The Phillies’ trade for Austin Hays could be the prelude to something bigger

Dave Dombrowski and the Phillies made their first deal of trade deadline season. But are they just getting started?

President of baseball operations David Dombrowski, right, with managing partner John Middleton. They likely have more moves left in store before the trade deadline.Read moreYong Kim / Staff Photographer

Published July 26, 2024, 4:02 p.m. ET

Austin Hays is not the most interesting part of the trade the Phillies pulled off on Friday. No offense to the guy. I’m sure he contains multitudes. Hits lefties well. Made an All-Star team. Has playoff experience. Is under club control through next season. The former Oriole is a perfectly fine option to platoon with Brandon Marsh in left field and pinch hit late in games. On the spectrum between standing ovation and D-battery shower, Hays ranks as a golf clap. After a tap-in for par. On a Thursday.

The more interesting side of the deal is the outbound package: reliever Seranthony Domínguez and outfielder Cristian Pache. It sure looks like another move is in the works. Maybe a bigger move. Perhaps even imminent.

Why else would the Phillies feel comfortable parting with a couple of pieces from their big-league roster? Why would they do so now, four days before the trade deadline? The Phillies thought Pache important enough to keep around all season. Has center field depth suddenly become less of a priority? And what about Domínguez? It’s not like the Phillies were overflowing with options outside of their four go-to high-leverage relievers. Rob Thomson wasn’t sitting in the dugout thinking that what he really needed was less population density in his bullpen.

Domínguez’s sparkling 2022 campaign played a huge role in the Phillies’ underdog run to the World Series. That season, he posted a 3.00 ERA while averaging 10.8 strikeouts, 3.9 walks, and 0.7 home runs per nine innings. He was electric in the postseason, holding opponents to two runs in 10⅔ innings while strikeout out 18 and walking one. But it has been close to two years since we’ve seen that pitcher. His numbers during that time: 4.19 ERA, 9.2 strikeouts, 3.6 walks, and 1.4 homers per nine innings.

Still, Domínguez had a role. He will need to be replaced. It’s hard to imagine that the Phillies make this move without some idea of what will come next.

More reinforcements are on the way. And, yes, I used the plural for a reason.

Something is brewing. It may not be as big as Luis Robert Jr., for all of the reasons I outlined earlier. It presumably won’t be Mason Miller now that the Athletics flamethrower has landed on the injured list with a training table-induced fracture in his nonthrowing hand. But Friday’s deal is a pretty good indication that Dave Dombrowski and John Middleton are not going to leave anything to chance.

The addition of another high-leverage arm seems like a given. It shouldn’t surprise anybody if Pitcher TBD comes coupled with another player who will fill the roster spot the Phillies opened with their 2-for-1 trade for Hays. Another reliever? A center fielder who is competent enough in the field and at the plate to allow Thomson to shift Johan Rojas to the specialist’s role he warrants? We’ll see.

What we know is this: The Phillies know that they are in the midst of an opportunity that may never come again. The Braves are faltering. The Dodgers are scrambling for pitching. The defending National League champion Diamondbacks are fighting for a playoff berth. The iron is hotter than it will ever be. Now is the time to strike.

The playoff landscape is only part of the equation. The Phillies are already in Year 3 of their window. Five of their regulars and their top two starters are at least 31 years old. J.T. Realmuto and Zack Wheeler are both at an age where they may never again be as good as they are right now. Marsh and Alec Bohm will never be as inexpensive as they are right now. Jeff Hoffman will be a free agent after the season. The Phillies may never be as good as they are right now.

They can’t be foolish. It would be silly to even think about trading prospects like Aidan Miller and Andrew Painter, barring the unforeseen availability of a legitimate foundational-level superstar. But the Phillies have plenty else they can offer from a rapidly improving farm system. The future is now.

As for Hays? He makes sense. It’s hard to imagine that the Phillies view him as much more than a platoon bat. He is thriving against lefties this season, with a .328/.394/.500 slash line. He has a career .791 OPS against them. He hit righties well enough last season — a .763 OPS and 11 home runs in 399 plate appearances — but has struggled this year (.585 OPS, two home runs, 103 plate appearances). He is making $6.3 million in his penultimate year of arbitration. He is a good guy to have around but hardly a difference-maker. The Phillies’ success or failure at the trade deadline will be determined by what else happens over the next four days.

Priority No. 1 is finding an arm who can do the things that Domínguez used to be able to do.