Here’s the problem when you’re a bad team: everyone knows you’re a bad team. That sounds so rudimentary and almost unnecessary to say, but it has some merit here, just bare with me. The Phillies are currently on pace to lose more than 100 games this season and have very little valuable, and more importantly, moveable pieces to dangle as the trade deadline nears. One of those worthy players, however, is reliever Pat Neshek. Neshek has been fantastic throughout the season, holding down a 0.61 ERA all while bolstering a 0.775 WHIP. Both put Neshek on pace for career bests.
With that being said, the best thing the Phillies could do, despite desperately needing bullpen depth, is to trade Neshek while he’s still the most valuable. That word seemingly surfaces a lot nowadays. Value. It’s all the Phillies really can hope for right now. But, we again go back to the issue that the league knows the Phillies are both bad and want to sell Neshek while they can. It’s simple supply and demand. The demand for Neshek is certainly there, but, many teams won’t overbid on the righty because they know the Phillies are lookinsg to deal. The ball is in the rest of the league’s court.
Good news, however, is that recently a report surfaced that there is a “standing offer” for Neshek, but no team or further rumors have been announced. So what that standing offer actually means remains rather murky. With no real knowledge of what team has offered or what the offer even is, let’s take a look at three teams that may be potential landing spots for the veteran reliever.
Milwaukee Brewers
The Brewers (19) are currently the only team in the league to have more bullpen losses than the Phillies (18). Relievers Neftali Feliz and Carlos Torres have combined for nine of those loses while sporting a 6.00 and 4.58 ERA respectively. While Corey Knebel has been fantastic since taking over the closer’s role for the Brew Crew, picking up 12 saves and holding down a sub-1.00 ERA, the issue has been the stop gate between the Brewers’ starters and Knebel. The bullpen has 19 of the team’s 37 loses this year. It doesn’t take a math major to realize that the starting rotation has lost less than half the team’s games this season. The Brewers are currently 41-37, and lead a tightly contested NL Central by just 1.5 games over the Cubs and five games over the Pirates and Cardinals. Neshek could slide right into the eight inning setup role and give the Brewers a dynamic one-two punch to pick up the final six outs of games.
Minnesota Twins
The surprise team in the league this year, the Twins hold down first place in the always contested AL Central as we had into July. At 39-34, the Twins are just a half a game up over the defending American League Champs, the Cleveland Indians, and 2.5 ahead of the Royals. While the Twins may not want to part ways with young farm hands after stashing them away for so long, it may be necessary to stand pat in the Central. Take a look at the Indians and Royals, who have both played in the World Series over the last three years. How’d they get there? Dominant bullpens. The Royals rode Wade Davis, Kelvin Herrera and Ryan Madson to a ring, while the Indians fell just short with Andrew Miller, Cody Allen and Bryan Shaw. Point is, the Twins need bullpen help if they want to hold onto their division lead. They currently have just nine bullpen loses, but sport the second worst bullpen ERA in all of baseball, ahead of just their division rival, the Detroit Tigers. Neshek could jump in front of closer Brandon Kintzler and pitch the eighth inning of games down the stretch.
Washington Nationals
Just writing that makes my blood boil. I so opposed to trading within the division that I can’t adequately put it into words. That sentiment is likely stronger within the football world than it is in baseball, but it still holds true for the most part. So trading a solid bullpen arm to a team that the Phillies will see many more times this year is tough for me to swallow. However, if there’s a suitor and it happens to be the Nationals, make the move. The Nationals’ bullpen has lost 12 games this year while barely staying under the 5.00 ERA mark. What’s really telling about the Nationals bullpen, though, is the fact that they’ve thrown the least amount of innings in all of baseball this season. At 205 innings pitched, the Nats bullpen no fewer than 17 innings less than the rest of the league, where Boston resides at 222 innings. Despite the low innings total, the bullpen has the third worst BAA, or batting average against, in the league at .270, ahead of just the Twins and, you guessed it, the Phillies. The concern with the Nationals and Neshek is that Neshek feels more comfortable as a setup guy than as a closer. The Nationals have had closer issues all season, as they’ve tried Blake Treinen, Shawn Kelly, and now, Koda Glover as their closer, with mixed results. The Nats might want to consider a true closer. The team is currently 15 games over .500 and squarely in first place in the NL East. For a team that has had significant regular season, but little playoff success, another productive arm, even if it’s not a “closer””, late in the game in October could never hurt.
Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
