Phillies trade for White Sox lefty reliever Tanner Banks, deal Gregory Soto to Orioles

Not to be shut out amid a frenzy of trades on deadline day, the Phillies tidied up their bullpen Tuesday by adding one lefty and subtracting another.

The Phillies acquired Tanner Banks from the Chicago White Sox for high-A infielder William Bergolla with about one hour to spare before the 6 p.m. buzzer. Shortly thereafter, they shipped Gregory Soto to the Baltimore Orioles for double-A right-hander Seth Johnson and high-A righty Moisés Chace.

“We’ve liked Banks for a long time,” president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said. “He’s really been effective vs. left-handed hitters. He’s been one of the best pitchers in Major League Baseball in that regard. We just thought he was a better fit for our bullpen at this time than Soto was.”

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Indeed, the trades were nearly concurrent, according to Dombrowski, with the Phillies securing Banks before flipping Soto in an attempt to replenish the farm system after using 22-year-old pitching prospects George Klassen and Samuel Aldegheri in a deal over the weekend for closer Carlos Estévez.

Even so, the Phillies dealt Bergolla, their No. 10 prospect, according to Baseball America’s midseason rankings.

The addition of Banks was also in keeping with the Phillies’ deadline strategy of addressing hyper-specific roster needs, notably for a righty-hitting outfielder (Austin Hays from the Orioles last Friday) and a late-inning reliever (Estévez from the Los Angeles Angels last Saturday night).

And it was an indictment of Soto, a former closer who struggled without a defined role in manager Rob Thomson’s bullpen

Banks, 32, arrives with a 4.13 ERA in 41 appearances with the White Sox. But he has held left-handed hitters to a .184 average and a .492 OPS, fourth in the majors among left-handed pitchers who have faced a minimum of 80 batters.

Phillies scouts like Banks’ sinker, a pitch that they believe he could use more often. But in a bullpen that’s comprised of newly acquired Carlos Estévez, Jeff Hoffman, José Alvarado, Matt Strahm, and Orion Kerkering, he’s no better than Thomson’s sixth option.

Soto, who is making $5 million this season and will have his salary determined again next year by the stats-based arbitration system, never took to being so low on the depth chart.

Acquired from the Detroit Tigers in a January 2023 trade for outfielder Matt Vierling and utilityman Nick Maton, the two-time former All-Star closer had 48 saves in 2021 and 2022. With the Phillies, he posted five saves and a 4.42 ERA, including a 4.08 mark this season. Thomson gave him a brief look in a higher-leverage role last week, and Soto couldn’t throw strikes in a walk-off loss in Minnesota.

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“We didn’t necessarily get him as a closer, and I think a lot of times he envisions himself as a closer, which is fine,” Dombrowski said. “When you look at it, he’s done fine for us. But the way we use our ‘pen, just not sure there was a way that he felt comfortable in that regard.”

Dombrowski said the Phillies wouldn’t have traded Soto if they hadn’t acquired Banks.

“There’s not a spot for both of them,” Dombrowski said. “We didn’t want four left-handers out there in the bullpen. That was really the preference.”

For the second time in five days, the Phillies and Orioles hooked up on a trade between World Series contenders. Soto will join a bullpen that has a decidedly Philly flavor, with Craig Kimbrel and Seranthony Domínguez, who was dealt to Baltimore last Friday in the trade for outfielder Austin Hays.

Johnson, 25, was the Orioles’ No. 12 prospect, according to Baseball America. He was added to the Phillies’ 40-man roster and optioned to double-A Reading. In 18 double-A starts for the Orioles, Johnson had a 2.63 ERA.

Chace, 21, was ranked by Baseball America as the Orioles’ 24th-best prospect. He had a 3.46 ERA in 17 games (nine starts) in A-ball. He will join high-A Jersey Shore, against whom he struck out seven batters in three innings last week.

The Phillies signed Bergolla for $2,050,000 as an amateur from Venezuela in 2022. He was batting .295 with Jersey Shore but had only 16 extra-base hits. The Phillies also have middle-infield depth in the minors, with Aidan Miller, Starlyn Caba, Bryan Rincon, and Devin Saltiban.