Phillies

I Feel Better About the Phillies, but Not THAT Much Better

By Kevin Kinkead

Published: Aug 1st, 2025 · 10:21 AM EDT

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Phillies trade deadline recap:

• traded Eduardo Tait and Mick Abel to Minnesota for closer Jhoan Duran
• traded Geremy Villoria and Hendry Mendez to Minnesota for outfielder Harrison Bader
• traded Joseuth Quinonez to Detroit for Matt Manning, sent Manning to the minors
• signed David Robertson on a one-year, prorated deal

We went into this trade deadline asking for bullpen help and an outfield bat, which the Phillies added, so theoretically everybody should be happy about it, right? Eh, maybe.

Duran is a stud. No doubt about it. 27 years old and under team control through 2027 before he hits free agency. He is a legitimate closer and something they have not had in years, assuming Rob Thomson actually uses him in the 9th and doesn’t dick around with matchups and whatnot. If your starting pitching can give you six good innings, which it typically does, then you can roll Matt Strahm/Orion Kerkering/Jhoan Duran for innings 7/8/9 and the Phils claim the W and move on to the next one.

This trade grades out as an A.

Robertson, then, was signed as a free agent after sitting for the entirety of the year, so technically not a “trade deadline” acquisition, but close enough. He’s 40 years old, but a savvy vet who can give this bullpen some good innings.

We’ll grade the Robertson move as a B.

Now to Harrison Bader, who is 31 years old, hits righty, and has a mutual option for 2026. Again, not a rental here, so the Phillies bring in a guy they have some level of control over. Bader is hitting .258 this season with a .778 OPS. He’s logged 96 games, putting up 70 hits, 13 doubles, 12 home runs, 38 RBI, and swiping ten bags. He hits lefties and righties at about the same clip, a .774 and .779 OPS, respectively. He’s a 92nd percentile fielder.

On paper, this is an outfield upgrade. Yet people seem less than enthused. Why? Well it’s probably because upgrading the outfield was a very low bar to clear, considering how poorly the Max Kepler, Brandon Marsh, and Johan Rojas trio has played this season. The consensus seems to be that this helps, but it doesn’t help enough, because the offense needed more than just Harrison Bader at the deadline. And when you look around the league on Friday morning, Luis Robert remains in Chicago, Steven Kwan remains in Cleveland, Eugenio Suarez is in Seattle, and NL competitors added players like Cedric Mullins and Ramon Laureano.

Harrison Bader move gets a B grade.

Then there was the throw-in trade for Matt Manning, who is a change of scenery/reclamation project type of move. He was a first round pick back in 2016, had two good years with the Tigers in 2022 and 2023, then fell off, so the Phils will try to straighten him out.

Grade for Manning is a N/A. Maybe a standard C.

So you look at the Phillies after the trade deadline. Are they a better team? They are. Are they THAT much better? Dunno. That seems to be the generic fan and media takeaway, especially considering Dave Dombrowski’s not-exactly-inspiring comments on Thursday night:

Dave Dombrowski on Max Kepler after trading for Harrison Bader:

"He's playing left field for us at this time. He's actually been swinging the bat a little bit better, particularly versus right-handed pitching. But he's part of our roster at this time."

— Ty Daubert (@TyDaubert) July 31, 2025

Huh? Swinging the bat a little better? Kepler had 11 hits in 17 July games. He hit .196 last month.

But you never know, maybe this is Dombrowski blathering nonsense to the media and the “Max Kepler has been designated for assignment” email comes at some point in the near future. Maybe Bader slides in nicely, Justin Crawford gets a call up, and the Phils start humming. Fingers crossed, but breath is not being held. The Phillies got better, but so did a bunch of teams.