Might the Phillies cure their bullpen woes in one fell swoop?
It’s that time again. Trade rumor season is going to begin in earnest as the calendar flips to July and since we’re already close enough, let’s see what’s on the plate.
Report: The Phillies and Pirates have had trade conversations about closer David Bednar and setup man Dennis Santana. The feeling is Philly could want BOTH in a deal. Stay tuned. pic.twitter.com/YyVHPIDbJ6
— Andrew Fillipponi (@ThePoniExpress) June 30, 2025
I’ll begin by heaving the necessary bucket of cold water in this direction by noting that this isn’t one of the national writers saying this. It’s not even Bowden. However, this person, a host of a sports station in Pittsburgh, might know someone’s uncle’s cousin in the front office, so let’s go with it.
We’ve seen Bednar on the rumor mill for many years, but Pittsburgh failed to pull the trigger. Maybe they thought they could win years past, but it seems like they missed their chance to truly capitalize on his value. He had a bad year last year and was even demoted to the minors this year, but something has clicked back in place. Since returning to the majors, he’s thrown 27 2⁄3 innings, struck out 40 and only walked six, posting a 1.95 ERA in that time. More importantly, the gopheritis he struggled with has disappeared. He’s allowed one home run since April 19.
Santana has been even better. This year, he’s pitched in 36 innings, striking out 28 and walking only six, good for a 1.50 ERA on the year and 1.8 bWAR. One might think a lot of work has been done with smoke and mirrors, but his peripheral stuff suggest that he’s been just fine and that he has shown the capacity to keep it up all year long.
Adding these two would give the bullpen a significant upgrade over what they have now. It would also likely mean a solid return going back to Pittsburgh. Not only are these two of the top arms on the market, they both have team control beyond this season. That’s going to up the ante, particularly if they are dealt together.