The Phillies are clearly shopping for bullpen help, and the clock is ticking toward the August 3 deadline. With Jhoan Duran handling the front of the relief corps, Philadelphia still has a real need behind him after Brad Keller was likely done for the season and the rest of the bullpen has been too uneven to trust consistently.
That’s why USA Today’s Bob Nightengale has linked the Phillies to a familiar division foe: Mets right-hander Luke Weaver. Nightengale reports that the Phillies “would love” to trade for Weaver, though the cost could be the thing that shuts the door.
Weaver has been one of the better relievers available on paper. He’s posted a 2.03 ERA this season, along with 1.6 bWAR and 43 strikeouts in 40 innings over 38 appearances. He’s also in the middle of a two-year, $22 million contract that runs through the 2027 season.
That contract is part of the problem. The Phillies would not only have to deal with the Mets, an NL East rival, but also pay a steep price for a reliever who isn’t a rental. Nightengale’s reporting makes the interest clear, but the fit is another matter entirely.
If Philadelphia does turn elsewhere, the Mets’ A.J. Minter and Brooks Raley look like more realistic targets. Both are left-handers, and both would cost less because they’re rentals.
Weaver may be the Phillies’ preferred option. But for now, the combination of the contract, the division tax and the expected asking price makes a blockbuster deal look difficult to pull off.
In Other News...
Phillies May Have Found The Draft Value Their Farm System Needed
The Phillies 2026 draft class came with the kind of mix front offices hope can balance a farm system: a first-rounder in Tyler Spangler, whose back injury history adds some risk, and a cluster of college talent that gives the organization more shots at usable depth. Philadelphia also leaned into pitching, taking three college arms among its top 150 picks, while adding an outfielder in Will Gasparino, a name that has already started to stand out in draft circles.
Gasparino is the sort of pick that can make the middle rounds matter. The UCLA outfielder brought power and athleticism to the board, and evaluators see real value in the upside he offers for a fifth-round selection. The questions are the familiar ones for a player with that kind of profile, but the Phillies may have found a bat worth betting on if the swing comes together the way they believe it can. [Read more 🡒]
Phillies Suddenly Have A High Stakes Decision On A Top Arm
The Phillies have reached a point in the season where even their prospect decisions carry real weight, and Gage Wood is suddenly part of that conversation. The first-round pick from the 2025 MLB Draft has moved quickly through the minors and given the organization reason to believe in his upside, but he is still early enough in his development that every next step has to be weighed carefully against the clubs bigger goals.
What makes it trickier is the timing. Wood has not yet been stretched beyond five innings in a start, and Philadelphia is also trying to sort through a bullpen picture made more complicated by Brad Kellers recent injury. Between the possibility of a promotion, the temptation to keep building him in the minors, and the chance he could be used to address another need, the Phillies are staring at a decision that could shape both the stretch run and the way they manage their young arms going forward. [Read more 🡒]
Phillies Keep Facing One Rotation Problem They Cant Ignore
The Phillies have spent the last two months trying to patch together the back end of their rotation, and the results have not given them much confidence. Since May 18, they have not won a game started by their fifth starter, a stretch that has gone 0-8 and featured a rotating cast of arms trying to hold the spot together. Alan Rangel and Andrew Painter have both gotten looks, but the overall production has been rough, with the group posting a 7.17 ERA across 89.1 innings.
Now the pressure is shifting from simply covering innings to finding a more reliable answer before the August 3 trade deadline. The club has already cycled through several options, including Taijuan Walker, Tim Mayza, Tanner Banks, Zach Pop and Kyle Backhus, while some possible internal reinforcements have already been removed from the 40-man roster. With the market thinning out and the calendar moving fast, the Phillies are left weighing how much longer they can afford to treat the fifth starter spot as a temporary fix. [Read more 🡒]