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Report: Phillies Likely to Trade Matt Strahm
Published:
Jeff Passan has a free agency notebook at ESPN and Matt Strahm is mentioned in the last sentence:
The only closer left is Pete Fairbanks, who should get either multiple years or well over the $11 million option declined by Tampa Bay. Beyond that, the pickings are slim. Seranthony Dominguez throws hard, strikes out hitters and should find a soft landing. Shawn Armstrong was among the most unhittable relievers in baseball this year. An array of left-handers, from Sean Newcomb to Taylor Rogers to Danny Coulombe, could be snatched up soon, though the best available one is Matt Strahm, who is likely to be traded by Philadelphia.
Strahm is under contract for one more year at $7.5 million. 2026 came with a vesting option in which he needed to pitch 60 innings and pass a year-end physical.
He wasn’t as good in 2025 as he was during his 2024 All-Star season, his ERA increasing from 1.87 to 2.74 while his H/9 and BB/9 numbers went up. He gave up the home run to Teoscar Hernandez that sunk the Phillies in Game 1 of the NLDS and just didn’t seem to have the same high-leverage chops of the previous year.
If the Phils do move Strahm, they’ll have a bullpen of Jhoan Duran, Brad Keller, Jose Alvarado, Tanner Banks, and Orion Kerkering. A lot of teams could use a good lefty out of the bullpen, so you’d think there’s some good value there on top of the affordable contract.
Kevin has been writing about Philadelphia sports since 2009. He spent seven years in the CBS 3 sports department and started with the Union during the team's 2010 inaugural season. He went to the academic powerhouses of Boyertown High School and West Virginia University. email - k.kinkead@sportradar.com