Bombshell in Philly: Phillies Set to Trade All-Star Playoff Hero in Stunning Winter Move
The Philadelphia Phillies have made some tweaks to the roster after a disappointing playoff exit in 2024.
After winning just one postseason game this past season, the team has added outfielder Max Kepler, reliever Jordan Romano and some other peripheral players. But their biggest addition of the winter thus far was to reinforce the starting rotation, as they swung a trade with the Miami Marlins to bring young starter Jesús Luzardo to Philadelphia.
That addition could make the starting pitcher staff a bit crowded. Luzardo is now joining Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, Cristopher Sánchez and Ranger Suárez as top prospect Andrew Painter looks to join the big-league rotation sometime in 2025.
With the sudden potential to move one of their starters to reinforce another area of need, Edward Eng of That Ball’s Outta Here predicted that Suárez would be among the “Phillies who won’t be back in 2025 after (the) Jesús Luzardo trade.”
There is good reason to believe Suárez would be valued pretty highly by other teams looking for some pitching depth. In his first-career All-Star season in 2024, he maintained a 3.46 ERA in 27 starts. And he’s been clutch in his eight-career playoff starts for the Phillies, maintaining a 1.43 ERA with 40 strikeouts across 37.2 postseason innings.
He also racked up five strikeouts in 5.2 World Series innings against the Houston Astros in 2022, giving up just four hits and no runs in a heroic performance that likely earned him a vaunted place in the hearts of many Phillies fans.
Suárez did battle some injury issues and a second-half slump in 2024, but returned to his typical playoff form with eight strikeouts and no earned runs in 4.1 innings against the New York Mets. As a result, he could garner the kind of trade interest that makes him worth moving this winter, before he enters his final season of contract arbitration eligibility.
