Phillies May Come to Regret Trading This High-Performing Prospect

Ahead of the 2024 MLB trade deadline, the Philadelphia Phillies made several trades looking to strengthen their roster for the stretch run of the season.

One of the deals that they made was with the Los Angeles Angels, acquiring former All-Star closer Carlos Estevez.

To land him, the Phillies traded left-handed pitcher Sam Aldegheri and right-handed pitcher George Klassen. Both were prospects at the time of the trade, but the Angels called Aldegheri up to the Big Leagues to make his debut on Aug. 30, 2024.

Klassen has remained in the minor leagues, but might not be there for too much longer given how well he is looking on the mound.

Former Phillies Prospect George Klassen Continuing To Perform

A sixth-round pick in the 2023 MLB Draft out of the University of Minnesota, he has steadily shown improvement each year, already getting on some people’s radars last year with his performance.

“And in many ways, the right-hander was a surprise development last year when he jumped on the scene with the Phillies before being sent to the Angels near the Trade Deadline, finishing with a 3.10 ERA, 13.1 K/9 rate and .195 BAA,” as written in a piece by Jonathan Mayo, Jim Callis and Sam Dykstra of MLB.com highlighting each organization’s pleasant surprise prospect this year.

Klassen has been on the concussion injured list since May 11, when he took a line drive off the head. That has been the only thing slowing down the positive momentum he has built.

The most impressive improvement he has made is with his control, exhibiting some pinpoint accuracy with his entire arsenal.

His BB/9 is down to an excellent 2.2 That is a marked improvement from the 4.5 he recorded last year. In college, he had a ghastly 8.5 BB/9 ratio.

That kind of control, to go along with the ability to still miss plenty of bats registering an 11.2 K/9 ratio, has Klassen has a prospect on the rise.

With Estevez turning out to only be a rental for the Phillies, since he signed a free agent deal with the Kansas City Royals this past offseason, trading away a pitching prospect of Klassen’s caliber is something Philadelphia could come to regret.