Philadelphia Phillies President Talks About Not Trading Their Big Three Prospects

The Philadelphia Phillies did well during the deadline without trading one of their top three prospects.

Jul 3, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Chicago White Sox relief pitcher Tanner Banks (57) delivers a pitch in the seventh inning against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field. / David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

The Philadelphia Phillies had a decent trade deadline, landing multiple players who should make an impact on this team. Every move they made should make them better in October, which is the main goal in every deal that Dave Dombrowski seems to make.

Perhaps more important than anything else, the Phillies didn't move Andrew Painter, Justin Crawford, or Aidan Miller. The three prospects are considered some of the top in baseball. While Philadelphia likely could've landed a big-time name for one of those three players, that move likely didn't present itself.

Dombrowski spoke to the media after the trade deadline, telling reporters how protective they were of their big three.

"Well, we have some guys that we didn't really want to trade. They're our upper echelon of guys and that's why I'm absolutely thrilled that we made the moves we've made, and I know we gave up some talent, but we also have those guys, and Caba, and some other guys that we're extremely high on.

"We feel like we have a really good ball club and our team continues to get better."

If there had been a scenario where they could've landed an arm like Tarik Skubal for one of them, it wouldn't have been surprising to see them moved, but the chances of that happening were slim entering the deadline.

Their biggest addition might've very well been left-hander Tanner Banks. He's a high-leverage bullpen guy who's held left-handed hitters to a .184 batting average and .492 OPS this season.

They moved Gregory Soto, so landing Banks to replace him was an upgrade. Soto had struggled, mostly just being inconsistent with his 4.42 ERA in 95 2/3 innings during his two years with the Phillies.

There weren't many areas for this ball club to improve. They could've used an every-game center fielder, as that's been an issue since the beginning of the campaign, but this roster is more than good enough to win a World Series.

For them to do so, they'll need their bullpen additions to be as good as advertised. This bullpen hasn't been the best at times, which is a concern as they head into the final stretch.

But with Banks and Carlos Estevez, much of those struggles should be erased.

Only time will tell, but on paper, this was an above-average deadline. More can always be done, but Dombrowski upgraded the areas he needed to.