Phillies trade idea lands Athletics fireballer after José Alvarado suspension

The Philadelphia Phillies are in instant scramble mode.

On Sunday, Phillies closer José Alvarado, who was a perfect 7-for-7 in save opportunities to begin the season, was suspended for 80 games after testing positive for a banned substance. Not only will he be out until mid-August, but he'll be ineligible to pitch in the postseason.

The 2025 season is a win-now situation for the Phillies, and losing a reliable piece of an already-thin bullpen qualifies as a disaster. Desperate times sometimes call for desperate measures.

Would the Phillies have any hope of acquiring one of the game's most electric closers on the trade market? One baseball writer doesn't believe it's out of the question.

On Sunday, R.J. Anderson of CBS Sports suggested that Mason Miller of the Athletics could be a trade candidate for the Phillies to not only replace Alvarado, but deploy one of the game's most formidable closers to help them during their playoff push.

"Miller's name popped up in rumors last deadline," Anderson wrote. "The same reasoning that applied then precipitates his inclusion now. He's an extremely hard-throwing reliever with a lengthy injury history who is dominating for a losing baseball team.

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"The Athletics will probably keep him because, despite all logic, that's what bad teams do with their team-controlled relievers. (See: Bednar, David.) But, in our eyes, they should at least listen to what other teams offer."

With a 4.50 ERA through his first 16 outings this year, Miller hasn't quite been the same dominant force he was in his breakout 2024 campaign. But he's got 31 strikeouts (17.4 K/9) and a 2.72 FIP, so he's due for some positive regression.

Miller has four more years of team control after the 2025 season, so the A's are under no time pressure to trade him. Doing so would simply be an opportunistic move to grab the maximum amount of trade capital for a player whose value will always be somewhat restricted by his role on the team.

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