The Phillies made fans wait, but were able to acquire Noah Syndergaard from the Los Angeles Angles on Tuesday with minutes remaining before the trade deadline, bolstering their starting pitching rotation as they look to end a 10-year playoff drought.
The move capped off a busy Tuesday for the Phillies, who also acquired veteran relief pitcher David Robertson from the Chicago Cubs and top defensive center fielder Brandon Marsh from the Angels. But don’t get too attached to the Phillies’ newest players — Inquirer beat writer Scott Lauber notes both Syndergaard and Robertson are likely gone once the season is over.
In exchange, the Phillies had to part ways with a number of prospects, including former No. 1 overall pick Mickey Moniak and catcher Logan O’Hoppe. They also gave up promising 22-year-old pitcher Ben Brown, but were able to keep top pitching prospects Andrew Painter, Mick Abel, and Griff McGarry.
Lauber reports that Robertson joined the Phillies Wednesday morning, while Marsh and Syndergaard are both expected Thursday.
“I think we’re better,” Phillies president Dave Dombrowski told reporters Tuesday. “How much better are we? I know we’re a better ballclub. We were able to add a starting pitcher, a bullpen guy, and we solidified our ballclub from a defensive perspective.”
» READ MORE: New reliever David Robertson won’t be the Phillies’ closer, Rob Thomson says
Longtime ESPN MLB analyst and newly inducted Hall of Famer Tim Kurkjian echoed Dombrowski’s comments, noting the Phillies addressed most of their needs ahead of the trade deadline.
“The Phillies really upgraded their defense in the last couple of days. Then they added David Robertson today, who really will help their bullpen,” Kurkjian said during ESPN’s trade deadline special. “And now they’ve added another starting pitcher. Got to love what Dave Dombrowski did the last 36 hours.”
Inquirer columnist David Murphy was less impressed by the moves, noting that the Phillies did get better, but “did not get better enough.”
“With Robertson and Syndergaard, the key selling point is the cost. The veteran duo came at the cost of a couple of long-shot prospects and former top overall pick Mickey Moniak, who was probably on his way to being DFA’d,” Murphy wrote. “If the Phillies had to settle for patchwork rent-a-players, this was a fine way to do it.”
» READ MORE: David Murphy: Phillies tread water in the NL at the trade deadline, despite new additions
Here’s what baseball pundits and writers thought of the Phillies trades:
Buster Olney, ESPN
They wanted to upgrade defensive shortstop, they did that with Sosa the other day. The pick up Marsh to upgrade their defense in center field. And they pick up a reliever in David Robertson. I love what the Phillies have done.
The question Phillies fans will ask: Why not the likes of Luis Castillo, Frankie Montas or Tyler Mahle? Simple: The Phillies didn’t have the farm system depth to acquire one of those starters. They understandably weren’t going to trade Mick Abel or Andrew Painter, the two highly regarded pitching prospects taken in the first round in 2020 and 2021. The farm system drops off rapidly after those two, with catcher Logan O’Hoppe going to the Angels for Marsh.
Anyway, the Phillies didn't give up much here and did add some much-needed rotation depth.
None of their moves were particularly flashy on their own. But together, they added up, and the Phillies filled just about every hole they had. They now have a real centerfielder (Brandon Marsh). Another starter (Noah Syndergaard). More in the bullpen (David Robertson). A good defensive shortstop (Edmundo Sosa). Collectively, those moves leave this defense somewhat less of a liability and add some sorely needed pitching depth—all while allowing Philly to hold onto most of its top prospects.
The Phillies did pretty well, and didn’t give up any prospects with which they’ll regret parting. But if anything, they lost ground to the Braves and Cardinals. A bigger upgrade in the rotation or center field would’ve been nice. (Could the Phillies have somehow hijacked both ends of the Bader-Montgomery trade? No, of course not, they’re not the Pirates.) Particularly because if the Mariners’ acquisition of Castillo pays off, guess which team will suddenly own the longest playoff drought in MLB?
Robertson not only deepens the Philadelphia bullpen, but he brings it into focus. Now Rob Thomson can line up Corey Knebel, Brad Hand, Jose Alvarado and the vicious Seranthony Dominguez in front of Robertson. And he can stop using Jeurys Familia in high- and medium-leverage spots.
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Robertson saved 14 games for the Cubs while compiling a 2.23 ERA and recording 11.4 strikeouts per nine innings. He was perhaps a bit lucky, with a .216 BABIP, but there isn’t much separation between his Statcast-based expected numbers and his actual numbers, so any regression should be soft. The caveat is he’ll join a club with one of baseball’s worst team defenses, which will do no favors for his BABIP.
You don’t build a roster like the Phillies have -- expensive and veteran, talented though flawed -- and write off any chance at the playoffs. That being the case, you figured they’d prioritize improving in center, given that they’ve posted the worst offensive center field performance in the game. Well, they did indeed go get a center fielder, though perhaps not the one you’d have expected -- rather than a right-now veteran upgrade, they’ve added the 24-year-old Marsh, who has an 82 OPS+ in parts of two seasons, though with elite outfield defense. He’s better than Moniak and Odubel Herrera, who was designated for assignment today. The Phillies got better. But it’s also a big bet that a player with a strikeout rate of 35 percent can be taught to make more contact. And Marsh plus Syndergaard -- who is now far more of a competent back-end starter than the flame-thrower he was in his Mets days -- cost them O’Hoppe, their No. 3 prospect. That, we think, is reasonable enough for a team desperate to win now.
The Phillies didn’t have the luxury of time. They need someone who can capably man center field right now, and Marsh can do that. It’s a creative solution from the Phillies’ front office. Marsh is a young player only 163 games into his MLB career — it’s surprising the Angels moved him — who will be more valuable playing center than he was flanking Mike Trout. He strikes out way too much, but packs enough punch (eight homers so far this year), to plug into a lineup every day if he’s playing good defense.
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Finally, there’s Syndergaard. The longtime Mets star will return to the NL East fracas after a post-injury sojourn in Anaheim. He doesn’t have the strikeout stuff of his earlier days — his fastball runs about 94 mph and his once-daunting slider is neutered at 84 mph — but he’s using his sinker and changeup to miss barrels and post some solid results. If I were the Phillies, I’d be worried that his 3.83 ERA won’t hold up amid regression and less pitcher-friendly confines. Then again, they didn’t give up much to get him, so it’s a chance worth taking.
