elsewhere
Dombrowski's comments, while somewhat surprising, make sense. But it was only after Soto himself shed some light on the matter that we got the full picture of just how unsettled he was with the Phillies. According to The Baltimore Banner's Danielle Allentuck, Soto told the Phillies he would welcome a move if possible and was looking for a new environment.
Gregory Soto said he and his agent told the Phillies that if the opportunity came up to go to another team he would want to. He was looking for a new environment and that he’s happy he’s getting that chance with the Orioles
— Danielle Allentuck (@d_allentuck) August 1, 2024
Perhaps going from a 30-save season with the Tigers in 2022 to a three-save, 24-hold season in 2023 wasn't the career arc Soto had envisioned. There's no right or wrong way to go about one's career, but obviously, the chance to win a World Series wasn't enough to keep him happy in Philadelphia despite not being "the closer."
While Soto got his wish and gets a fresh start with a new team — the Orioles are every bit as good as the Phillies and have just as good a shot at a World Series — he's going to run into the same problem in Baltimore that he had in the Phillies bullpen.
He's joining a bullpen that currently employs former Phillie and future Hall of Famer Craig Kimbrel as the closer. And Kimbrel's only there to fill in for the injured Félix Bautista. FanGraphs' Orioles depth chart ranks Soto in the same spot he took up in the Phillies bullpen: fifth in the pecking order as a middle reliever.
Ninth-inning opportunities might be few and far between with the Orioles, but the best of luck to Soto.