Philadelphia Phillies Should Pursue Guardians Star at Trade Deadline: Insider

While the Philadelphia Phillies have been one of the best teams in the National League so far this season, there is still plenty of room for improvement.

The Phillies had a little bit of a roller coaster ride in June with some very inconsistent performances throughout the month, but they were able to take over first place in the National League East.

With the New York Mets struggling quite a bit, Philadelphia is now in sole possession of their division and will be looking to keep it that way.

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This is a team that has high expectations for not only the regular season, but the playoffs as well. The Phillies were ousted from the postseason early by the Mets last year, and they are going to be focused on trying to fix some areas that hurt them in the last campaign.

In the winter, they signed closer Jordan Romano to be their ninth inning man. Unfortunately, the former two-time All-Star has struggled and getting bullpen help Is once again going to be a need for them.

David Schoenfield of ESPN.com recently wrote about one player that the Phillies should trade for, being Cleveland Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase.

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“The Phillies need bullpen help, and they need to win now. This has all the markings of a Dave Dombrowski deal,” he wrote.

With the bullpen seemingly an issue every season for the Phillies, going after a closer like Clase would be a complete game-changer.

The Guardians closer is one of the best in the game and finished second in the American League Cy Young voting last year. While Clase has been an All-Star for three straight campaigns, it was 2024 was certainly his best year.

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So far this season, he has performed well with a 4-1 record, 3.28 ERA, and 18 saves. However, Cleveland is a few games under the .500 mark and double-digit games behind the Detroit Tigers in the AL Central.

Despite being in the ALCS last year, it doesn’t appear like the Guardians will be a playoff team in 2025.

With that being said, they could very well decide to sell at the trade deadline, and their All-Star closer would be a marquee player to deal.

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The right-hander is under team control through the 2028 campaign at a very affordable number. His trade value would be immense if he were dealt, but Philadelphia does have some Top 100 prospects in their system to facilitate what would be a blockbuster deal.

While it seems unlikely that Clase would be available, he would be a perfect trade target for the Phillies.

For more Phillies news, head over to Phillies On SI.