The Philadelphia Phillies had one of the best rotations in baseball last seaosn, but lost a key arm in free agency when Ranger Suárez signed with the Boston Red Sox.
The Phillies still have Zack Wheeler, Cristopher Sánchez, Jesús Luzardo, Aaron Nola and Taijuan Walker. They also figure to have their No. 1 prospect, Andrew Painter, make his debut. However, Nola struggled last season, Walker has been inconsistent for the Phillies and Painter is unproven at the big league level.
Those problems are not huge, but for a team like the Phillies that is expected to contend for a World Series, those issues can weigh more heavily. The Phillies could benefit from adding another proven option to their rotation. Bleacher Report’s Kerry Miller suggested they make this trade for Joe Ryan of the Minnesota Twins:
Phillies receive: RHP Joe RyanTwins receive: RHP Andrew Painter
The Phillies may be overpaying in this deal, but they are trying to win a World Series right now, while their core is still in place, and Ryan may better help them do that than Painter. Ryan was an All-Star last season and has two more years of club control.
While Painter could end up being a star, he may not be elite right away. He is MLB Pipeline’s No. 16 overall prospect, but he had a 5.40 ERA in Triple-A last season. Ryan had a 3.42 ERA in the big leagues last season and struck out 194 batters. Wheeler, Ryan, Sánchez, Luzardo and Nola could be a great rotation for the Phillies. Walker would be pushed into the bullpen full-time, being used as a spot starter at times.
The Twins started trading away stars at last year’s deadline. Harrison Bader and Jhoan Duran were both traded to the Phillies, and Ryan being the next Twin to go to Philadelphia would make sense.
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