Did the Phillies Win the Trade Deadline?
- Sabrina Workman
- Aug 2
- 4 min read
The Phillies entered the 2025 trade deadline with a championship-caliber roster, but some lingering issues. A revolving door in center field and an inconsistent bullpen were two glaring holes. A few names were floated. Some were realistic, others more wishful thinking. Now that the dust has settled, let’s look back at the players I suggested, who the Phillies actually landed, and whether Dave Dombrowski’s moves made this team better.
Aroldis Chapman (Boston Red Sox)
Chapman remains with the Red Sox. This team has the potential to go deep in the playoffs and for that they’ll need a reliable closer.
Emmanuel Clase (Cleveland Guardians)
Technically he’s still with the Guardians. He’s also on unpaid leave for potential gambling. So good job on the Phillies for NOT listening to my advice.
Jarren Duran (Boston)
Also still remained with the Red Sox. His name floated in many rumors but he’s still with Boston.
Taylor Ward (Los Angeles Angels)
He’s still with the Angels. His name was also floated around the deadline but he continues to be on the roster in LA.
Cedric Mullins (New York Mets)
I was close with this one! The former Oriole was traded to Phillies division rival-New York Mets. Mullins is a rental as he is a free agent after the season. The Orioles received two of the Mets minor league pitchers in the deal.
So, who did the Phillies get? Were the trades worth it?
Apparently this season Dave Dombrowski only wanted to trade with the Minnesota Twins. The Twins also traded away half of their roster and seem to be building a team around former Phillie Kody Clemens, and Byron Buxton.
Trade #1: Jhoan Duran to Philadelphia
Twins Receive: RHP Mick Abel, C Eduardo Tait
Phillies Get: Closer Jhoan Duran
Mick Abel goes to Minnesota and becomes one of their highest prospects. He made six starts for the Phillies this year, even breaking a record for his debut! Abel will report to the Minnesota Triple-A team, but the big league club has a lack of starting pitchers due to injuries so he’ll probably get the call up soon!
Minnesota also received catching prospect, 19 year old Eduardo Tait. The Phillies loved his throws as well as the power hits, as he was promoted from Single-A to High-A recently. Tait will go to the Twins’ High-A team.
Duran comes to Philadelphia with 74 saves across 4 years with the twins. He was also the AL Reliever of the Month in May. Duran makes 4.125 million and continues with arbitration this offseason. He also isn’t a rental. Duran is under team control through the 2027 season, which explains why the Phillies parted with Tait and Abel to get him.
Duran has been named the official closer, a spot that has rotated throughout the season.
In his first appearance for the Phillies, the lights could not be brighter, especially during his entrance. Duran tossed 4 pitches and got the save! Safe to say his entrance was amazing but a 4 pitch save, even more amazing!
Duran comes with 4 pitches: splitter, curveball, sweeper, and his four-seam which averages over 100 mph.
Trade #2: Harrison Bader to Philadelphia
Twins Receive: RHP Hendry Mendez, OF Geremy Villoria
Phillies Get: OF Harrison Bader
Although probably a rental, he has has a $10 million mutual option for 2026, so who knows. Bader has come to Philly to help our struggling outfield.
Bader is batting .258 with 12 home runs, 38 RBIs, and a .778 OPS. This is one of the best seasons of his career.
According to Dombrowski, “He’s going to play a lot.” The question just remains which platoon and where, and when!
As for internal moves, the Phillies sent Johan Rojas to Triple-A.
What about the rest of our prospects?
Justin Crawford (OF)
Dombrowski also commented on Justin Crawford’s imminent promotion: “We think he’s ready to play at the big league level,” Dombrowski said. “We could bring him up. If we do bring him up, he needs to play a lot. I'm not sure that we're in a position to do that at this point today, but he's not somebody that we would hesitate to bring up if we decided that was the right thing to do. He, like [Andrew] Painter, like a lot of those youngsters, they can use more development time. It will never hurt them.”
Andrew Painter (RHP)
As for Painter, the Phillies this week got plenty of offers for their #1 Prospect. Dombrowski said they would not trade him because they believe he can be an ace one day. “Will we see him?” Dombrowski said. “I’m not really sure what’s going to happen. We’re in a position where it’s a possibility, but I don’t want to say anything more than that because we really haven’t made that decision ourselves.”
The Phillies also retained their #2 prospect, Aidan Miller.
Dombrowski didn’t make a huge splash, but he did address two of the team’s biggest flaws, without sacrificing the farm.
The bullpen got a dominant, controllable closer and the outfield got a proven defender and playoff-tested bat.
Trade Deadline Grade: A-
The Phillies may not have chased every name on the board, but they made targeted, strategic upgrades that should help them in both October and beyond.
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