After acquiring Austin Hays and Carlos Estévez in the leadup to the deadline, the Phillies said they were good and unlikely to make any moves. That is until it got to the actual deadline time and they executed a pair of moves to shake things up. First was sending second baseman prospect William Bergolla to the White Sox for LHP Tanner Banks. The second sort of linked move was sending LHP Gregory Soto to the Orioles for a pair of right handed pitching prospects in Seth Johnson and Moisés Chace. The end result is prospects out, prospects in, lefty out, lefty in, but it is a real change more than just deck chair shuffling.
Starting with the major leaguers, Gregory Soto is utterly infuriating. Some games he will be unhittable, and he has remade his arsenal enough he can get anyone out. On the flip side, he just won’t throw strikes some times out and is absolutely useless in low leverage. Given he was the 3rd lefty and probably 6th reliever in the pen after the acquisition of Estévez, he wasn’t going to get much high leverage without proving his way through low leverage. Given the relief trade market there is a chance the Orioles paid a bargain for Soto and Seranthony Dominguez, but it was clear the Phillies didn’t really trust either.
In comes 32 year old Tanner Banks. Banks toiled around the White Sox season since he was drafted in 2014. This season is his first year not going to the minors at all, this means if he somehow stays healthy the Phillies have 4 more years after this one of team control, including next year at pre-arb. His numbers are not overwhelming other than 15 walks to 55 strikeouts in 48 innings. He has pitched more than inning with semi regularly, which will give the Phillies some length. He has absolutely dominated left handed batters (.492 OPS) with his sweeping curveball, but righties have a .849 OPS off of him. His fastballs average 93 and he has a 5 pitch mix that you can see the Phillies messing with some usage and possibly to improve him against opposite side batters. He probably will start in lower leverage and length for now.
On the prospect side, going out for Banks is Bergolla. I had Bergolla ranked #8 on my midseason list, one spot behind George Klassen. I am definitely one of the high men on Bergolla and he is not a prospect with universal positive feelings. Last year he hit the ball the least hard of almost everyone tracked in baseball. He has a simple left handed swing that produces a large amount of line drive contact, and as he has grown some, gap and home run power. His hit tool and approach are special, posting league leading contact and chase rates last year. He is polished at the plate and in the field, where he has moved mostly over to second base where he is a plus defender (he can still play an average shortstop). He is a plus runner as well and accomplished and willing bunter. There is a real chance he never hits for enough power to be a major leaguer, or maybe just enough to be a bench player. There is a chance his hit tool carries him to being a special player as he is able to maximize any power he gets. I would be willing to bet on the hit tool and think this is a lot to give up, but I also get if the Phillies don’t trust him to grow into the body needed.
Coming back for Soto is a pair of pitchers. Moisés Chace was signed by the Orioles back in July of 2019 so he didn’t make his debut until 2021. His is a short with a low release and a fastball that will sit mid 90s up to 97 with good ride up in the zone. His changeup is his best secondary pitch and he has inverse splits because of it. He also throws a mid 80s slider as well. He has had some control issues, but has been improved at throwing strikes this year. The Orioles do a piggy back system, so he has started and relieved, but has been much much better as a starter (2.37 ERA 30.1 IP 16 BB 52 K) than as a reliever (4.98 ERA 21.2 IP 14 BB 24 K). He has been even better of late with 3 walks to 22 strikeouts in 13 July innings including 6.1 IP 6 H 3 ER 0 BB 15 K in his last two starts. He has interesting starting upside because of the fastball-changeup combination, but the Phillies we need to actually stretch him out as a starting pitcher. He will be Rule 5 eligible after the year, but is unlikely to be in danger and needing protection. As a prospect, he will probably slot in around Alex McFarlane (23) and Eiberson Castellano (24) for me.
The other prospect is Seth Johnson. Johnson was a comp round pick of the Rays (#40 overall) in 2019 as a former shortstop fairly new to pitching. He has a good 2021 season in low-A that had him ranked well in the Rays organization. He was injured midway through 2022 and needed Tommy John surgery and was traded to the Orioles in the Trey Mancini deal. He came back briefly in 2023 and had been healthy this year. His fastball is similar velocity to Chace, sitting mid 90s and up to 97-98. He has a cutter/slider and curveball that both have gotten good reviews. He has a changeup that lags. He has had some control issues, and June was especially rough for him, and the Orioles have held his innings back with him never exceeding 5 innings or 70 pitches so far this year. This is Johnson’s second option year so the Phillies will likely keep him in the rotation now as starting depth, but there is a chance he is a reliever in the long term. He could slot up near where Aldegheri (13) was in the rankings alongside new Reading teammate Jean Cabrera (11), but given his age and reliever risk he may be more towards the Michael Mercado (22) group.
I am not 100% sure the Phillies actually got better in the majors, but they got different in a place where they may have done well to get different. They likely got more back for Soto than they spent on Banks, and it moved it into pitching depth as opposed to an already deep middle infield group. Much like the Estévez deal it will be determined by what the pitcher does. If Banks is just low leverage depth it likely won’t be worth it, but if the Phillies can mold him into a useable piece in the postseason than this might all be worth.