The Philadelphia Phillies have no shortage of problems to sort through before the MLB trade deadline, but the biggest one may not be on the active roster. It may be in the farm system.
President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski has clear work to do. The Phillies still need another right-handed bat to help even out the lineup, and the ideal fit would be an outfielder after Adolis Garcia and Johan Rojas both suffered season-ending injuries. They also have a major hole at the back end of the starting rotation, while the bullpen needs reinforcements to help bridge the gap to All-Star closer Jhoan Duran after Brad Keller’s UCL injury ended his season.
Dombrowski has a reputation for finding creative ways to land impact talent, and this deadline could require another one of those moves. The problem is that Philadelphia’s prospect capital does not line up neatly with the kind of blockbuster deals contenders usually need to make.
Keith Law of The Athletic recently released an updated top 70 prospects list, and the Phillies were shut out entirely. Not a single Philadelphia player made the cut, which is a major obstacle when trying to build the kind of package that can beat out other contenders.
That matters because the teams the Phillies are most likely to be bidding against are loaded with premium talent. The Los Angeles Dodgers have seven players in Law’s updated top 70.
The St. Louis Cardinals have four.
The Tampa Bay Rays, Pittsburgh Pirates and Milwaukee Brewers each have three, and the Chicago Cubs have two.
Philadelphia does have some intriguing young players in the system, but those names may not be enough if the competition starts stacking up stronger offers. The Phillies will have to find a way to make their packages stand out without the kind of top-tier prospects other clubs can put on the table.
Their top prospect entering the season, shortstop Aidan Miller, has not played because of a back injury that required surgery, which knocked him out of these rankings. Starting pitcher Andrew Painter, another former top prospect, has also struggled in the majors and has not been performing well since his demotion to Triple-A.
That leaves first-round pick Gage Wood as the most appealing trade chip right now. Wood is moving quickly and pitching well, though it is hard to picture the Phillies wanting to move him.
If Dombrowski is going to land the kind of help this roster needs, he may have to do it with volume rather than star power, putting together quantity-over-quality prospect packages and hoping that is enough to get a deal across the finish line.
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