The Phillies let another game slip away Wednesday night after Aaron Nola failed to make it out of the 5th inning in a 11-6 comeback win for the Marlins.
Philly got out to a 5-2 lead in the middle stages of the game, but another head scratching decision by Joe Girardi led to the Marlins comeback. After letting up a grand slam on Monday to give up the lead, Girardi thought it was a great idea to bring Neftali Feliz back into a high leverage role as a 5-2 Phillies lead was turned into an 8-5 deficit.
The Phillies continue to lose in grueling fashion as the bullpen blunders continue to hold this team out of contention. With a record of 37-41, the Phillies have about 10 games to decide if they will be buyers or sellers at this year’s trade deadline.
In my opinion, the Phillies should be major sellers at the deadline this year. At this point, this core group of Phillies players has been on the field together since the 2019 season, with the exception of a few guys. There is something deeper than lack of talent going on in this locker room, I believe that there is a culture issue and this group of players will never find success together.
The Phillies have a lot of talented vets that a team in a pennant race would desire. If I were Dave Dombrowski, these would be the players I’d try and move at the deadline.
Jean Segura
Jean Segura has been a solid Phillies infielder for 3 years now, but he has some tendencies that have become very irritating as a fan.
Jean continues to show lack of hustle at times and he never seems motivated to win. He’s currently batting .325 with 15 extra base hits and 21 RBIs in a season where he’s landed on the injured list twice. Jean is 31 and the Phillies look to have some promising young infielders, it’s a no brainer to move Segura to a contender at the end of the month.
With the current state of the Phillies, it would be more important to develop Nick Maton and Luke Williams than play an aging Segura every night.
Andrew McCutchen
McCutchen has been a fan favorite since his first at bat with the team in 2019 where he hit a leadoff homerun on Opening Day to start a thrilling first series against the Braves. Cutch has had his ups and downs at the plate with the Phillies and he is no where near the defensive player he once was.
Like Segura, contending teams would make a push for McCutchen if he’s available. He still hits for decent power and has an art for getting on base. Cutch will be 35 in October and he is most likely not a part of the Phillies future plans. The Phillies won’t get a major package in return for Cutch, but rebuilding this farm system should be a priority at the deadline.
Zack Wheeler
Zack Wheeler is in year 2 of a 5-year, $118 million contract he signed prior to the 2020 season. Wheeler has been the best pitcher the Phillies have had since Roy Halladay. Watching him pitch this season has been special and if it wasn’t for Jacob deGrom, Wheeler would be the lead candidate for the Cy Young award. The Phillies signed Wheeler because they believed he was the missing piece to a playoff team and that clearly is not the case in 2021.
If Wheeler were to be available at the end of the month, he would be the most desirable player in the league. Every contending team is always looking to add to their pitching staff — having a guy like Wheeler in the playoffs could carry you to a World Series.
With Wheeler’s injury history and already being on the other side of 30, the Phillies should trade him as long as the return is multiple top prospects. The Phillies got 3 top-100 prospects for Cole Hamels back in 2015, I think it would take more than that for the Phillies to trade Wheeler.
The Phillies have pretty unique chance to rebuild their farm system this deadline and they would be stupid not to.
Brad Miller
Brad Miller would be a rather easy move to make for the Phillies. He only signed a 1-year, $4 million dollar deal and wouldn’t bring much return in trade value, but there is no point to playing Brad Miller over some of the young talent the Phillies have.
There’s always a market at the deadline for left handed power bats on expiring deals, Miller should be moved rather easily.
Hector Neris/Archie Bradley
If possible, Hector Neris and Archie Bradley should be moved. This comes down to if a team would actually want these guys who have failed the Phillies time and time again.
They both carry a lot of experience and have spent the majority of their careers in the closer role. Trading these two isn’t about the return we get, it’s more of departing with the failures they have been with this club recently