...
By Peter Chawaga
Contributing Sports Writer
0
Share
Newsweek is a Trust Project member
See more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.
The Philadelphia Phillies followed up their series sweep on Sunday with a major loss.
After taking all three games from the Pittsburgh Pirates in their Rivalry Weekend series, the Phillies announced that reliever Jose Alvarado would serve an 80-game suspension and would be held out of a potential playoff run after testing positive for a banned substance.
Alvarado had been one of the team's most reliable high-leverage bullpen arms in a great start to the season. Losing him was a major blow as the Phillies look to make good on longstanding World Series aspirations.
Read More on MLB
If the Phillies were already interested in adding a reliever by the trade deadline, this latest news would have made them outright desperate. And as the team assesses the availability of a trade, its franchise player spoke out about the challenge facing president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski now that all of the prospective sellers see some growing desperation.
...
"It's tough when a guy goes out of the clubhouse in that way because ... teams know that we need it," Bryce Harper said, per Scott Lauber of The Philadelphia Inquirer. "Obviously, Dave does a good job getting value for value. But also, it's a tough situation to be in because teams do know that we're hurting and we need something."
Any team that might be looking to trade away a true closer in exchange for future value will have plenty of suitors. A dependable reliever would help virtually every team looking to go deep in the playoffs. And now with that weakness growing in Philadelphia, those teams can hold out for a major trade haul.
However, the Phillies do have at least one factor in their favor. While its bullpen depth has been wanting, the team has a deep and effective starting rotation with top prospect Andrew Painter set to make his debut soon.
As a result, the Phillies could end up trading away a starter in exchange for another reliever in the next few weeks.
More MLB: Giants Get Unfortunate Justin Verlander Injury Update As Velocity Dips
View 0 Comments
Submit Correction
View Editorial & AI Guidelines