2 prime Guardians trade targets off the board after Phillies early morning trade flurry 

Sometimes the trade deadline can move quickly. 

That theme played out earlier this morning when the Philadelphia Phillies stole two of the biggest options on the trade market by acquiring  second baseman Luis Arraez from the Giants and reliever Brooks Raley from the Mets — two trade targets who made sense for the Guardians. The Phillies also netted reliever Caleb Kilian in their deal with the Giants.

That’s a great haul for the Phillies as they try to extend their roster’s contention window, but it comes at a severe cost. 

They had to give up  two strong pitching prospects in exchange for Arraez and Kilian (Ramon Marquez and Marty Gair) along with trading pitching prospect Luke Gabrysh and outfielder John Spikerman in exchange for Arraez. 

So the Phillies gave up four prospects for two rentals in Arraez and Raley and an unproven reliever in Kilian. While Marquez is the only one of those prospects ranked in MLB Pipeline’s list of the top-30 prospects, it’s still a decent blow to a Phillies’ system that’s pretty bare due to Dave Dombrowski's previous dealing. 

But it makes sense for him and the Phillies. Not so much for the Guardians. 

The Phillies nabbed two prime Guardians trade targets in Luis Arraez and Brooks Raley

Arraez has always stood out as a dream target for the Guardians because of his unrivaled contract skills, though the front office never jumped at the opportunity to sign him in the offseason even as he lingered in free agency. 

He ended up signing with the Giants, and has put together his customary production via a .324/.360/.440 slashline while also turning into a great defender at second base. 

Although he can also play at first base, he went on the record and said that he wanted to stay at second. The Phillies seem to be honoring that request, as The Athletic’s Matt Gelb reported the Phillies are going to keep Arraez at second. 

That’s a request the Guardians obviously wouldn’t be able to honor thanks to Travis Bazzana being entrenched at second base. 

Honestly, the Phillies’ trade for Raley may hurt the Guardians more. While the bullpen isn’t as big of a need thanks to the Guardians’ trade for Craig Yoho and their signing of Ryan Borucki to a minor league contract, Raley was the perfect fit given he’s a pure rental with nine years of big league experience under his belt. 

The Phillies had to give up two lottery ticket prospects to get him. It seems like the Guardians could afford to pay that price, but they pivoted and added to their bullpen via their trade via a trade on the margins and an unconventional trade with the Brewers. 

The next eightish hours are going to tell us whether or not that’s going to be enough for Cleveland. 

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