Under managing partner John Middleton, the Philadelphia Phillies have been pretty good at signaling when they intend to make a major move. The interest that the Phillies had in signing both Bryce Harper and Trea Turner was known for at least a year in advance of both actually putting on red pinstripes.
The flip side of that is when you don’t hear a ton of noise backing up the idea of the Phillies pushing their chips to the center of the table for a certain move, you’re left to wonder if they are actually interested in doing so.
For as much talk as much speculation as there has been about a possible pursuit of Chicago White Sox center fielder Luis Robert Jr., there hasn’t, at least to this point, been credible reporting to suggest that the Phillies plan to make that type of a move.
In fact, Ken Rosenthal wrote in The Athletic Tuesday that while an injury to a key player could change their plan, the Phillies are currently “looking for role players and bullpen depth, because they already have MVP-caliber talents and top-of-the-rotation starters who can swing playoff series.”
In an appearance on Foul Territory later in the day, Rosenthal specifically discussed the possibility of the Phillies acquiring Robert, pouring cold water on the idea.
“I don’t see them trading for Luis Robert Jr., to answer everyone’s question. Because they don’t necessarily have a need for that type of guy right now. Everyone would love to have Robert, of course, but they also want to preserve what they have in young talent, the prospects coming, to balance their payroll in the years ahead.”
It’s perhaps more debatable whether the Phillies have a need for a player like Robert than Rosenthal made it seem. He would both offer a massive upgrade in center field over Johan Rojas, and give the Phillies another middle-of-the-order bat with pop, something they could use, particularly from the right side.
With that said, part of the plan when the Phillies hired Dombrowski in December of 2020 was to find a way to balance winning with building a pipeline of young talent. The Phillies farm system is finally starting to get respect across the league, with one outlet ranking it as a top-10 group recently. There’s no doubt the Phillies are in a World Series window, but do they immediately want to undo the gains made in the farm system by trading someone like infielder Aidan Miller — the No. 2 prospect in the system, per Ty Daubert of Phillies Nation — in a megadeal? That’s fair to wonder.
What Rosenthal did also say in the appearance is that in addition to potentially adding another reliever, “Dombrowski also wants to add a right-handed outfielder perhaps, to platoon with Brandon Marsh.” Marsh has an .875 OPS against right-handed pitching this year, but just a .400 mark in 53 plate appearances against lefties. Granted, that’s a relatively small sample size, but Marsh has struck out 25 times against southpaws this year, so he hasn’t given the Phillies a reason to give him more looks.
Over the weekend, USA Today‘s Bob Nightengale reported that the Phillies are “keeping a close eye on” Oakland Athletics slugger Brent Rooker. He, Taylor Ward of the Los Angeles Angels, Lane Thomas of the Washington Nationals and Mark Canha of the Detroit Tigers are among the names the Phillies could consider trading for to have a better platoon option with Marsh in left field. Adding a better left fielder could also lead to somewhat of a platoon in center field between Marsh and Rojas.
