Trade Reports HEATING UP... Phillies LINKED to STAR Pitcher | Phillies News

The 80 game suspension to Jose Alvarado puts this Philadelphia Phillies bullpen in a difficult spot. With the key arm suspended for 80 games and Illa ineligible for the MLB playoffs, Dave Dombrowski has some tough decisions to make leading up to the trade deadline. But an interesting name has climbed to the forefront of the conversation as a familiar trade target is back in the mix for this Phillies team. I want to break down the latest reports. We do have a little bit of momentum building towards a trade. It has felt like a foregone conclusion that the Phillies will be active to the deadline in addressing their bullpen even before the Alvarado suspension, but certainly following the case here. So I do want to dive into the latest of what exactly we know, but before I do that, as always, I want to remind you guys to make sure you are hitting that subscribe button. At this point in time, just 27.2% of you guys watching these videos have subscribed to us here at Phillies Digest. We've got a lot more baseball to break down. Starting to get into the home stretch of the season, that real midpoint where the season finds a groove, and our Phillies are living up to the expectations at this point in time. So much better baseball over the past couple weeks now, and I do think that this team has another gear that they will still get to. Now to dive into the latest today, of course, the Jose Alvarado situation changed things for this Phillies team in a major way. We've kind of had our concerns about the bullpen coming into the year, and at the start of the season where they really underperformed, then the unit as a whole starting to find their stride, build some confidence, and this sort of rocks the boat for everyone's roles and everyone's expectations moving forward. So when thinking about how to move on from here, we do get this article written, originally posted in the St. Louis Cardinals on Sports Illustrated with the headline, Cardinals Closer Linked to the Phillies After Jose Alvarado Suspension. The article writes, The St. Louis Cardinals have found themselves back in contention after overcoming a dreadful start to the 2025 season. They started 14-19 and have since won 13 of their last 15 games, coming within one game of first place in the National League Central. Still, that hasn't stopped speculation that St. Louis might sell off a piece or two of the trade deadline. One piece that they could trade is all-star closer Ryan Helsley, who is coming off a career year. The Philadelphia Phillies just lost left-hander Jose Alvarado to an 80-game PED suspension. RJ Anderson of CBS Sports lists Helsley as somebody the Phillies could target to replace Alvarado. And to dive a little bit deeper into this here, we do have, Helsley established himself as one of the sport's top relievers over the past few years, earning Cy Young Award consideration in both 2022 and 2024. Will he be made available at the deadline? That would seem to depend on how the Cardinals play over the next two months, Anderson wrote. It is worth noting that Helsley is an impending free agent, however, and could go alter the Cardinals' calculus on such a move. Helsley could bring back a few solid prospects if traded, and given that he is in the final year of his contract, it actually does make sense for the Cardinals to at least consider trading him. The Cardinals are also thin on pitching depth at the minor league level, so replenishing their supply of young arms would certainly help them going forward. We'll see what they decide to do. So obviously not a ringing endorsement that there will be a trade going down here, but still worth noting. And even farther than that, what I thought was interesting is this has been a player where there's been a lot of buzz and in connection to the Phillies since before that. In fact, there was this article pulled up here that I did want to recognize with Bob Nightingale as the source. This was written before the Alvarado injury even went down. It is titled, Report Phillies Keeping a Close Eye on Closer Ryan Helsley, and to give the write up, it says, Nightingale noted on Sunday morning that, quote, the Philadelphia Phillies, who among other teams, already are keeping a close eye on Cardinals' closer Ryan Helsley, who will likely be dealt by the trade deadline. The Diamondbacks are also among the group of teams with interest in the St. Louis closer per Nightingale. Helsley's name has popped in trade rumors before. Ahead of last season's trade deadline, there was some speculation that he could get moved. Heading into this past offseason, his name appeared in trade rumors and reports again. The Cardinals, though, wanting to field a competitive club, have held onto Helsley, one of baseball's premier closers. Helsley, 30, is a two-time All-Star. He won the Trevor Hoffman Reliever of the Year award given to the National League's top reliever last year. The right-hander led the Majors with 49 saves in 2024, appearing in 65 games and posting a 2.04 ERA. Between 22 and 2024, Helsley's 5.8 war per fan graph ranked second among qualified relievers. In that span, he made 152 appearances for the Cardinals, recording 82 saves, striking out 34.6 of the hitters he faced, and posting a 1.83 ERA. It does not get much better than that from a relief pitcher's perspective, and this is a guy that I would be very interested in. Now, the biggest crossroads that I run into in this entire conversation is the fact that he's a right-hander. And I think when looking at this Phillies bullpen as a whole, and to take a peek at the overall depth chart here, that you can see the notable names that we still have faith in. Jordan Romano has opened my mind again that I am starting to believe and trust he's been miles better since the start of his season where he absolutely got rocked around. Orion Kerkering, I see a lot of people selling their Orion stock, and I do think that is a bit premature. That, yes, he's had his struggles. He has not been, maybe per se, the elite reliever that we hoped he could take that next step into becoming. But it's not like this guy has been as bad as I think the conversations and talking point are about him. He's still a young kid. He's still learning the ins and outs of pitching. He doesn't mix up his pitches well enough at this point in the game, but the stuff is still nasty. And that's a guy that I think we can still count on trusting. It really is below these guys that we kind of have the concern. But in adding Helsley, even in this situation, Matt Strom is really the only high-leverage left-hander that this Phillies organization can have any faith in. Do you believe Tanner Banks can take that next step and be that next-up left-hander? I personally don't feel that way. When you look at the other options, there's just not a lot for this Phillies team. You can just see right here on the depth chart, look how right-hand dominant it is, and you just would be adding to that as a strength with Helsley. Now, with all that being said, I do think in a lot of ways the right-hander versus left-hander conversation is overstated. There obviously is some truth to the data, but I think teams on both sides of things, from the pinch-hitter perspective, from the pitching matchup perspective, overthink it by going by that as the Bible there, of believing that this is exactly how things need to be done, when in reality, sometimes just throw your best pitcher, or sometimes just throw your best hitter, and forget about the left-handed and right-handed splits. Now, granted, every player is different here, but Helsley is a guy that I would think falls into that category. And to dive into what he has done on this season overall, he's pitched in 16 games, exactly 16.0 innings pitched there, just one home run allowed, 16 strikeouts across that 7.3 hits per 9 innings there, a 2.81 ERA, and a 1.438 whip. Still very good stuff there. This is not the best that he's performed over the past couple seasons where he has emerged as one of the better relievers, but a guy that would absolutely be a weapon in this Billy's bullpen. Now, I've seen a lot of reactions going around to the Jose Alvarado suspension, equally crazy on both sides of the equation, some definitely extreme jump-off-the-ledge takes on this. The thing that I think should be made clear, where this hurts the Phillies, obviously him not being around is the big story here, and not being eligible for the playoffs is really where they're hurt by it. But the bigger story to me is, where they get hurt by this, is it essentially costs them prospects. As something that was turning into a position you were sort of okay with again, is now a glaring weakness. The Phillies absolutely have to address the bullpen, there is no way around it. Even talking, as I just mentioned, they have one legitimate left-hander in a high-leverage situation that can throw. That is not good enough. And even when bringing the Ryan Helsley trades, which again, I'm open to, I would be in, and I do think Dave Dabrowski, the prices control, when you factor in the free agency, it reminds me a lot of what they did with Carlos Estevez last year. Now, Helsley's a better closer than Estevez, which is something I'm excited about there. A guy that does fit that pure closer mold, which is something that I'm excited about. It makes me mad what a dying breed that is in baseball, how there is all these, you know, depending on the situation, depending on the matchup. I like a guy that, you know, when it is the ninth inning, it is their turn. That's a dude that gets me fired up, and I do think Helsley could fit that bill there, but you still need to address things with a left-hander. So in reality, the Phillies have done a really nice job building up their entire minor league system to this point, and that's something I've been kind of critical of for Dave Dabrowski. The reputation of him coming to Philadelphia and throughout his career in the front office of the MLB, is he is a guy that kind of nukes an organization, that he trades all the prospect, he goes for win-now pieces, and we have not seen that whatsoever here in Philadelphia, and that to me is something worth critiquing at this point in the game. This is the win-now Phillies franchise. This is a team that has been on the cusp of winning the World Series. They have to go for it, and I do feel that way this year. So Dave Dabrowski, it is time to speak with your actions here. That actions do mean more than words, and if they can solidify this bullpen, add a couple more key arms, we can view this team as legitimate contenders. They are playing better baseball, there is a lot more to this season to go, but you gotta be impressed with the level that this team is delivering right now. Got a valuable chance to continue stacking wins, as this is not the most difficult portion of their season whatsoever, but you can only beat who is in front of you, and that is what they are doing at a very high rate right now. So do want to hear from you guys in the comments, what exactly you think of the Ryan Helsley conversation. I guess my bigger question with it is, do you think it is a bad idea to use assets on another right-hander, or is he the quality of pitcher that you still think it is worth spending the premium on? I kind of sit on that side of the thing, that if you have a chance to add Helsley to this bullpen overall, you do it, and you still try and find another left-hander. But let me get your guys' thoughts in the comments, and one more time, do want to remind you guys, as always, to make sure you are hitting that subscribe button here. 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