3 Mock Trades That Would Make for a Perfect Phillies Deadline

The Philadelphia Phillies have been cold since the All-Star break, losing series to the New York Mets, Los Angeles Dodgers, and New York Yankees. On Monday, they gifted the Miami Marlins their first win since July 9.

The Phillies are still 57-50. They have a two-game lead for a Wild Card spot and 80% playoff odds on FanGraphs. They’re a good team in a good position, but their flaws are impossible to ignore.

Their hitters have a 92 wRC+. I’ve been watching this team all season, and I had to triple-check that number. I knew the lineup had been underwhelming, but no contender should have an offense that bad.

Their defense has a -10 Fielding Run Value and -44 Defensive Runs Saved. Those numbers I believed. It’s been rough out there.

Altogether, Phillies position players have combined for 7.7 fWAR. Only two teams in Major League Baseball, the Rockies and Reds, have seen less production from their lineups. That isn’t good company to keep.

A dominant group of pitchers is preserving Philadelphia’s life force, but the pitching staff, like the offense, is top-heavy and lacking depth. This team has three aces but no semblance of a fifth starter. And if you cut out Jhoan Duran from the equation, Phillies relievers have a 4.63 ERA.

So, the Phillies need help. The trade deadline is six days away, and president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski has his work cut out for him. At the very least, he needs one reliable starting pitcher, one right-handed bat, and one high-leverage reliever.

I’ll be the first to admit I’m no good at mock trades, so I enlisted the help of some much smarter minds from the Just Baseball staff. I gave them three major league names, and they sent me back the prospect packages it would take to bring those veterans back to Philadelphia.

Without further delay, here’s our best guess at what a realistic, successful trade deadline will look like for the Phillies. These three moves will fill their biggest holes, raise the team’s floor and ceiling, and take some pressure off an overworked core. Oh, and none of them involve giving up top pitching prospect Gage Wood.

Kevin Gausman Is the Big Fish

• Phillies get: Kevin Gausman
• Blue Jays get: Ramon Marquez, Carson DeMartini

Our editor-in-chief Ryan Finkelstein made a compelling case for the Phillies to trade for Joe Ryan, but I have a feeling they’d prefer to add a rental.

Zack Wheeler is making $42 million next season. Cristopher Sánchez, Jesús Luzardo, and Aaron Nola are owed a combined $337 million for the duration of their contracts. The Phillies need another starter right now, but I think they’d rather enter the offseason with some flexibility in their rotation.

Kevin Gausman isn’t Tarik Skubal, but he might be the next best rental on the trade block. In his first four seasons with the Blue Jays, Gausman made at least 31 starts every year with an ERA in the mid-3.00s. At his best, he’s an ace. Anyone who watched him put the Blue Jays on his back last September and October knows exactly what that looks like.

Gausman has an uncharacteristic 4.51 ERA this year, due to a 6.32 ERA in his last 10 starts. That might scare off some suitors. The Phillies, however, shouldn’t be frightened. They don’t need him to be an ace. They already have three aces in Sánchez, Wheeler, and Luzardo.

The reason Gausman is fit for the Phillies is that he’s such a reliable workhorse. And despite his recent struggles, he has still pitched every fifth game like clockwork, averaging more than five innings per start.

The Phillies haven’t had a fifth starter since mid-June, when they optioned Andrew Painter and his 7.02 ERA to Triple-A. They need starts and they need innings, and Gausman should be a great source of both. He hasn’t been on the injured list since 2019. Over the last six years, only one pitcher has made more starts (Dylan Cease), and only one has thrown more innings (Logan Webb).

Painter, Taijuan Walker, and Alan Rangel – the Phillies’ No. 5 starters this year – have a combined 7.14 ERA while averaging about 4.1 innings per game. Even Gausman at his worst is a major upgrade from that. Gausman at his best would give the Phillies one of the greatest starting rotations in MLB history. (And this team knows a thing or two about that!)

The Prospects

Entering the season, Aram Leighton included Ramon Marquez and Carson DeMartini as honorable mentions on his list of the Phillies’ top 15 prospects. Here’s what he wrote about them at the time:

Ramon Marquez – RHP: Marquez overpowered Complex and Low-A hitters in his pro debut in 2025, filling up the strike zone with a three-pitch mix. The fastball sits 93-95 but lacks desired shape. His feel for an above-average changeup helped him pick apart more inexperienced hitters with a decent slider to mix in. It will be interesting to see how Marquez’s stuff plays against better competition, but the foundation is there.

Carson DeMartini – SS/3B: A fourth-round pick by the Phillies in 2024, DeMartini really struggled once he was promoted to Double-A in 2025. That said, he looks capable of handling shortstop and is an above-average defender at third base. The feel for the strike zone and swing decisions hedge the swing-and-miss concern some, but he will need to make more contact to land as a bulk-platoon infield option.

Based on those write-ups, you probably don’t think this package is enough to land Gausman. You’ll be even more skeptical when I tell you that DeMartini has only played 24 games this year; he’s been on the IL with a sprained wrist since early May.

What you need to know is that Marquez is a whole different prospect than he was a few months ago.

He started the year by dominating Single-A. The righty put up a 1.86 ERA and a 40.5% strikeout rate in 29 innings before he earned a promotion to High-A. He has had just as much success against the next level of competition, with a 1.83 ERA and a 43.8% strikeout rate in his first five starts.

According to Baseball America and MLB Pipeline, Marquez is now the Phillies’ second-best pitching prospect, with a 50 FV. Matt Winkelman of Phillies Minor Thoughts is equally high on the 20-year-old, noting that his fastball velocity is up and his slider looks more like a cutter now, helping him thrive against righties and lefties alike.

On Monday, Marquez was named the South Atlantic League Pitcher of the Week. He struck out a career-high 10 batters over five scoreless innings in his last start. This is the second time this season he’s won the award, and keep in mind, Marquez has only made five starts at High-A.

It won’t be easy for the Phillies to lose a prospect whose stock is rising so quickly, but you have to give up talent to get talent, and Gausman is worth the sacrifice. Marquez is the centerpiece of the deal, and DeMartini puts it over the top.

Lane Thomas Is a Much-Needed Righty Bat

• Phillies get: Lane Thomas
• Royals get: Sean Youngerman

Phillies right-handed hitters have the worst OPS in the majors. This team needs a righty bat, and there is a clear opening in the outfield with Adolis García done for the season.

Taylor Ward is the righty-batting outfielder everyone is talking about, but I like Lane Thomas for a few reasons:

• The Royals are more likely than the Orioles to sell.
• Thomas should come cheaper, and the Phillies need to spend more trade chips on a starter.
• Ward has been better lately, but for their careers, the two have nearly identical numbers against left-handed pitching.
• Thomas plays center field, which means he can platoon with Justin Crawford.

Thomas has a 124 wRC+ against left-handed pitching this year. Only three Phillies have been more productive against southpaws this season: Kyle Schwarber, Bryson Stott, and Adolis García.

So, while most teams might not consider Thomas an impact bat, he would certainly make an impact for the Phillies.

The Prospect

Sean Youngerman came in at No. 14 on our preseason Phillies prospect list. Here’s what Aram had to say:

Sean Youngerman – RHP: A righty who stays behind the baseball well, Youngerman features a relatively short arm stroke. His four-seam fastball is his best pitch, generating plus vert at 92-94 mph. The riding life generates plenty of chase at the top and strong zone-whiff figures. If the velocity can sit closer to 93-94 mph, it should play like a plus heater.

It’s his third most used pitch, but his changeup looks like Youngerman’s best secondary, flashing above average with good vertical separation from his hoppy fastball. The slider is presently below average with a cutter/slider hybrid shape in the mid-80s. A large reason why was his inability to command it (32% in-zone rate).

Striking out 59 against just eight walks, Youngerman’s ability to fill up the strike zone with a potentially plus heater gives him a strong foundation, but he will need to develop his secondaries to land in the back of a rotation.

Unfortunately, Youngerman’s professional career hasn’t gotten off to the best start. In 52.2 innings at Single-A, he owns a 5.47 ERA. In particular, he has struggled with command, walking more than 10% of his opponents. Baseball America recently dropped Youngerman from their Phillies top 30 prospects list.

According to Matt Winkelman, Youngerman’s four-seam looks like “a fine pitch,” but it isn’t good enough to carry his arsenal unless he improves his secondaries. Before the season, Aram gave his slider a 40/50 grade and his changeup a 45/55 grade. Both pitches have the potential to become at least average offerings, but they clearly aren’t there yet.

Considering how few right-handed bats are on the trade block, Thomas could drum up a bidding war. But a flawed pitching prospect with a good fastball is a perfectly fair return for two months of a league-average bat.

A.J. Minter Upgrades the Bullpen

• Phillies get: A.J. Minter
• Mets get: Mavis Graves, Keaton Anthony

I never want to see the Phillies sending talented prospects to the Mets, but our resident Mets expert put this mock trade together, and I see where he’s coming from.

Philadelphia is very familiar with A.J. Minter, who has spent all of his 10 big league seasons in the NL East. He has made 50 appearances against the Phils (more than any other team), pitching to a 2.23 ERA and holding their batters to a .198/.249/.316 slash.

Injuries have cut into Minter’s playing time over the last three seasons. Still, he has a 2.41 ERA and 3.36 xERA in the 67.1 innings he’s pitched since 2023. His velocity is down this year, and his strikeout and whiff rates are uncharacteristically low, but he has only walked two of the 88 batters he’s faced. He’s a veteran with a long, impressive track record who still knows how to succeed.

Minter is a lefty, but he has roughly equal platoon splits in his career. That’s great for the Phillies, who need a replacement for right-handed setup man Brad Keller and a more trustworthy lefty than José Alvarado. Adding Minter kills two birds with one stone.

The Prospects

Keaton Anthony was a name to watch on our preseason Phillies prospect list. Here is Aram’s write-up:

Keaton Anthony – 1B: Signed by the Phillies as an undrafted free agent in 2023, Anthony has quickly moved through the minor leagues, putting up impressive numbers at each stop. The above-average bat-to-ball has led the way, and Anthony has at least average raw pop that he is working to get into games more. A hamstring issue limited his 2025 season to just 82 games between Double and Triple-A, albeit with a strong 138 wRC+.

Anthony broke his foot in spring training. The injury kept him off the field until mid-May, and he didn’t return to Triple-A until June. This is the second year in a row that an injury has impeded his development. What’s more, his overall numbers at Triple-A Lehigh Valley are disappointing compared to the production he put up in 2025.

However, things aren’t as bleak as they seem. Anthony has reduced his strikeout rate and increased his isolated power compared to last season. He owns a .355 xwOBA in 170 PA for the IronPigs in 2026, compared to a .305 xwOBA in 148 PA the year before.

He’s making more contact, he’s making harder contact, and he’s putting the ball in the air. Those are all positive signs, even if his slash line isn’t quite where you’d like it to be for a 25-year-old who has technically been at Triple-A for more than a year.

Mavis Graves didn’t earn a mention on our preseason Phillies list, but he’s arguably the more promising of these two prospects now. Baseball America gives both of them the same Future Value grade (40) and risk level (average), with Anthony at No. 27 on their latest ranking and Graves at No. 29.

However, Matt Winkelman was significantly higher on Graves when he updated his Phillies prospect rankings in June. He had praise for the lefty’s secondaries, noting that Graves has shown “more confidence and success” on his changeup this year. That’s the offering that Baseball America said he needs to improve if he’s going to stick as a starting pitcher.

His fastball still doesn’t look like a pitch that can anchor a starter’s arsenal. Yet, for what it’s worth, Graves has upped his velocity a bit this year. You won’t see any evidence of improvement in his surface-level stats (1-7, 4.78 ERA), but he’s getting more whiffs and generating more groundballs. His strikeout-minus-walk rate at High-A is up from 14.0% last year to 22.4% so far in 2026.

Graves has now made 37 starts at High-A Jersey Shore, and he’s ready to try the next level – whether it’s in the Phillies organization or somewhere else. Indeed, just as I was typing that, I read that Graves is indeed being promoted to Double-A Reading. Clearly, the Phillies agree that he’s made more progress than his seven losses suggest.

I wouldn’t say either Anthony or Graves is likely to be a long-term major leaguer, but each of them has enough upside to entice the Mets. And I’m willing to stomach this deal if it gets the Phillies the difference-making bullpen arm they need.