It’s well-known the Philadelphia Phillies will need to upgrade their troubled bullpen at the trade deadline, but who will they go after and what will they have to give up? One MLB insider is proposing the Phillies deal for a three-time All-Star closer.

Philadelphia’s bullpen issues run deep. They rank 24th in ERA at 4.45 and tied for 24th in batting average allowed at .258. Lefty flamethrower Jose Alvarado was given an 80-game PED suspension in May and is prohibited from pitching in the postseason. Jordan Romano, the Phillies’ top free-agent reliever acquisition, has a 7.28 ERA in 33 appearances. And 2024 All-Star Matt Strahm has regressed this season with a 3.78 ERA and 1.230 WHIP.

Heading into Wednesday night’s game against the San Diego Padres, the Phillies are 50-36 and two games ahead of the New York Mets for first place in the National League East.

If the Phillies want to make a deep postseason run, they’re going to need to solidify their bullpen. And to do that, according to ESPN’s David Schoenfield, they should trade for Cleveland Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase.

“The Phillies need bullpen help and they need to win now. This has all the markings of a Dave Dombrowski deal,” Schoenfield notes.

Clase, who led the AL in saves the last three seasons, struggled to begin the year. He had a 6.75 ERA at the end of April with two blown saves, but has improved to 3.28 and recorded 18 saves on the season, while blowing just one since.

“He’s allowing a .289 average after batters hit just .154 against him in 2024, and while his location was certainly off a bit in April, he also had a lot of BABIP bad luck,” Schoenfield wrote. “His ground ball rate is significantly down from where it once was (as high as 68% in 2021, down to 45% this season), but he has still surrendered just one home run.

“Given the potential return for Clase — and hedging against the possibility that he could be on the decline — this might be the best chance for the Guardians to get a big haul for him.”

Clase signed a five-year, $20 million extension with the Guardians in April 2022 and is an affordable reliever. He would still have three years of control left after 2025, with $10 million club options for 2027 and 2028. Acquiring Clase would require a significant prospect haul from the Phillies, potentially including top prospects like Justin Crawford and Eduardo Tait.

While Clase has had success during the regular season, it hasn’t translated to the playoffs. Clase was hit hard during the 2024 postseason, giving up three home runs in seven appearances, including a 15.43 ERA in the ALCS against the New York Yankees.

Matt Higgins worked in national and local news for 15 years. He started out as an overnight production assistant … More about Matt Higgins