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Phillies trade for Angels Closer Carlos Estevez to Bolster Bullpen
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Dave Dombrowski is going for the jugular.
One day after acquiring a right-handed outfield bat he has coveted for three years, he traded for one of baseball’s best closers.
The Phillies acquired Los Angeles Angels closer Carlos Estevez on Saturday in exchange for two minor league pitchers – George Klassen and Samuel Aldegheri.
Estevez, 31, was an All-Star for the Angels in 2023, and he’s been infinitely better this season.
In 34 appearances the right-hander has thrown 34 innings, has a 2.38 ERA and an incredible 0.735 WHIP. He has walked just five batters all season. He has 32 strikeouts and 20 saves for Los Angeles.
“Dave Dombrowski and the #Phillies are all in on winning the World Series and they just went and got a bonafide backend of the bullpen guy in Carlos Estévez.” – @JakePeavy_22 #MLBTonight | #RingTheBell pic.twitter.com/IxXDyiqWCE
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) July 27, 2024
Estevez is immediately an upgrade over Seranthony Dominguez, who was traded as part of the deal with Baltimore for outfielder Austin Hays on Friday. And he’ll likely be plugged in ahead of Orion Kerkering as a late inning right hander, dropping Kerkering into more of a lower leverage role that Dominguez was filling.
Dombrowski pushed it one step further.
“To us he’s one of the best relievers in baseball this past year,” he said. “Last month he was the relief pitcher of the month in the American League. He’s retired 53 of the last 58 hitters. He’s a guy that can pitch the ninth inning. He’s got 20 saves. How Topper determines he’s going to use hi, we’ll see, but it wouldn’t surprise me if he gets a lot of ninth innings and slides people behind.”
Dave Dombrowski talks about why the Phillies acquired Carlos Estevez, who had 20 saves in 23 opportunities for the Angels this year pic.twitter.com/wxft2prE9k
— Colin Newby (@ToNewbyginnings) July 27, 2024
Dombrowski added the Phillies tried to sign him two years ago when they signed Matt Strahm but lost out on him to the Angels. One of the things Dombrowski said the team researched before making the trade was how Estevez would fit here. He called him a “bulldog” who will fit the “Philadelphia mentality.”
What does he mean by that?
“It’s somebody who is really tough,” Dombrowski said. “Internally we call it ‘Philly tough.’ Maybe once in a while you’ll hear a boo even though your a hometown guy, and you got to be able to handle that. Not everybody can. But this guy’s tough.”
In trading Klassen and Aldegheri, the Phillies traded their No. 5 and No. 7 ranked prospects, according to Baseball America. Both were having breakout seasons in 2024.
Klassen, 22, pitched for both Low-A Clearwater and High-A Jersey Shore this season. He’s made 14 starts combined. The right-hander has a 1.97 ERA and a 0.978 WHIP in 59 1/3 innings with a whopping 89 strikeouts.
Klassen was originally a sixth round pick of the Phillies in the 2023 draft.
Aldegheri, 22, has pitched at both High-A Jersey Shore and Double-A Reading this season. He’s made 15 starts combined. The lefty has tossed 78 innings and has a 3.23 ERA and 1.090 WHIP with an equally eye-popping strikeout total of 109.
Aldegheri was originally an international free agent that was signed out of Italy.
Estevez is a free agent at the end of the season. Dombrowski said they were considering other guys who had some control left in the way of a contract, but that they felt Estevez was the best fit to help the team win this year.
But, he did admit that trading two good starting pitcher prospects is a lot for a rental, but at the same time, that’s the cost of doing business when you are trying to win a championship.
“It’s going to hurt at some point when you make a trade to try to win and we are trying to win,” Dombrowski said. “(They’re) not guys we wanted to give up, but we also knew that we were going to have ot give something up because it’s definitely a seller’s market.
“It’s probably a little bit more than you like to give up for a rental, but who knows, maybe we’ll sign him once the year is over. You never can tell.”
When you are going all-in for a World Championship this year, it’s the cost of doing business, and the Phillies bullpen just became much more lethal.
Anthony SanFilippo writes about the Phillies and Flyers for Crossing Broad and hosts a pair of related podcasts (Crossed Up and Snow the Goalie). A part of the Philadelphia sports media for a quarter century, Anthony also dabbles in acting, directing, teaching, and strategic marketing, which is why he has no time to do anything, but does it anyway. Follow him on Twitter @AntSanPhilly.