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3 hours ago
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The Philadelphia Phillies might be wishing they had done more in the offseason.
Aside from acquiring starter Jesús Luzardo in a trade with the Miami Marlins, the team made moves that could be considered peripheral, considering the needs that were on display during a disappointing 2024 campaign.
The starting staff is in good shape, as it was last year, but the bullpen has struggled after losing Jeff Hoffman and Carlos Estévez and the offense seems a bit stale. It’s feeling all too familiar to Phillies fans.
“The Phillies are, at least through the first month-plus of the 2025 season, a painfully flawed but talented playoff-caliber team,” as Evan Macy put it for Philly Voice. “Which is basically what they were last year. And the year before. And the year before…”
In the team’s defense, it would be hard to make a drastic move involving Bryce Harper, Trea Turner, Kyle Schwarber or any of the other highly-paid stars on the team. But after a rough start for center fielder Brandon Marsh, the Phillies might be wishing they brought in some more significant outfield improvement — no offense to Max Kepler.
Marsh has been largely splitting center field duties with Johan Rojas but is batting just .130 so far this season. And it might be time to shift him off of the big-league roster to make room for a trade addition following the latest update from Major League Baseball insider Bob Nightengale.
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“If the Baltimore Orioles aren’t a contender by the All-Star break, teams will be pouncing on starter Zach Eflin, reliever Seranthony Dominguez and center fielder Cedric Mullins at the deadline,” Nightengale wrote for USA Today.
Eflin and Dominguez have both recently played for the Phillies, but Mullins would seemingly boost one of their biggest areas of need at a reasonable cost.
The center fielder is slashing .255/.379/.491 with seven homers and 18 runs, the most of any player on the Orioles so far. As he’s earning $8.72 million in his final year of arbitration eligibility, the Orioles could be looking to part ways with him for some middling prospect value come the deadline.
If Marsh continues to struggle like this, it’s a trade the Phillies could look to pull off.
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Peter Chawaga is a veteran journalist covering Major League Baseball for The Sporting News. His MLB reporting has included feature interviews with commissioner Rob Manfred and Hall of Fame slugger David Ortiz, salary analysis, player rankings and more. He has covered baseball for Forbes, Yardbarker, Pitcher List, Athlon and other outlets.
With over ten years of newsroom experience, he has previously covered finance, technology, arts, and culture for newspapers, magazines, and websites nationwide. He graduated from Wake Forest University with a degree in English and journalism.
English (US)