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16 hours ago
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The Philadelphia Phillies' roster is on par with most other contenders, but there are some glaring weaknesses.
Philadelphia's bullpen might be the shakiest of any presumptive National League contender. And left field and center field have both been noteworthy offensive weaknesses all year, particularly against left-handed pitching.
If the Phillies could get a lefty masher and a solid bullpen arm in the same deal with the Los Angeles Angels, wouldn't they have to consider it?
Sportsnaut's Matt Higgins proposed such a deal in a hypothetical published on Tuesday: Angels outfielder Taylor Ward and reliever Reid Detmers for Phillies prospects Justin Crawford (OF), Mick Abel (SP), Gabriel Rincones Jr. (OF) and Mavis Graves (LHP).
"The lineup will get the right-handed outfield bat they desperately need with Taylor Ward. He has 21 home runs, which would be second on the team behind Schwarber’s 30," wrote Higgins. "Ward also crushes lefties, posting an .858 OPS against southpaws this season."
"Philadelphia would also be receiving left-handed pitcher Reid Detmers, who is beginning to find his groove as a reliever. Even though he has a 4.15 ERA in 40 appearances, he didn’t allow any earned runs across 13 innings in June and just three in seven games in July."
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The idea of bringing in both Ward and Detmers isn't a bad one on its own. But this is a ludicrous package to think about giving up for a 108 OPS+ bat and a project reliever.
Crawford shouldn't be anywhere near this discussion, and Abel's inclusion is a little fringy as well. Giving up both, plus two more prospects with at least some value, would be borderline malpractice.
That's not to entirely discredit the idea, because crazy prices have been extracted at past trade deadlines. But Ward and Detmers just aren't big enough difference makers to risk so much future potential.
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