Ranking the top 10 Phillies trades of all time

The Phillies are expected to be active by Tuesday’s trade deadline. They don’t have a ton of needs. The most glaring is they aren’t slugging the way they were built to. But there could be a solution for that. With Bryce Harper playing first base, Kyle Schwarber can move out of left field and into the DH spot, opening up a spot for an outfielder who hits right-handed.

With the trade deadline approaching, what better time to review the top 10 Phillies trades of all time? Let’s take a look.

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This one is unconventional — because it still is a work in progress — but Realmuto has been so valuable to the Phillies that I felt it was worth including on this list. The Marlins traded Realmuto to the Phillies in February 2019. Since then, he has defied age, hitting 22 home runs and stealing 21 bases for the Phillies at age 31 last season.

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He’s been one of the best — if not the best — catchers in baseball over his time in Philadelphia. Realmuto caught 1,131⅔ innings last season and threw out 30 runners trying to steal. He’s hit .267/.333/.470 with a 115 OPS+ over his five seasons with the Phillies.

Sánchez’s career has been derailed by injuries. He’s pitched in only seven games for the Marlins, all in the shorted 2020 season. Jacksonville, the Marlins’ triple A affiliate, placed him on the seven-day injured list in March. He has yet to pitch in a game this season.

Like the Realmuto trade, this one might be unconventional, but Stairs took one of the most important swings in franchise history, so I’m going to include him. Stairs was traded to the Phillies for a player to be named later (Castro) in August 2008. A few months later, in Game 4 of the 2008 NLCS, Stairs hit a towering two-run, pinch-hit home run to break a 5-5 tie en route to a 7-5 win over the Dodgers. It was a signature moment of their 2008 championship run.

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Stairs’ production dropped off after that. He slashed only .194/.357/.379 in 99 games with the Phillies in 2009. But that NLCS moment will be remembered forever. Castro, a left-handed pitcher, didn’t pitch a single inning for the Blue Jays. He spent his 2009 season split between triple A and double A.

The Rays traded a 23-year-old Abreu to the Phillies in November 1997 for shortstop (and now Phillies broadcaster) Kevin Stocker. Stocker played in only parts of three seasons with the Rays before he was released in 2000. Abreu played in Philadelphia for nine seasons, posting a .303/.416/.513 slash line with a .928 OPS and 195 home runs.

Dykstra and McDowell were two beloved members of the Mets’ 1986 World Series team, and the former played a similar role with the Phillies after this intradivision trade in June 1989. The center fielder posted one of his best seasons in 1993, hitting .305/.420/.482 with 194 hits, and helped lead the Phillies to their 1993 postseason run. It didn’t end up the way they wanted it to — losing to the Blue Jays in the World Series — but not to any fault of Dykstra, who hit .348/.500/.913 with a 1.413 OPS in six World Series games.

He hit .289/.388/.422 over eight seasons with the Phillies. Samuel played 86 games for the Mets in 1989, slashing .228/.299/.300 with only three home runs. He was granted free agency that offseason and signed with the Dodgers.

Lidge became one of the best closers in franchise history. His tenure with the Phillies wasn’t perfect. He battled injuries in his final three seasons in Philadelphia, but he was at his best when it mattered most — in 2008.

Lidge posted a 1.95 ERA over 69⅓ innings that season. He recorded 41 saves and allowed only one earned run in nine postseason outings. He also recorded the final out of the 2008 World Series, creating an iconic franchise moment shortly after.

Schilling was traded by the Astros for Grimsley in April 1992. Schilling, who re-signed with the Phillies in 1995, played parts of nine seasons in Philadelphia. He was traded to the Diamondbacks at the deadline in 2000.

Schilling posted a 3.35 ERA in 1,659⅓ innings with a record of 101-78 with the Phillies. He was named NLCS MVP in 1993 after posting a 1.69 ERA in two starts. Grimsley didn’t pitch in a big league game for the Astros. He spent that season with triple-A Tucson, posting a 5.05 ERA in 26 games. The Astros released him in March 1993. He played for seven teams over a 15-year career.

In July 2009, Cleveland sent Lee and catcher Ben Francisco to the Phillies at the trade deadline in exchange for pitchers Jason Knapp and Carlos Carrasco, infielder Jason Donald, and catcher Lou Marson. Knapp didn’t make it out of the minors. Donald played in parts of only three big league seasons for Cleveland. Marson slugged .295 in parts of five seasons with the team. Carrasco settled into a nice career that is still going, but he has struggled this season with the Mets.

In all, not much of a price to pay for a pitcher who helped lead his team to an NL championship in 2009. Lee posted a 2.95 ERA over his final five seasons in the big leagues. He was traded to the Mariners in December 2009 but re-signed with the Phillies when he became a free agent after the 2010 season.

All you need to know is that Jim Bunning was an ace when the Tigers traded him to the Phillies in December 1963, and — to no one’s surprise — he continued to pitch like one. Demeter and Hamilton were not on his level. Bunning pitched a perfect game in his first season with the Phillies, on Father’s Day in 1964, and posted a 2.48 ERA in his four seasons with the team. He went to two All-Star Games over that span and finished second in Cy Young voting in 1967. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1996.

On Dec. 16, 2009, the Phillies changed the course of their franchise, acquiring Halladay from the Blue Jays in exchange for catcher Travis d’Arnaud, pitcher Kyle Drabek and outfielder Michael Taylor. It was a negligible cost for what the Phillies got in Halladay. He won the Cy Young Award in his first season with the Phillies in 2010, going 21-10 over 250⅔ innings with a 2.44 ERA, and threw a perfect game in May of that season. He placed second in Cy Young voting in 2011.

He had a 2.37 ERA in three postseason series with the Phillies from 2010-11, including a no-hitter in his first postseason appearance, in Game 1 of the 2010 National League Division Series. He was elected to the Hall of Fame, posthumously, in 2019.

This trade was not viewed as a steal at the time, but in retrospect, it certainly was. In February 1972, the St. Louis Cardinals sent Carlton to the Phillies in exchange for Wise. Carlton went on to have one of the best seasons in MLB history. He won 27 of his 41 starts and pitched 30 complete games with 310 strikeouts in 346⅓ innings. He posted a 1.97 ERA that season, en route to his first Cy Young Award.

Carlton went on to win three more Cy Youngs during his time with the Phillies. He won 252 games from 1972-88, the last season of his career. Wise won 113 games from 1972-82. Carlton ended up with a plaque in Cooperstown. He pitched in two World Series for the Phillies — 1980 and 1983 — and pitched seven innings of one-run ball in Game 6 of the 1980 World Series, helping to clinch the Phillies’ first world title.

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