Why the Philadelphia Phillies Traded Matt Strahm to the Kansas City Royals

Why the Philadelphia Phillies Traded Matt Strahm to the Kansas City Royals

How about the Matt Strom trade for Jonathan Bolan to the to the Royals? Strom had been with the Royals and now he’s going back. I have a hard time believing that the Phillies didn’t think Matt Stum was a good piece to have in their bullpen. Was there more to this in the sense of like, well, we have Tanner Banks and we have Jose Alvarado this year, so we have two lefties. But was there more to this than just ooh we got to get some money off of the table for the Phillies or was it really a a desire to have Jonathan Bolan join join their team? >> Well, the athletics Matt Gill reported today that there was some friction between Stum and some of the Phillies people, coaching staff, whoever might be. Matt Stum is a guy with strong opinions. He’s really smart. He’s really good, too. So that perhaps contributed to it, but he was a name that we were hearing and reporting was going to be possibly moved from the start of the off seasonason. They feel pretty comfortable, as you mentioned, with their left-handed depth in the bullpen. And yes, they cleared the money. It’s about a $7 million savings that will help them in other pursuits should they care to pursue some other things. What was more interesting from this trade’s perspective was the Royals taking on that money because I’ve heard that they were kind of almost at their limit and I would expect that there are going to be other moves that they make perhaps shedding some payroll to get to where they want to be from that perspective. Why are the Phillies trading away a guy who’s making $7.5 million this year and could be a ve very valuable part of a what three-headed monster in terms of left-handed pitching that they have in that bullpen which is a nice luxury to have. The answer appears to be a little money saving but also some issues between him and the team. We didn’t get further details yet. I’m sure we will, but Matt Gelb reported on how there is a growing rift between him and the team. Who know? I mean, obviously Matt Gel wrote it, so you know, there’s definitely some where there’s smoke, there’s fire, but without talking to Stum, which I have a hard time believing he’s not going to come on the show at some point to talk about it because he’s very open about things. When you’re open and you’re opinionated about things and also you’re good, sometimes that rubs people the wrong way. And sometimes as a player, you do need to check yourself in the things that you say. But as coaches, sometimes you need to check yourself too and understand that, hey, you know what, players are going to say things in the heat of the battle, in the heat of emotional ups and downs of the season. And you know, when you hear there’s like riffs from the front office or coaching staff, come on, man. Like, you’re talking about a guy who was an all-star in 24. Yes, he kind of had a down year compared to his 24 all-star season, but I mean, his 24 season didn’t look that much different than his 25 season, except in his 24 season, he had like almost it was a little over two months where he didn’t give up a run. Like, this is a guy that’s not just a lefty lefty specialist. This is a guy that gets strikeouts. This is a guy that can can throw significant innings for you. And to me, it’s it’s a prime case of what happened to the Phillies bullpen last year. Yes, they added Johan Duran, but they had already lost Jose Alvarado. Anytime you have to push all your relievers up a little bit, you put them in situations that maybe they would have been more successful had they been able to hit this part of the lineup. And I think this trade pretty much was going to happen once they signed Brad Keller, ironically. Brad Keller comes in, used to be with the Royals. Then Stum, who used to be with the Royals, is out. So you, it’s funny how, you know, it’s a cyclical world in baseball, but the the Stum trade and what Matt Gelb said is interesting to me that they’re willing to because we heard some riffs about Costianos, too, and we’ll get to that a little later, but they feel like those things need to be cleaned up. And if that’s the case, good for the Phillies for trading a really good player if they truly felt like it was going to be an issue. >> Yeah, I I like Strong, man. I’ve always liked him. You I like hitting lefties. I remember facing him a bunch of times and he was very hard to figure out, man. It was like, “Oh, it looks so good.” And then whoop. I mean, if I’m any other team finding a way, if I knew about a guy like this guy, I would, you know, trade him for whomever. But another great left-handed pitcher. Um, Neil, what’s what’s going on there in Philly Town, man? There’s there’s a lot of little riffs going on, whether it’s with coaching staff or brass or whatever. Um, you know, I don’t know. There’s got to be more to this story, like you said, because there’s always there’s always something else. And, you know, if Stum’s happy, okay. But, you know, he was a nice little fit in there in Philly. And I think a lot of people liked him when he came in and, you know, wasn’t going to overpower you, but he’s a dude that found a way to get outs in my opinion. And I know Strom can get out lefties and righties and um he is one of the what was it? It’s him, Alvarado. And who am I missing from the left side? >> Tanner Banks. >> Tanner Banks. Yeah. So that those are the three. So you still got two there. And remember they just replaced him. I mean in terms of important arms, high leverage arms in the bullpen. They just signed Brad Keller. Brad Keller had a sick year with the Cub. So if you’re buying that, you know, 2 years 22 million, it’s not like they’re losing a guy in the bullpen that they feel like, you know, they can trust and not replacing him. They are bringing in a guy who is supposed to be a very solid high leverage reliever when you’re paying $1 million per season for a reliever like that. So I know they’re not the same guy, but one probably led to the next, right? Okay, we just spent 11 million bucks on Brad Keller. We’ve been thinking about trading Stum. We’ve got another guy here that we feel comfortable about with our circle of trust and now boom, we trade strong. >> Yeah. I mean, I think it’s one of those things that probably had the trade kind of in the works and then you sit there and go, we can’t trade a legit reliever like this until we know we have somebody to replace him. And ultimately at the end of a season where you lose in the NLDS to the eventual World Series winners, you probably figure out, okay, well, what what exactly did we need to do more of to be successful? Maybe they felt like they needed more to be more right-handed in the bullpen. That’s what I heard from different people with the Phillies that maybe a little bit more right-handedness in the bullpen. Not saying that just because Tay Oscar hit the home run that that’s why they traded Stum, but it’s it’s a case where I don’t think I don’t think Topper Rob Thompson, the manager of the Phillies, deploys his bullpen as a matchup only base. Like this guy kills righties. He, you know, he loves to have, and that’s what they have down there, guys who have success against righties and lefties. And it’s more of who do you fit against in the lineup and maybe being a little bit more right-handed heavy is where they wanted to be because they went into the playoffs last year with two lefties and Stum and Tanner Banks. And now this year, all health being the same, they will go into the playoffs, if they make the playoffs with two lefties and Alvarado and Tanner Banks. >> Yep. And Kansas City has gotten a lot better the last couple weeks, too. So, credit to them. got a nice piece for the bullpen. Also, they locked up Mike Kell Garcia long term and bought out a couple years of free agency. What? You don’t love what they’ve done so far? >> Is it enough? And everyone’s going to say the AL Centrals winnable. These are little pieces that will be cool if nothing else happens. They will be great if they get if they’re able to take care of that slug. And they need the slug. And it’s tough to find slug in Kaufman. Like you can find dudes that hit dingers, but if you find dudes that hit dingers in Kaufman, now we’re talking a different level. Even even more so that doubles hitter, the doubles hitter that fits into the Royals lineup without punching out because you can’t you can’t sacrifice and be like, “Okay, everybody hit dingers now.” And they become, you know, even middle of the pack strikeout. They’re a team that was e first or second with the Blue Jays the whole year in strikeouts. The issue was they weren’t driving the ball. They got to figure out how to drive the ball and they got to put somebody in that lineup that enables other hitters like Bobby Wit, Vinnie Pasquantino, Michaelel Garcia to be able to drive the ball. They have to have somebody that looks afraid, looks scary in that lineup so that those other guys who do have power get pitches to drive or else it’s just corners. You got to take your singles from all those from all those elite all-star level hitters because you’re never you never need to really throw to them because the bottom part of your order or even like 567 part of your order doesn’t do enough damage. >> Yeah, maybe one more big boy bat. I mean Mike G in the chats like Donovan or could tell Marte to KC next. Book it Scott. Now that now we’re talking, right? Because then you add Isaac Collins, Lane Thomas, you’ve got some of the superstars in place in Wit and Mike El Garcia budding star. Salvi’s there. Vinnie P, Jack Kags. You get one more, you start to feel really really good in my opinion. One more like that. Either of those two guys are are huge. Oh, Catella is a superstar. Brendan Donovan is an all-star level play player. I don’t know if he’s made a team yet, but he’s he’s that level player. So either way, Todd Father, that would be a massive pickup for KC if they’re willing to dealing right now. And it’s easier to do that for them generally than >> hit free agency. >> 100%. I think the ongoing theme, as you’ve said 100 different ways, 100 different times is if they can get one more big bat. And I think that’s for every single team. But yes, Marte, we I’ve seen one of the furthest balls he’s ever hit. When I played against him the one year right-handed, I was like, whoa, this guy’s for real. So yeah, as long as you’re doing something, teams are doing stuff and everybody’s like, “Ah, well, oh, okay. Well, this and that.” What they’re they’re thinking. They’re trying to do some other things. Yeah, there’s some bad trades, of course, but ultimately it seems like the same teams over and over are trying to get things done. That’s all. And you can I’m happy with that. >> What are the Royals okay trading? Obviously, we have Rex Hudler on the other day and he was talking about no, you can’t have Cole Reagan. Like Cole Reagan is throwing game one of a of a playoff series. you can’t have him. What do the Diamondbacks want? They want pitching. The Royals have been willing to trade some of their pitchers. JJ Piccolo said there’s one guy who’s untouchable and he didn’t name it, but you can pretty much figure out who it is for the Royals rotation. But if you are able to help the Dimebacks out with their pitching need and you’re able to add a Catel Marte, people will be like, “Oh, you know, there’s a little we’re worried about his, you know, his makeup, the things that happened.” This is why you kept Salvador Perez on this roster. His value is getting the most out of every player, Latin players, American players, pitchers, position players, because he sets an example of I don’t care what’s going on around you. I’m going to be out on the field. I might not catch 150 games anymore like when Cratch was my backup, but I’m going to be out there 160 games because that’s what you do when a team pays you. his his focus is I’m a Kansas City Royal, you’re a Kansas City Royal, we’re going to go out there and play. Bobby Wit can be a great example to that, but Bobby Wit’s, you know, m would be much younger than a Catel Marte. He’s a budding superstar, but Salvi has that like the dawn, the godfather type of focus for a lot of Latin players that I think could tell Marte would fall into that. He would enjoy that. He would definitely he would feed off of that and you’re automatically getting you know a guy who can be in the MVP consideration year in and year out. >> Who is the untouchable for KC? Is it Reagan’s because he’s their best arm? Okay. Just making sure. >> Yeah. I mean it sounds like you know Waka’s gonna >> be there. Chris Bubich could get dealt. I mean, he was kind of a bust for them for a bit and then he broke out last year, but maybe they sell high on Bubich. I would Seth Lugo didn’t have as good of a year last year. Noah Cameron had a breakout rookie season. A little older. What is he? 26, which you could look at as a good or a bad thing. You should get some prime years of him at a really cheap rate. I don’t think they’re going to be shopping someone like that. It would be shopping someone that’s got a little cash to them. And then that can offset, say, if it was Arizona. And it doesn’t sound like they’re necessarily the front runners, but that would be a deal if they could figure out a Catel. >> They would be the AL. I I love when we talk about this kind of stuff because it’s like, well, what does that make that team? >> It makes that team the favorite in the American League if they keep Cole Reagan’s in American League Central. I’m sorry, in the American League Central. To me, it makes them the favorite when it happens. Obviously, Detroit has to do some stuff. Obviously, Detroit still has Scoo, but >> the Central, that’s why the Royals started pushing. Yes, they started pushing some of these contracts because one, they signed Bobby Wit. They want a new stadium. I get that. But they know that look at what the AL Central is right now. The White Socks are down. The Tigers are, you know, they’ve had a good resurgence, but are they willing to push all in? I don’t think so. The Guardians are never looking to push in. So, I it’s an opportunity for them to possibly take this division with one move. That move will be expensive, but it’s not like you’re getting a one-year rental, which the Royals hate, one-year rentals. They’d be getting Catel Marte, I think, for five more seasons. Either four or five more seasons. I’m not sure what his contract un at a great price, too.

Ken Rosenthal joins the show to break down the Philadelphia Phillies trading left handed reliever Matt Strahm to the Kansas City Royals and why the move goes beyond simple payroll savings. The discussion dives into reported friction between Strahm and the Phillies, how Philadelphia is reshaping its bullpen mix, and what clearing roughly seven million dollars means for future roster decisions. Todd Frazier, Erik Kratz, and Scott Braun also examine why the Royals were willing to take on the contract, how Strahm fits in Kansas City’s bullpen, and what this move says about the Royals’ broader push to contend in the American League Central.

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