Despite sitting in a first-place tie with the New York Mets in the National League East, the Philadelphia Phillies got another painful reminder of their biggest flaw on Tuesday night.
Clinging to a 3-1 lead against the San Francisco Giants headed into the bottom of the ninth, Jordan Romano allowed a walk-off, inside-the-park three-run homer to Patrick Bailey, a defensive-first catcher with a .553 OPS on the season. The implosion was the latest chapter in a nightmare season for Romano, whose ERA rose to a miserable 7.44. With 2024 All-Star Jeff Hoffman now in Toronto and left-handed specialist Jose Alvarado serving an 80-game suspension, the Phillies' bullpen has been a shell of what it has been in recent years.
Fortunately for the Phillies, relievers are the most commonly available asset at trade deadline season, and this year figures to be no different. While the Pirates’ David Bednar and the Cardinals’ Ryan Helsley are expected to be on the market, The Athletic’s Jim Bowden believes that the Phillies could be in play for Cleveland Guardians fireman Emmanuel Clase.
“(Clase) has been an institution in Cleveland, but a low-spending team like the Guardians might have to cash in while they’re having a sub-.500 season.”
As flawed as the Phillies' bullpen has been, their issues pale in comparison to the Guardians' offensive woes. The reigning American League Central champions rank 26th in Major League Baseball in runs scored and 29th in team batting average, contributing to a recent 10-game losing streak that sunk them to 15.5 games back in the division and 5.5 games back of the last wild card.
The issue for the Guardians, however, is that they don’t have any obvious trade candidates besides 38-year-old first baseman Carlos Santana, who has posted a mediocre .682 OPS and is a free agent after this season. Moving Santana will do little to right a sinking ship, but a potential Clase trade would be a different story. After a rough April, the 2024 Reliever of the Year Award winner has been his usual dominant self, posting a 1.50 ERA over his last 30 appearances. With three years remaining on his laughably team-friendly five-year, $20 million deal, Clase is the most valuable relief asset in the game right now, and could help the Guardians turn around their offense if they can acquire one of the Phillies' highly-regarded position player prospects like Aidan Miller or Justin Crawford.
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