The trade deadline was never going to save the Phillies. But here are some thoughts, anyway.

The lineup went up as it usually does: four hours before the game, affixed to the wall in the clubhouse. It looked as it usually does, too. Kyle Schwarber followed by Trea Turner. Bryce Harper followed by Alec Bohm. All the way down.

There is no panic at Citizens Bank Park. Not in the dugout, where Rob Thomson sat Tuesday afternoon and declared his satisfaction with his team. Not in the executive offices, where Dave Dombrowski limited his involvement in the wild final hours of the trade deadline, striking one small sequence of deals that was more notable for what it sent out (lefty Gregory Soto, to the Orioles) than what it brought back (lefty Tanner Banks from the White Sox).

Austin Hays is your new left fielder. Carlos Estévez is your new closer. Banks is your new low-leverage lefty specialist, if there even is such a thing.

Beyond that, the Phillies must fix themselves. Nothing they could have done at the trade deadline would buoy them against a 16-for-113 collective skid from Harper, Turner, and J.T. Realmuto. They were never going to be a team that could overcome Zack Wheeler allowing seven runs in five innings, or Ranger Suárez heading to the injured list.

Patience and hope, not trades, were the only solutions for the Phillies’ 3-7 stretch since the All-Star break, for their 20-21 record since the London series in June. Thomson knows this. He was preaching it Tuesday.

“I’m happy with this club,” Thomson said a couple of hours before the 6 p.m. trade deadline. “I love this club. I love this group. The talent is here. The makeup is here. I love everything about them.”

The equation has not changed. The landscape has shifted slightly. That’s mostly a win for the Phillies.

The Dodgers and Padres both closed some ground on paper with a flurry of last-minute moves on Tuesday. The Braves and the Mets both improved at the margins. Turns out, the Phillies were the big winners in the Garrett Crochet/Luis Robert Jr. sweepstakes. The two biggest impact names on the market stayed put with the White Sox, out of the hands of any National League contenders.

Fact is, the Phillies did not have a need that was nearly as pressing as the one the Dodgers filled with starter Jack Flaherty. The 28-year-old righty has been as effective as practically any starter in the majors this season with a 2.95 ERA and a 7.0 strikeout-to-walk ratio that is near the upper end of what is possible. In Flaherty and All-Star righty Tyler Glasnow, the Dodgers have given themselves a Game 1/Game 2 combo that can equal Wheeler and Aaron Nola.

» READ MORE: The Phillies have a ‘complete’ roster after the trade deadline. Is it enough to win the World Series?

The Padres made a flurry of moves that gave them a bullpen that will need to be reckoned with in October. Assuming, of course, they make it that far. In Tanner Scott (Marlins) and Jason Adam (Rays), they added two legitimate high-leverage arms to a relief corps that already featured Robert Suarez, Jeremiah Estrada, and Adrian Moréjón. Factor in starters Dylan Cease and Michael King, and the Padres have the pitching to make opponents take notice. But it came at a cost: their top three pitching prospects, and more.

“There was a lot going on,” Dombrowski said an hour after the deadline had passed. “A lot waited until the very end. I can’t say there were any moves that shocked me, by any means. Very much like we thought it would be. A real flurry at the end with some high prices paid for some players.”

Did the Phillies do enough? Could they have done more?

They are difficult questions to answer, because the trade market is not a grocery store. It’s aisles are not fully stocked with left-handed-hitting corner outfielders and right-handed-hitting center fielders and strikeout arms, all at fixed prices. If that were the case, then Dombrowski would have little reason not to snag one of each. But reality is much different.

Just look at Estévez. The Phillies needed another high-leverage bullpen arm. They also needed to give up two of their better pitching prospects in order to acquire the sort of arm that would truly make a difference. A general manager can’t operate in that manner with each one of his needs. It is neither practical nor advisable. A minor league system cannot withstand it.

The trade market is more like an auction. You can only bid what you have, and you can only do it on what someone else makes available. If somebody else bids more than you are comfortable bidding, you either walk away with nothing or you do something uncomfortable. Oftentimes, the trade deadline’s true victors are those who walked away.

» READ MORE: After years toiling, Carlos Estévez is happy to join a star-laden Phillies core: ‘I’m in the right place’

“I feel very good about it,” Dombrowski said. “I like our ballclub. We set out with a goal of trying to get a right-handed bat. ... We wanted to get another back-end type [relief] guy if we could. Somebody who could close games and pitch in high-leverage situations. Overall, we really like what we’ve done. We have a good club. We know we haven’t played very well lately, but I think that’s going to straighten out.”

The Phillies are taking a risk relying on Hays as their everyday left fielder. But the offseason was their best chance to avoid that fate. The trade market is not supposed to be a place where a team can fix every one of its flaws. The Phillies’ incumbent stars are the reason they carried the best record in the majors into Tuesday. They will be the reason for whatever happens in October.