So far the Phillies have made 5 trades in and around the deadline bringing in IF Asdrubel Cabrera, C Wilson Ramos, LHP Aaron Loup, 1B Justin Bour, and LHP Luis Avilan while shipping out Franklyn Kilome, McKenzie Mills, Jacob Waguespack, Jake Thompson, Zach Curtis, and now Felix Paulino and potentially Jose Taveras (Taveras was designated for assignment to make room in this trade). Of these moves only Asdrubal for Kilome could count as a major trade, with Kilome still a good prospect, despite a drop in his stock. The rest of these deals were of the minor variety (though you could argue that Wilson Ramos is a big upgrade for the Phillies and they only sent out cash for him). They improve around the edges of the Phillies team, and they all have something else in common. The Rule 5 draft.
Back in 2016 the Rule 5 draft loaded up the Phillies 40 man roster. Previous trades coupled with uncertainty about roster size in the new CBA led to the Phillies adding 11 players to their roster. That ripple is still felt on the roster today, and while the Phillies are not facing the same level of roster crunch now, cleaning house is not a bad thing. First we can start with the fact that they brought in 3 rentals (Cabrera, Ramos, and Loup) and 2 players controlled through arbitration (Avilan and Bour) that they have 0 commitments to going forward. That is potentially 5 clear roster spots. The previous occupants of those roster spots (Thompson, Taveras, Curtis, Kilome, and Plouffe) were unlikely (outside of Kilome) to be occupying those spots after this season. So while this doesn’t clear house for the upcoming offseason, the Phillies directly upgraded some spots they were planning on clearing anyway.
Which brings this to the last part, who they traded. Franklyn Kilome is a bit of an exception as he would have been a top 15 prospect at midseason and was worthy of his 40 man spot, however by moving him instead of a non-40 man player they did free up his spot going forward. Then there is the real set of players here in Jacob Waguespack, McKenzie Mills, and Felix Paulino. All three are pitchers with legitimate MLB pitches and velocity. None of them have a high ceiling, and all of them profile as relievers. They are nice players to have in your farm system, but in a Phillies system that is fairly deep they are also all fairly replaceable.
This then gets to the last piece, they are also all Rule 5 eligible. While it is unlikely they would have been taken, there is a chance the Phillies would have lost them for free given they would not have been protected. This is where the Phillies transactions all make sense. They essentially moved redundant pieces that were about to become less valuable, to upgrade roster spots they were going to clear anyway. The player the Phillies lost of significance was Kilome, and while the last few weeks have been a struggle, they have greatly upgraded their team.
Image of Jose Taveras by Baseball Betsy
I think that the release of Mark Leiter and today’s DFA of Ben Lively all support your contention: The farm system has improved to the point where #5 starter prospects or middling reliever prospects are no longer worth keeping if they need to be on the 40. I think that you are right that we will continue to see more trades, DFAs and releases of prospects in this category.