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For the Philadelphia Phillies, the 2025 trade deadline is an opportunity to load up.
The Phillies are undoubtedly a team with championship-level talent. The problem, though, is that at least a handful of other National League clubs, headlined by the defending World Series-champion Los Angeles Dodgers, can say the same.
That means the Phillies have to solve their weaknesses, and those can be easily summarized: the bullpen as a whole, and offense from the outfield, particularly against left-handed pitching.
One Phillies insider believes the team could accomplish both in a single trade--but at a steep cost.
On Saturday, Scott Lauber of the Philadelphia Inquirer theorized that the Phillies could land Boston Red Sox closer Aroldis Chapman and veteran outfielder Rob Refsnyder in a two-for-one swap for rookie right-handed pitcher Mick Abel, a 2020 first-round pick.
"By himself, Chapman would likely fetch a midlevel prospect,” Lauber wrote. "But the Red Sox also have a surplus of outfielders, possibly matching them up with the Phillies' need and enabling them to extract more for Chapman.”
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"Lefty-hitting Jarren Duran is the Sox’s biggest outfield chip... but a better fit for the Phillies might be Rob Refsnyder, who bats right-handed and mashes lefties (.569 slugging, .972 OPS). He also played for (manager) Rob Thomson with the (New York) Yankees. Potential trade: Chapman and Refsnyder for right-hander Mick Abel."
The 41-44 Red Sox would have to commit to selling for the Phillies to benefit from a deal like this. But Chapman is a seven-time All-Star having arguably his best season ever, and Refsnyder mauls lefties in a way few others in the sport can say they do.
Parting ways with Abel is a risk, meanwhile, but the Phillies have an even bigger prospect in Andrew Painter waiting to take his spot in the rotation at some point within the next year.
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