The Phillies are known to have interest in Pirates reliever Richard Rodriguez, and Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia reports (Twitter link) that catcher Rafael Marchan has been part of the trade talks between the two Pennsylvania clubs. Marchan is ranked fourth on MLB Pipeline’s list of Philadelphia’s top 30 prospects, though Marchan has been mentioned as a possible trade candidate ever since J.T. Realmuto re-signed with the club. Marchan has received a bit of big league playing time in each of the last two seasons but only made his Triple-A debut in 2021, hitting an underwhelming .200/.285/.215 over 151 plate appearances. The 22-year-old also missed a good chunk of Spring Training due to a hamstring injury.
The Phillies lead all of baseball with 23 blown saves, though Ranger Suarez has pitched well and more or less supplanted Hector Neris as the primary closer in recent weeks. Since Suarez’s four saves this season represent his entire career total, acquiring a more proven ninth-inning hurler (though Rodriguez himself only became a full-time closer this season) would go a long way towards solving one of the Phillies’ weaknesses.
More from the NL East…
- The Braves haven’t yet made any move towards being deadline sellers, as ESPN.com’s Buster Olney (via Twitter) reports that Atlanta is still looking to add players. After splitting a doubleheader with the Mets yesterday, the Braves are 49-51 and five games behind division-leading New York, with the Phillies now sitting between the two teams in second place. Atlanta has three games remaining in their series with the Mets, so it isn’t a stretch to say that this series could decide the Braves’ season.
- The Nationals could be open to trades for almost anyone on their roster, though Carter Kieboom may not be available, as FanSided’s Robert Murray reports that the Nats recently declined to discuss the infielder with an interested team. Specifically, the suitor was told that Washington wouldn’t discuss a Kieboom trade “right now,” so while this could technically mean that the Nationals might willing to talk now that they’re more directly looking to sell, Murray figures the Nats aren’t likely to move one of their younger and more promising players. While Kieboom has struggled over 173 PA in the majors, the 23-year-old isn’t far removed from being considered one of baseball’s top prospects.
If I’m Mike Rizzo and someone is interested in Carter Kieboom, I’ll listening to that phone call. He hasn’t shown anything yet to make me believe he might be a legit every day/threat at the plate.
Yeah cause you know, you can tell how a 23 year old’s bat is going to play at the MLB level after 173 at bats. He already has above average defense so all he needs to do is hit a little bit to be valuable.
Kieboom is likely the replacement for Turner should the Nats trade him. It’s a little hard to say what the Nats have in him with such a limited sample size of plate appearances
You’d be selling dollars for pennies. That’s why they won’t listen to offers for Kieboom.
The Braves are OUT OF IT!!! Sell! The team is good enough to sell guys like Morton and Smyly! They aren’t gonna take and it isn’t a tear down or rebuild! Heck, if you aren’t gonna extend Freddie before the end of the season, sell him also! I mean lord, don’t waste it! If he’s willing to help the Braves build for a better tomorrow and will come back, I mean come on. We still have a solid core, but we have to restock that farm a little and we have to understand where we are in this race, which is not in it…
@bravesfan, if the Braves win 3 out of 5 against the Mets (currently sitting at 1 and 1), they’re right back in it. The Mets have plenty left against the NLW, including a brutal stretch in August.
I’ll also say that while it’s debatable whether the Braves should buy or not, they certainly don’t need to sell. Injuries completely derailed them this year. While the Mets were also devastated, they had the depth to deal with it, while the Braves did not. Keeping the core together and adding surrounding the depth, could put the Braves right back on top of the division next year.
Mets have depth? The Mets on paper are no better than the Braves or anyone else for that matter. They have been the luckiest team in the league.
You want to know why the Mets are in first? Because they spent on the bullpen and the Braves (and Phillies) didn’t.
The Mets bench players carried this team in the early months. Whether it looks good on paper or not, the supporting players are why they’re in first. Bullpen depth as well (as you pointed out).
Their bench is not required to score 5+ runs a night because their bullpen has been dominant, especially earlier in the season. They are scoring just enough to win their games, whether it’s the bench or not. Again, they have been lucky with contributions. Their season from the productivity standpoint is going like the Braves did last season. Everything is going their way
Regardless how we see it, they are not a good team and not a threat in the playoffs either.
They’re better than the Braves though. And that says a lot. The Braves have less pitching than the Pirates do it seems most nights.
Yes, they are better because they have a better bullpen this season. It is the same reason why the Braves ran away last season – bullpen.
ITF. So,the Met lost 3B, SS, 2B, a couple of CF, & EVERY Starting Pitcher has been on the IR, that’s depth, and are in first. Your team should be so lucky & that’s their depth. Oh I almost forget their RF too
ITF. So,the Met lost 3B, SS, 2B, a couple of CF, & EVERY Starting Pitcher has been on the IR, that’s depth, and are in first. Your team should be so lucky & that’s their depth.
Yea one thing the Mets have is great position player depth.
Even if the Braves aren’t out of it in the East, they’re out of it for any real contention of a WS.
Can you actually imagine this team running into the Dodgers or Astros for 7 game series?
Just because anything can happen in the playoffs doesn’t mean your odds are good. This is like continuing to call bets while playing poker because there’s 5% chance you’ll hit on the river. I mean… there’s a chance right? That’s terrible logic.
Braves need to start focusing on beyond this year.
acquiring Turner still maintains the focus for next season ))). They should trade Morton and Smyly tho.
But I won’t hold my breath. AA is terrible and won’t do anything.
True the Braves were hurt by injuries and Ozuna now in legal trouble has screwed everything up
The Ozuna situation could work itself out or become a major problem. If he gets Convicted of a Felony, The Braves can fire him without giving him another penny. The Future in Atlanta is heavily tied to how much of that contract they can get out of.
The Braves could be really dangerous for years to come if they get this retool right.
@Cosmo2 That’s the thing. Despite the Phillies being in 2nd, they’re really not a longterm threat. They can sneak-in and win a bad division this year, but as currently constructed, they aren’t really a threat for 2022 and beyond. While the Mets and Braves are built to win for the next 3-5 years.
While everyone is talking about the Phillies buying, I really think they’re more looking for controllable assets than huge blockbusters. They need to get better for next season because they don’t have reinforcements in the farm.
Phillies fan here.
I don’t mind a Rodriguez/Marchan swap. Especially because Marchan isn’t going to see the MLB level for at least a few seasons. They have a clear need for a veteran RP. Especially that is cheap and under control for another season.
However, this screams that they’re going to remain under the luxury threshold. We all know even if they win the NL East, they’re not going to win the World Series. But it would still be disappointing as the division is within reach. No playoffs in 10 seasons. Just go for it.
Marchan is one of their higher value trade pieces. I’d hope they can package him for something a little better yhan Rodriguez, but it doesn’t seem likely.
To be #4 in the Phillies farm system is not that big of a deal.
If RichRod has only one year left,maybe.I say get a lottery ticket too at the very least.
The key is that the Pirates need catchers,and this guy may turn out to be a decent backup.
I don’t think it would necessarily be a bad idea for the Braves to see what they can get for a contract year guy like Morton (although obviously there’s the problem of where he wants to play) but the idea that they need to concede the division and sell now is silly. Losing this Mets series would obviously be bad for them, but there’s a lot of baseball to play and the Mets arguably have a lot more issues than they could plausibly solve this week (plus some tough matchups over the next two months, as Von pointed out)
@Kirk – I agree. The current Braves team with someone like Marte and a couple of relievers could easily win the division. Playoff baseball is a crapshoot. A couple of hot starters (check recent stats for Morton, Smyly, Muller, and Tuki) and a hot bat or two and anything can happen. Would an upgraded Braves team be the best in baseball? Heck no! But the best teams don’t always win in the playoffs. If the Braves can get real value for Morton or Smyly, I won’t complain if they take it, but adding bullpen talent and seeing what happens is a more than reasonable approach.
Morton doesn’t have a choice on where he gets to play
If he threatens to retire he does
What would Smyly even bring back in a trade?
They need to extend Freddie asap />/>/>
Has the drop in spin rate for Rodriguez made him less effective recently? I haven’t been following the Pirates but the charts have been making the rounds on Twitter.
Yes, it has. His stats for the last 30 days aren’t very good. The Pirates are wise to sell him for what they can get.
Trae Turner or fail!
I know Marchan’s bat is a work in progress, but he still seems like a good chip to give up for a reliever, even a solid one with a few years of control.
yeah, id prefer to keep him for a bigger deal
As a Pirates fan I would be shocked if we pulled him in a deal. His value is via trade right now but if the return is RR then the Pirates win that deal I would say.
Davis, their new draft pick could probably play corner OF and C maybe 1B too if Marchan develops too.
If that is a deal the Pirates can make I would make that today.
Davis’ value is really at C. But we don’t really have any catching prospects of note above A ball (Rodriguez) so I think it would be a solid move. Let him learn under Stallings and maybe his offense will come around as Stallings’ has as well.
If the Braves don’t sweep the next three, it’s wait ‘til next year. They need to pick up at least one game in the head-to-head series.
d’Arnaud will be back soon, as will Ynoa and Anderson. They still need an impact OF bat and a reliable bullpen arm. With those reinforcements, plus the guys coming back, they could make a run. But if they’re 6 or more down after Thursday, it’s too late.
As a Met fan, I’m still annoyed the way the team chucked away dArnaud’s potential. I know he’s always injured but when healthy he’s very good.
Not that there aren’t plenty of cases of the Mets poorly evaluating talent, but I feel like they gave him a lot of rope in terms of proving he could stay on the field. Apart from 2015, he wasn’t even especially productive when he played, and he was entering his age 30 season. However, I won’t argue that their efforts to bring in a different starting catcher haven’t been great either.
They did give him a lot of rope but then suddenly cut the rope at the weirdest time. Rumor has it that Jeffie had a tantrum after dArnaud made a bad throw and demanded he be released immediately. I’ve always been a big dArnaud fan.
Yeah, he can be really good when he is healthy. If he gets hurt on you tho everything can fall apart
@InkStain – They split their first two games, so if Atlanta wins 3 straight, they would gain 3 full games on the Mets. If they win 2 out of 3, they would pick up the 1 game you are asking for.
Why not center a deal around Hoskins instead of Marchan?
Hoskins would be traded if they were selling. If they’re trying to win now, he’s one of the cornerstones of the offense. I think it’d be more likely that Bohm would be traded.
Also, Bucs would have zero interest in Hoskins.
Because Hoskins has arguably been their second best hitter this season…..
I cant believe all you guys are giving up on the Braves. Real fans root for their team to win good or bad, Not look to who they can sell off!
I hear you James. I’ve posted in past threads how I don’t agree with the quit & sell ideology.
Selling this year is improving the team for the future. Let’s say we win the division. We will likely be playing the brewers. Have you seen their top 3starters? We’re being realistic
“Real fans”? As opposed to what?
Not giving up on braves…just want to see them get rid of dead wood like dansby for some decent relievers so we can hold a lead late.
Getting ready to say the Penguins should sign Cherington as their GM.
PHillies STAY AWAY FROM RODRIQUEZ since he stopped the sticky stuff his era inflated and he is just another below avg relief pitcher. Go for Kimbrel and Tepera from the Cubs if
you are not selling go for the GUSTO and trade whoever it takes to get them and a CF
If the Pirates can get a quality prospect in Rafael Marchan for Richard it would be crazy to not do it. Rafael is basically set to be an MLB catcher. I can see pirates moving one of Stallings or Perez in the off season if not sooner.
Seems like the Philly has a surplus of catchers now.
The pirates would go from a team with no catching depth/prospects to being pretty well off there.
Stallings is going nowhere.
They cannot get enough for him and he is one of their best clutch hitters.
They need a veteran catcher for the young pitchers.
Well, it’s getting close to the end of trading deadline..Dave Dombrowski has declared the team is buying..I do not expect his buying to be low key..We phans may yet be surprised …
The Phillies have no real business buying. They should be looking to sell pieces like Cutch and Hoskins, Miller and Segura (although I don’t know what team would take that contract) for even multiple minor league players and hope they hit on one or two.
I agree with Pax I have no faith they can do anything unless they get 2 starters a CF and 2 relievers which they won’t SELL BABY SELL.
The Braves and the Phillies will finish 1st and 2nd in the East, and not necessarily in that order. The Mets will finish 3rd. If I’m the Phillies, I’m buying, not selling.
@pax– as a phils fan you KNOW we have had too many years of NO playoffs & too much $ available next year to sell the pieces you mention. If they can win the div in 2021 then they get a real playoff series NOT the WC game. so they need to trade for Kimbrell & maybe bryant. Even if they lose that series perhaps they can coax some of the free agents to come play with Wheeler, JTR, Didi, Harper, segura. nola, eflin, kimbrell (if they were to get him)
As for marchan…..Please name the last time the phils traded a player from their farm system for a MLB player and regretted it because the prospect went on to be an everyday player? Julio Franco maybe
Carlos Carassco.
Ryne Sandberg?
Dave Dombrowski will not sell, he wouldn’t know how if he tried. He helped the Tigers sell in ’15 but only because he was already out the door. The Phillies sit 3.5 games behind the Mets with six head-to-head matchups still left to play, not insurmountable by any means. They also have 40 games against teams with losing records. The Mets have 33 games remaing against teams with losing records but have to run a 13 game gauntlet against the Dodgers and Giants from August 13-26
yes in 2009 for cliff lee and it took carrasco 5 yrs to develop !
d’arnaut in the doc halladay deal the next year but he took longer to develop and also is hurt all the time
OUR scouting and farm system is bad!!!
if we have a top 5 prospect he would be in 20’s in a good system— marchan is the example of that
If DD does buy not sell you diehard fans are fools to think they will do anything.This organization is still living on 2008 and blowing smoke up all the fan’s asses.I guarantee
what comes next is We tried there was nothing out there WE felt was worth the price.This
goes back to the 70’s.If the fan’s keep showing up and spending money to watch losers
then why would they do anything.
Get Adam Duvall, shouldn’t take that much in prospects. Should have had him before the Mets series started.
I’ve heard this bullsh!% from Alex “the hedgehog” anthopolous before. I don’t listen to anything he says. He just spews bullcrap
Theres only one trade the braves need to make to secure the division. Get rid of Dansby for a couple decent relievers to shore up the bullpen. Do ur DD and look at his stats and metrics. swanson is a product of media hype. They will NEVER win an NLCS or world series with dansby as their starting shortstop. REASONS: Sabers has Dansby at a 1.6 rating which is a AAA or show level shortstop at best. His WAR is pathetic at negatives all but twp seasons. He is a career 245 hitter but 190 in the clutch or with RISP LATE. He steps in the bucket on every swing which is a littl league nono. He is a step slow moving right or left on shots to short. He throws to the wrong side of the bag on DPs to Albies all the time. Yeah i know hes gone like 40 games without an error at SS…UH…thats due to mlb regaging what errors are five years ago. Dansby will slow on a play to keep from risking an error. Weak armed every throw has an arch to it. If he played for a league leader like dodgers cards yankees etc who are always in the playoffs he would have been cut loose two years ago or more. Sucessful teams would have already cut their losses on Dansby. His occassional HR or three game streaks would not be enough to keep his weak arse game around. God…id rather have jeff blauser back out there. Just how many times in the 7th or later are we gonna hafta watch this AAA shortstop come to the plate with runners at 1st and 3rd and see him hit that weak stuff to short for a rally killing double play? PLEASE!!!!!
Two relievers for Dansby Swanson isn’t gonna get it done. They need another Bat in that lineup. I said it before just get Duval he solves the outfield problem they have. You can’t keep running out Almonte and Arcia out there. They have been relying on replacement players in the OF the entire year. Look what just happened inthe 8th inning you have to score that run period and they couldn’t get it done. That is the story the entire year they need length in the lineup.
Uh….u could have a 280 bat with camargo at short. Played great when he was allowed on field and a better shortstop than dansby. Camargo may not lengthen yhe lineup enough but is definitely better than dansby.
Brave since 1965 and i have continually watched the braves try to force square pegs into round holes. Even during their glory years. Dansby, Bettancourt, Medlin,Bryse Wilson, Newcombe, lord i could go on and on. Why the hell hasnt aj minter not been tossed on the garbage heap yet? Up and down to AAA for years expecting leopards to change their spots…Successful franchises like dodgers cards yankees cut their losses and move on. Dansby still a career 240 hitter with terrible WAR and Sabers rating him a sub or AAA at best but after six years the Braves won’t move on from his stepping in the bucket and DP throws to the wrong side of the bag.