Would Phillies Include Star Prospect in Trade With Pirates To Bolster Bullpen?

It is no secret that the Philadelphia Phillies are seeking help for their bullpen ahead of the 2025 MLB trade deadline.

Ideally, they would acquire a player who has late-game and high-leverage experience, given the struggles of Jordan Romano in that role thus far this season.

Whether that pitcher is right-handed or left-handed doesn’t matter as long as they can get the job done against left-handed hitters, which has been an area of weakness for the Phillies all year.

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With Jose Alvarado not eligible for the postseason, finding at least one, if not two, pitchers who can help at the backend of the bullpen is imperative for Philadelphia to improve its chances of winning the World Series.

There are going to be several impact relief pitchers available in the coming weeks. One of the teams with multiple arms that should be made available is the Pittsburgh Pirates.

In any deal the Pirates make, they are going to prioritize bringing back as much offensive talent as possible. 

They are 19 games under the .500 mark despite having one of the best team ERAs in baseball at 3.67 and surrendering only 3.87 runs per game, which speaks volumes about how inept their offense is.

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The Phillies could provide them with a cornerstone building block for their lineup.

Jim Bowden of The Athletic (subscription required) recently shared a mailbag answering 25 questions about the MLB trade deadline.

One submission was about a hypothetical deal between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh regarding whether the Phillies would be willing to part with star prospect Justin Crawford in exchange for David Bednar and Dennis Santana.

Bowden believes Philadelphia would turn down that deal.

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“I think the Phillies say no. Crawford, 21, is slashing .340/.413/.447 in Triple A and is an elite defensive center fielder. The Phillies shouldn’t give up on him yet. I like Bednar and Santana and think they should pursue a deal for both, but that’s a steep price for just a year and half of two relievers. (Both will be free agents after the 2026 season.) The Phillies should be able to get them for a lesser prospect package,” the former MLB executive wrote.

Knocking on the door of a big league promotion, Crawford is the exact kind of prospect the Pirates would be targeting in all of their negotiations.

But he has a lot more value than two relief pitchers who will be hitting the open market following the 2026 campaign.

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Bednar and Santana would be massive upgrades for Philadelphia, addressing their need for late-game help and both being dominant against lefty hitters; Bednar has allowed an OPS of .451 and Santana is even better at .283.

Targeting them makes a lot of sense, but they should not make Crawford available in such a deal.

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