MLB trade deadline news: Phillies may not be done yet; why adding pitcher Carlos Estévez was worth the high cost

Former Phillies pitcher Michael Lorenzen has been traded from the Texas Rangers to the Kansas City Royals, the team announced Monday morning.

Lorenzen was a trade deadline acquisition for the Phillies last season, and threw the team's first no-hitter since 2015 a week later. But after that he posted a 7.96 ERA in five starts and was demoted to the bullpen. He was left off the team's wild card roster but took the mound twice during the Phillies' win in the National League divisional series against the Atlanta Braves.

He became a free agent following the season and was signed by the Rangers in March to a one year, $4.5 million deal. In 18 starts this season, Lorenzen has gone 5-6 for the Rangers with a 3.8 ERA.

After being acquired by the Colorado Rockies in May 2017, Barry Enright was sent to triple A. He met the team on the road in Nashville, and on the eve of his first start, his new roommate played video games until 3:30 in the morning.

“I was like, ‘Who the [heck] is this guy?’” Enright recalled.

Seven years later, Carlos Estévez is still a hardcore gamer. And until Saturday night, Enright was his pitching coach. The former teammates and old friends reunited this season with the Angels, Enright helping Estévez pitch better than ever in his eight-year major-league career.

The trade for Carlos Estévez is a gamble, one that underscores the emphasis the Phillies are putting on their bullpen as they look to bulletproof their roster in advance of October. Nobody should be surprised if they look to add another arm, particularly now that Ranger Suárez is on the injured list with lower-back tightness. Between José Alvarado’s recent struggles and the lack of any reliable high-leverage arms outside of him, Matt Strahm, Orion Kerkering, and Jeff Hoffman, the Phillies were operating out of necessity in targeting the market’s top closing option.

As I wrote earlier this week:

There’s a lot to be said for a guy who throws strikes and gets results. That’s all Estévez has done this season while saving 17 of 20 games for the Angels. There were long stretches of last season where he looked like a closer not long for the job. But he has transformed himself this season, walking just four batters in 31 innings. That has not been his profile for most of his career. But if this new him lasts, he deserves a long look from the Phillies.

The Phillies had their eyes on Austin Hays for a few years, according to Dave Dombrowski. And when Hays’ name came up in 2022 and the teams were unable to agree on his value, the Phillies pivoted. Desperate for outfield help, even more than they are now, they swallowed hard and sent catching prospect Logan O’Hoppe to the Angels for Brandon Marsh.

There’s an undeniable irony, then, in the circumstance that has landed Hays in Philadelphia now. Because if Marsh was more than about 65% of the player the Phillies thought he was, well, they wouldn’t need Hays.

Maybe that’s harsh, but left-handed pitching is Kryptonite mixed with poison laced with arsenic. He has done so little against lefties — .140 average/.371 OPS this season; .210/.356 in his career — that manager Rob Thomson hasn’t put him in the lineup when the Phillies have faced a non-opening lefty starter since (checks notes) May 16. That’s nearly one-third of the games in that span.

The Phillies pursued Carlos Estévez in free agency two offseasons ago before he got a two-year, $13.5 million deal with the Angels. They prioritized Estévez now over other available relievers for reasons that went beyond 51 saves over the last two years, including 20 this year.

Start here: He has been lights-out for two months.

Estévez hasn’t given up a run in 18 innings since May 28, retiring 53 of 58 batters in that span. Like every team, the Phillies fanned out their pro scouts across the league within the last few weeks. Longtime special assignment scout Charley Kerfeld trailed Estévez and made a positive recommendation.