Will the Philadelphia Phillies make a splashy move at the trade deadline?
The most obvious area the Phillies should look to upgrade is their bullpen, and center field is a plausible target as well. But talent costs talent, so the Phillies also have to determine which of their young players are expendable.
Rookie right-handed pitcher Mick Abel has looked fantastic in four starts so far. He’s allowed only five earned runs in 20 1/3 innings (2.21 ERA) while striking out 17 batters and walking only four.
However, the Phillies’ rotation will be crowded later in the year when Aaron Nola returns from injury and number-one prospect Andrew Painter likely makes his debut. That could mean Abel is expendable, and one former major league general manager believes the Phillies should cash him in.
On Tuesday, Jim Bowden of The Athletic proposed a hypothetical trade that would send Abel to the Baltimore Orioles for 2021 All-Star center fielder Cedric Mullins and 2023 All-Star closer Félix Bautista.
“The Orioles would address their key need, young controllable starting pitching, in acquiring Abel, a 23-year-old who has a chance to become an ace if he continues to develop and his command and control improve,” Bowden wrote.
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“It would be tough for the Phillies to lose Abel, their first-round pick in 2020, but with a strong rotation and top prospect Andrew Painter, a future ace, on track to debut this summer, they might be willing to do this deal if they think Bautista and Mullins are the final pieces needed to win the World Series.”
Mullins, 30, has a robust .769 OPS and 11 home runs this season, which would be a decent-sized improvement over Brandon Marsh in Philadelphia. Meanwhile, Bautista has struck out 31 batters in 23 2/3 innings, and six straight scoreless outings have dropped his ERA to 3.04.
Could a deal of this magnitude get done without Abel involved? Perhaps, but the Phillies would have to give up similar prospect capital, which could require them to instead give up a position player who projects to be a future starter.
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