Trading players has been a theme for players to change teams for one reason or another. The Phillies have been frequent players in the trade market for many years now and are no strangers to the blockbuster deal– whether buying or selling.
Here is a look back at six of the biggest trades the Phillies have been a part of.
1972: Phillies Acquire Steve Carlton from St. Louis for Rick Wise
In 1972, the Phillies pulled off one of the most lopsided trades in franchise history, if not baseball history.
The Phillies would acquire 26-year-old left-handed pitcher Steve Carlton in exchange for righty Rick Wise.
In seven seasons with the Phillies, Wise had a record of 75-76 with a 3.60 ERA and 1244.2 innings pitched in 219 appearances, 178 of which he started.
Wise only spent two seasons with St. Louis, in those seasons he appeared in 70 games, starting 69 of them. Wise posted a record of 24-29 with a 3.24 ERA in 528 innings.
Wise was traded to the Red Sox from the Cardinals in 1973.
On the other side of the deal, Carlton went on to become the greatest pitcher to ever wear a Phillies uniform.
Carlton spent 15 seasons in Philadelphia where he had a record of 241-161, an ERA of 3.09 in 3697.1 innings pitched.
Carlton brought home some serious hardware with the Phillies. Lefty was a big part of the Phillies’ first World Series Championship team in 1980. He won four Cy Young Awards in 1972,1977,1980, and 1982, a Pitching Triple Crown in 1972. He also made seven All-Star appearances with the Phillies. Carlton led the National League in innings pitched five times, strikeouts five times, wins four times, hits four times, complete games three times, and shutouts once. Carlton won the ERA title in 1972 also.
Carlton was inducted to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1994, and the Phillies Wall of Fame in 1989.
1992: Phillies Acquire Curt Schilling from Houston for Jason Grimsley
If the Lefty trade was the most lopsided trade in Phillies history, the Phillies getting Curt Schilling must be number two on that list.
The Phillies acquired right-handed pitcher Curt Schilling from the Astros for right-handed pitcher Jason Grimsley.
Grimsley didn’t pitch a single inning for the Astros in 1992 and was released in March 1993 and was signed by the Cleveland Guardians (FKA the Cleveland Indians).
Schilling was a pivotal part of the beloved Phillies 1993 National League Pennant winning team.
He was a big-time member of the Phillies pitching staff for almost a decade. In nine seasons with the club, Schilling went 101-78 with a 3.35 ERA in 1659.1 innings pitched throughout 242 appearances, 226 of which he started. Schilling also recorded two saves with the Phillies.
Schilling made three consecutive All-Star appearances with the Phillies from 1997-1999.
Schilling is in his last year of Hall of Fame eligibility, he last received 71.1% of the vote, falling just 16 votes shy of election in 2021.
2009: Phillies Acquire Cliff Lee and Ben Francisco from Cleveland for Carlos Carrasco, Lou Marson, Jason Knapp, and Jason Donald
It has been made well known that Roy Halladay, not Cliff Lee, was the Phillies’ top trade target at the 2009 trade deadline. The Phillies could not reach a deal at that time with Toronto, so Cliff Lee was next on the radar.
The Phillies acquired Lee along with young outfielder Ben Francisco for a group of prospects centered around Carlos Carrasco.
Carrasco made his Major League debut in September 2009 with Cleveland and pitched 11 seasons for them. He posted a record of88-79 with Cleveland in 242 appearances, making 195 starts for them. He had a record of 88-73 with a 3.77 ERA in 1242.1 innings pitched.
Carrasco was traded to the Mets in the Francisco Lindor trade in 2021.
Lou Marson played in 253 games across five seasons with Cleveland. He slashed .217/.308/.295 with a total of four home runs and 58 RBIs. Jason Knapp never made it above high-A for Cleveland. Jason Donald played in 170 Major League games from 2010-2012 for Cleveland. He slashed .257/.309/.362 with seven home runs and 43 RBIs. He was out of baseball by 2013.
Cliff Lee was very good for the Phillies in 2009. In the regular season, he went 7-4 with a 3.39 ERA in 79.2 innings. In the 2009 Postseason, Lee was 4-0 with a 1.96 ERA in 40.1 innings.
He was dealt to the Mariners in the 2009 offseason. He was then traded by to Texas at the 2010 trade deadline. Soon after, Lee re-signed with the Phillies in December 2010.
Francisco played 225 games with the Phillies. He slashed .259/.332/.420 with 17 home runs and 75 RBIs.
2010: Phillies Acquire Roy Halladay from Toronto for Kyle Drabek, Michael Taylor, and Travis d’Arnaud
The Phillies traded a very large part of their future for the greatest pitcher in the game at the time. They sent three prospects with a huge upside for Roy Halladay.
Kyle Drabek was the center of this deal. at a few months earlier- he was a dealbreaker for the Phillies to make this deal. Trading a highly touted prospect in this scenario was a win for the Phillies.
Drabek appeared in 43 games in seven seasons. He has a career record of 8-15 with a 5.26 ERA in 179.2 innings. He pitched for a total of three clubs- Toronto for five seasons and then had a year with the White Sox and Diamondbacks. He did not make a steady career in the Big Leagues.
Michael Taylor, (not to be confused with Michael A. Taylor of the Royals, formally of the Nationals) had a similar Major League Career. He never made it to the Big Leagues with Toronto. He was subsequently traded to Oakland by Toronto the same day he was acquired by the Blue Jays.
Taylor played in 26 games for the A’s across three seasons, making his MLB debut in 2011 before being traded to the White Sox. Taylor has a career slash line of .167/.254/.216 with one Home Run and one RBI. Like Drabek, he did not have a dominant MLB career.
Travis d’Arnaud is the outlier of this trio. He has had a very successful Big-League career- making his MLB debut in 2013 and continuing to play through the 2021 season. He has played for four teams across 10 seasons. He has a career slash line of .249/.311/.419 with 79 career Home Runs and 164 RBIs in 604 career games.
D’Arnaud has a Silver Slugger to his name and is a member of the 2021 World Series Champion Atlanta Braves.He is currently signed through 2023.
Roy Halladay was only a member of the Phillies for four seasons.
His first season with the Phillies was magical. In 2010 he went 21-10 with a 2.44 ERA in 250.2 innings pitched. He also tossed a Perfect Game against the Marlins in May of that season. He followed up his perfecto with the first Postseason no-hitter in game one of the 2010 NLDS against the Reds.
Halladay won the 2010 National League Cy Young Award.In four seasons with the Phillies Halladay was 55-29 with a 3.43 ERA in 702.2 innings in 103 starts in red pinstripes. He tallied two All-Star selections in 2010 and 2011.
Halladay was posthumously inducted to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2019. He was inducted to the Phillies Wall of Fame in 2018. His number 34 was retired by the Phillies in 2021.
2015: Phillies Trade Cole Hamels and Jake Diekman to Texas for Matt Harrison, Jake Thompson, Alec Asher, Jerad Eickhoff, Jorge Alfaro, and Nick Williams.
The Phillies trading of 2008 World Series MVP, the rebuild was on. They dealt their ace and Franchise icon Cole Hamels to the Texas Rangers for a slew of prospects and Matt Harrison.
Hamels played four seasons with the Rangers. He started all 88 of his appearances with Texas, going 38-21 with a 3.90 ERA in 546.2 innings. He was traded to the Cubs in 2018, signed with the Braves in December 2019, and the Dodgers in 2021. He made a total of one start from 2020-2021 and is currently a free agent.
Harrison was the only player to have Big League service time at the time of the trade. He was 29 at the time of the trade and never threw a pitch for the Phillies. Jake Thompson made his Big-League debut for the Phillies in 2016 at the age of 22. He started all 10 games he appeared in with the Phillies that year, going 3-6 in his rookie year with a 5.70 ERA in 53.2 innings.
He played three total seasons at the Major League Level from 2016-18, all with the Phillies. He has a career record of 7-8 with a 4.87 ERA in 116.1 innings pitched. He started 18 of his 30 career games.
He never played another game at the Major League Level.
Jerad Eickhoff made his MLB debut in 2015 with the Phillies. In five years with the club, he had a record of 21-30 with a 4.15 ERA in 80 games, 76 of which he started. Eickhoff pitched a total of 440 innings for the Phillies.
He became a free agent in 2019 and signed with the Padres. He did not pitch in 2020. He pitched with the Mets in 2021 and is currently signed with the Pirates on a minor league deal for 2022.
Alec Asher only played 12 starts for the Phillies across two years. He had a record of 2-7 with a 5.88 ERA in 56.2 innings. He played for the Orioles in 2017 and with the Brewers in 2018.
Jorge Alfaro made his MLB debut with the Phillies in 2016. He was with the club from 2016-2018. In 143 games with the Phillies, he slashed .270/.327/.422 with 15 home runs and 51 RBIs throughout that span. Alfaro was traded to the Marlins in the J.T. Realmuto deal. He is currently contracted to the San Diego Padres.
Nick Williams played a total of 290 games for the Phillies across three seasons. Making his MLB debut in 2017, Williams slashed.254/.313/.420 with 31 Home Runs and 110 RBIs. For a period in 2018, he was one of the best pinch-hitters in the National League.
Williams didn’t play in the Big Leagues in 2020 but played in four games with the White Sox in 2021.
Many of these players didn’t turn out the way the Phillies had hoped, but one of the players involved in this trade helped the Phillies acquire J.T. Realmuto. This leads us to……
2019: Phillies Acquire J.T. Realmuto from Miami for Sixto Sánchez, Jorge Alfaro, Will Stewart, and $250,000 international bonus slot money
The Phillies had struggled to find stability and production from the catcher position going back to the end of the Carlos Ruiz era. Cameron Rupp didn’t pan out the way the club had wanted, and Jorge Alfaro was very streaky.
It was very clear J.T. Realmuto wasn’t going to be a Marlin for long past the 2018 season. Many believed he would have been moved before that since the Marlins had already traded star players such as Christian Yelich, Giancarlo Stanton, and Marcel Ozuna. Realmuto was the last star down in South Beach.
The Phillies acquired the best catcher in baseball on February 7, 2019, for top prospect Sixto Sánchez, starting catcher Jorge Alfaro, and minor league shortstop Will Stewart.
This helped the Phillies in their pursuit of Bryce Harper. His fondness of Realmuto was very well documented for some time before they became teammates in the City of Brotherly Love.
Sánchez was the Phillies prized prospect, but injury issues made him a question mark. He made his MLB debut in the Pandemic shortened 2020 season. He made seven starts for Miami going 3-2 with a 3.46 ERA in 39 innings pitched.
Sánchez did not pitch in 2021 after having a shoulder injury that was nagging for some time. He underwent season-ending surgery in July 2021. The Marlins hope he can pitch in 2022.
Jorge Alfaro only played for the Marlins from 2019-2021 before he was shipped to San Diego after the 2021 season. In 253 games for the Marlins, he slashed .252/.298/.422 with 25 Home Runs and 103 RBIs. He Caught a total of 208 games for Miami before splitting time in the outfield and at first base. Alfaro was sold to the Padres in December 2021.
Will Stewart is yet to make his MLB debut. He Pitched in Double-A for the Marlins affiliate Pensacola in 2021.
J.T. Realmuto has played 326 games in red pinstripes and has four years left on a five-year contract he signed with the Phillies before the 2021 season.
In his time with the Phillies, Realmuto has slashed .269/.337/.471 with 53 Home Runs and 188 RBIs. He has added two All-Star Appearances in 2019 and 2021 to his resumé along with a Gold Glove in 2019 and a Silver Slugger.
Realmuto is one of the best all-around catchers in baseball at this point in his career. He has an elite catcher, and he is great at the dish.
Photo By: Mark Goldman/Icon Sportswire
