Phillies

Phillies Reportedly Interested in Multiple AL Central Relievers

By Luke Arcaini

Published: Jul 10th, 2025 · 11:48 AM EDT

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The trade deadline is exactly three weeks away, and it seems like it’s going to be a big one.

I wrote an article yesterday about Dave Dombrowski needing to have a big deadline after a brutal offseason. The Phillies have holes, specifically a right-handed threat bat and one (or multiple) high-leverage relievers.

Thursday, Matt Gelb dropped a story at The Athletic titled “What we’re hearing about the Phillies’ trade deadline plans: Will they take a bigger swing?“ –

The Phillies, for now, sound more willing to trade bigger prospect chips for controllable big leaguers, especially a shutdown, late-inning reliever. The Phillies have a top-heavy farm system; major-league sources said initial indications are the Phillies want to shop this July in a more expensive aisle than the rental one. They have the prospects to do it.

The Phillies have a specific interest in the American League Central; they began scouting the Minnesota Twins more heavily this week in anticipation of them being sellers, league sources said. Griffin Jax and Jhoan Durán will be prized targets if Minnesota makes them available. They’re expected to listen. There is a potential match with the Cleveland Guardians, who boast a deep bullpen headlined by Emmanuel Clase. Teams expect Cleveland to take offers on Clase, who is signed through 2026 with $10 million club options for 2027 and 2028.

Emmanuel Clase has been one of the best relievers in baseball for multiple years. His ERA this season isn’t the flashiest, sitting at 3.12 through 41 appearances with 19 saves. But he holds a 1.84 career ERA with a 0.938 WHIP in 359 games. Even though he may not be the pitcher he was two years ago, he instantly turns into the best reliever in the Phillies bullpen, and one of the best that they’ve had in a really long time. Clase has multiple years of control left after this year, he’s signed through 2026, and has a club option in 2027 and 2028.

Griffin Jax is another interesting name mentioned. Jax, 30, holds a 4.12 ERA this season in 39.1 innings for the Minnesota Twins, but has an ERA under four in his previous three seasons, most notably a 2.03 last year in 71 innings. Jax has two years of club control after this year. Jhoan Duran, who is just 27 years old, holds a 1.52 ERA and a 1.089 WHIP in 41.1 innings this year with 45 strikeouts for Minnesota. Duran, like Jax, is under club control for two seasons following 2025.

Gelb’s report comes a day after a big trade deadline story from ESPN’s Jeff Passan, who listed the Phillies’ best fit as Clase, and possibly Steven Kwan in the package as well. Kwan, 27, is slashing .292/.350/.408 on the year with six homers, 29 RBIs, and a .757 OPS. The numbers may not jump out of the screen, but if you’ve watched Kwan play baseball, you know that he’s an immediate upgrade to a struggling Phillies outfield.

What sticks out the most is that the Phillies reportedly aren’t looking for rentals like they have in years past. If they’re going to trade top prospects for players that help them win now, they don’t want to just have those players for 60-ish games. Gelb mentions that every prospect, other than Andrew Painter, seems to be on the table.

The Phillies also have interest in Pirates reliever David Bednar, per Gelb, who confirmed a report from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

It seems that Dombrowski won’t be messing around over the next three weeks. No, you don’t make trades 21 days before the deadline. But everything is on Dombrowski’s radar as of now. They’ve been reluctant to trade prospects in the past. That doesn’t seem to be the case this year, especially if the desired players has club control after this season.

They’re going for it.