Philadelphia Phillies Exec Gets Honest About Trade for Carlos Estevez

Philadelphia Phillies executive Dave Dombrowski spoke out and got honest about the trade for Carlos Estevez.

Jul 13, 2024; Anaheim, California, USA; Carlos Estevez #53 of the Los Angeles Angels celebrates as he earns his 17th save of the season defeating the Seattle Mariners in the ninth inning at Angel Stadium. / Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

The Philadelphia Phillies pulled off a major trade to improve their bullpen. In a big trade with the Los Angeles Angels, the Phillies were able to acquire closer Carlos Estevez.

Estevez was a very coveted piece on the trade market. Thankfully, Philadelphia was the team able to get a deal done for him.

Throughout the course of the 2024 MLB season, the Phillies have been arguably the best team in baseball. They have an elite offense and a quality pitching staff. All that they really needed was a dominant late-game pitcher.

Looking ahead to the stretch run of the season and the playoffs, Estevez is going to play a key role. Being able to finish off close games in the eight and ninth innings are crucial to championship contention.

Following the move to acquire the 31-year-old closer, Philadelphia executive Dave Dombrowski spoke out about his new addition.

"The reality comes down to, for me, we wanted the best guy who we felt gave us a chance to win this year. And so there might have been some guys that we could have gotten with control that we didn't think were as good of pitchers in the postseason. And we just feel that, this time or the postseason, he's the right guy."

While Estevez is a huge addition, his contract does expire after the 2024 season. Dombrowski also spoke out about the future with his new closer.

"We got a lot of information on him in terms of the type of bulldog approach he has out there. We got some people who told us he'll definitely fit into the Philadelphia mentality. Probably a little bit more than you'd like to give up for a rental but who knows, maybe we'll sign him once the year's over, you never can tell."

Dombrowski also hinted that Estevez could come in and claim the closing role.

"To us, he's one of the best relievers in baseball this past year. He's a guy that can pitch the ninth inning. How in particular Topper uses him, we'll see, but it wouldn't surprise me if he gets a lot of ninth innings."

The Phillies tried to sign Estevez before, but were unable to do so. Now, they circled back around and were able to bring him to Philadelphia.

"We tried to sign him two winters ago when we signed (Matt) Strahm. We ended up losing out on him at that time, but we really like him."

All of that being said, this seems like a match made in heaven. Estevez to the Phillies could go down as one of the best trade deadline moves. He has the potential to power the team to a championship.

Expect to see him come in and make a major impact right off the bat. Being able to acquire him was a perfect move to fix what had been a potential major weakness.