Depend me amongst those that apprehensive that, with about 12 groups within the Nationwide League playoff hunt within the week earlier than the commerce deadline, there won’t be sufficient sellers to kickstart a commerce market. Properly, the Philadelphia Phillies — who’ve the very best document in baseball — and the Baltimore Orioles — who’re tied for the very best document within the American League — have come collectively and mentioned, “To heck with all that.”
The Orioles are sending outfielder Austin Hays north in alternate for reliever Seranthony Domínguez and outfielder Cristian Pache. This being a transaction between Baltimore and Philadelphia, I assume there’s a amount of Outdated Bay altering fingers within the deal, however how a lot is as but unspecified.
An alternate of three main leaguers between two first-place groups? Hallelujah, a problem commerce!
Hays, 29, was an All-Star final 12 months, and is hitting .255/.316/.395 in 63 video games this season. It’s a little bit of a step again for a man who was about a median left fielder with high-teens dwelling run energy for the previous three seasons. However with Anthony Santander having the very best season of his profession, and with the emergence of Colton Cowser and Heston Kjerstad, outfield taking part in time is fairly onerous to return by in Baltimore anymore. (Presumably of curiosity solely to me: Between this deal and the commerce of Mike Baumann to Seattle two months in the past, the Orioles have now completely liquidated what was as soon as the league’s best assortment of third-round picks from Jacksonville College.)
The Phillies have lengthy been available in the market for an outfielder. The one actual weak spot for Philadelphia is heart area. Johan Rojas is a dynamite defender and may outrun his personal shadow, however he’s hitting .231/.268/.295 and has by no means actually proven a lot offensive promise. Brandon Marsh is an excellent defensive left fielder however a bit of in need of superb in heart, and at any fee, the Phillies don’t have one other left fielder who can hit in the event that they slide Marsh over. That was presupposed to be Whit Merrifield, however everyone knows how that experiment went.
As deep because the Phillies are, and have been, on offense, they’ve lengthy been in want of a right-handed bench bat who may spell both Marsh or Rojas when the workforce wanted a run late in video games. Jake Cave, it bears repeating, made the final out of the Phillies’ season final 12 months. Hays fills that want. He’s not a star by any means, however he doesn’t should be.
This commerce may disappoint Phillies followers who’ve spent the previous two months attempting to provide you with a punny Wolf Pack-style nickname for a Luis Robert Jr. fan membership. The Phillies may make one other transfer within the outfield, or they won’t. However buying and selling for Hays doesn’t impression their want for a participant like Robert — or their potential to accumulate one — within the slightest.
Hays may sometimes begin in left alongside Marsh in heart, however he’s really an ideal complement for the Phillies’ soggiest and most hirsute starter:
Hays and Marsh as Platoon Companions
| vs. Reverse-Handed Pitching | G | PA | BB% | Ok% | AVG | OBP | SLG | wOBA | wRC+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Austin Hays | 39 | 72 | 6.9% | 29.2% | .328 | .394 | .500 | .385 | 154 |
| Brandon Marsh | 77 | 225 | 11.6% | 29.3% | .279 | .360 | .482 | .364 | 136 |
| Austin Hays | 49 | 103 | 3.9% | 18.4% | .204 | .262 | .323 | .259 | 67 |
| Brandon Marsh | 39 | 57 | 8.8% | 45.6% | .140 | .211 | .160 | .176 | 7 |
So whereas Hays should do wonders for the Phillies as a fourth outfielder and platoon starter, the necessity in heart area stays. Furthermore, neither workforce actually gave up something they’re going to overlook.
Domínguez is mainly the Austin Hays of reduction pitchers. As soon as the Phillies’ nearer of the longer term, Domínguez had been within the group since 2011, and this season he broke into the highest 20 in profession reduction appearances in franchise historical past. However this Phillies lifer had fallen down the pecking order over the previous two seasons. On the time of the commerce, Domínguez was sixth amongst present Phillies relievers in common leverage index.
Not solely has he trickled down the depth chart like Hays, the 2 gamers have related contract statuses. Hays makes $6.3 million this 12 months, with one season of arbitration remaining. Domínguez, who’s additionally 29, makes $4.25 million this 12 months — $3.65 million in opposition to the CBT — with an $8 million membership choice for 2025.
In the very best bullpen within the Nationwide League, Domínguez could be a low-leverage man. Baltimore’s bullpen can also be among the many finest within the sport within the mixture, however the Orioles don’t have anybody who’s been as dominant as Jeff Hoffman and Matt Strahm, or Orion Kerkering. Baltimore’s nearer, Craig Kimbrel, was arguably Philadelphia’s least reliable reliever final season.
A part of the issue for Domínguez is that his sinker, one of many hardest in baseball, simply hasn’t been working for him the previous 12 months or so. He’s compensated by throwing his slider extra, and his outcomes on that pitch have been good — a 37.6% whiff fee and a .249 opponent wOBA on 40% utilization in 2024 — however loads of little issues have gone mistaken for Domínguez this 12 months. His strand fee is method down, he’s letting opponents put the ball within the air extra, and after they do, he’s giving up extra dwelling runs.
However on the finish of the day, it is a man who throws two completely different fastballs that may hit 100 mph and has a plus slider. If he goes to Baltimore and modifications completely nothing, he’ll most likely do higher than his present 4.75 ERA, and he’ll throw medium-leverage innings within the playoffs for the Orioles. But when the Orioles can get him again to the place he was in 2022, when his sinker was his finest pitch as a substitute of a legal responsibility, there’s the potential for a lot, far more.
The third participant within the commerce, Pache, has been a reputation since he was a prospect within the Braves’ system. He’s all the time dazzled defensively, however the A’s (who acquired him within the Matt Olson deal) after which the Phillies (who traded for him final spring) have held out hope that he’d hit sufficient to justify having his glove on the market, solely to return away disenchanted. For a lot of the previous 12 months, the Phillies carried each Pache and Rojas — two all-glove right-handed heart fielders — on a four-man bench, which by no means made sense to me for an instantaneous. If the Phillies had made any transfer for a place participant, Pache was most likely first in line not solely to lose his spot on the 26-man roster, however to get DFA’d. Including him to the commerce merely offers the Orioles proper of first refusal for a participant who most likely would’ve ended up on waivers.
With that mentioned, he may very well be helpful. The Orioles have sufficient punch of their lineup that they gained’t want Pache to hit, and with Cedric Mullins’ vary on the decline, Baltimore doesn’t have a defensive outfielder of Pache’s caliber. (I simply checked, Enrique Bradfield Jr. continues to be in A-ball.) Possibly he’ll stick as a pinch-runner and defensive alternative, but when not, it’s no massive deal.
Each groups will most likely need to make additional additions of their pursuit of a World Sequence title, however for the Friday earlier than the deadline, it is sensible to shuffle items round in pursuit of extra modest features. Hays, Domínguez, and Pache can have just a few days to achieve their new groups — and it’d take that lengthy, shore visitors in Delaware being what it’s on Friday afternoons in the summertime — whereas the Phillies and Orioles can recalibrate earlier than making their subsequent strikes.