Phillies Acquire CF Brandon Marsh from Angels for C Logan O'Hoppe

[andyb]

Marsh has the tools to be a good hitter, he was in Fangraphs top 50 prospects going into the 2021 season.

Of course I saw that O'Hoppe had ticked up to number 50 on the Fangraphs ranking today....

[flyers19rw]

I guess that the Phillies like Marchan's defense quite a bit. I am concerned that he's as small as he is. Hope that he has the physique to hold up.

[allentown]

Quite a few years until he would be called on to start.

[andyb]

I think it is more realistic that the Phillies are OK with a 50-50 timeshare with Stubbs and one of the other AAA catchers if Realmuto ever gets hurt.

Going to be a few years until Nava and Perez hit AAA so there is a bit of a risk (more for 2024/25) in this deal. Guessing Marchan does not have much trade value unfortunately. As we have seen, good glove/mediocre offensive catchers can usually be signed for a million or two in the free agent market. Unclear if Marchan or Sands will ever be better than that. Also imagine Stubbs has the same durability problems as Marchan. Lots of teams are going 50-50 with their catching job though. It is not uncommon to not have a 120+ game guy.

[Austinfan]

Marsh and Sosa both give them plus defenders off the bench, but are young enough that if they can improve their hitting, they can be low cost starters for a few years. Given the hitting core of this team, a couple mediocre hit/plus field guys can be easily carried. At worst, with a deep bullpen and late inning defensive substitutions, they can win close games.

[zambonir]

Well, Marsh isn't going to be "off the bench."

[andyb]

He will still platoon with Vierling. Just not clear how good a defensive CF he is. Both he and Vierling are plus in a corner but much more average in CF.

They do probably go to late inning defense a bit more now. Marsh is just much more about the future than today.

[zambonir]

But I'm guessing he plays more on his platoon side than Herrera had been (with or without Moniak). And that he is a defensive upgrade (not hard to be one) even if he's not a Gold Glover.

This could be another one on the new Tampa assistant GM. We want the Phillies to find good young players, even at a highish trade price. They just have to be right, and historically we don't expect that.

[LoneStarPhan]

O'Hoppe has been a solid prospect and I have been looking forward to seeing him in a Phillies uniform, but we anticipate that JT will be catching the bulk of the games for the next couple seasons, so opportunity seems to be only for the back up role at catcher.

Marsh has been a solid highly rated prospect who now seems to have hit a wall offensively in the majors. At 24, he may well rebound and become a satisfactorily proficient hitter. Maybe the Phillies think he can be significantly more. Overall, probably an okay deal for both teams.

[schillingfan]

I hope Marsh is more like a Both than he is like Domonic Brown.

[allentown]

I don't get it. What am I missing?

[zambonir]

Announcers saying that Thomson said Marsh will come in and be the starting CF right away, no easing him in or giving him some time with Long. He also had a talk with Vierling to assure him he'd still get his time (but also in the IF).

I wonder - and I know we have a lot of threads going here - if it had been Moniak for Marsh and O'Hoppe in the Thor deal would we like it more or less?

[phillychuck]

The Phils have never liked O'Hoppe as much as we did in the fan base. Marsh isn't a bad return given we were trading him in any case. Marsh's minor league hitting numbers compare well to O'Hoppe's at a younger age at each level. He needs to fix whatever has been depressing his OBP over the last couple of years; if he can, this is a good trade. If not, it was a reasonable risk for O'Hoppe, at least for the value the Phils see in him.

[arpax]

https://twitter.com/trashpandas/status/1570878167438741504?s=46&t=zMZ6MxpZO6VRdM1XVaaZ-w

[Austinfan]

And Marsh is playing great defensive CF for a playoff contender at age 24 and seems to be finding his stroke under Long.
Sometimes trades help both teams.

[phillychuck]

Too early to tell who won this one in both cases. I think the Phils underestimated O"Hoppe's potential, but Marsh may have been equally underestimated.

[Austinfan]

I don't think either team underestimated, Phillies had Long watch film on Marsh, and it seems he saw a flaw he thought he could correct, O'Hoppe has shown a lot of potential, but he's still only in AA, which leaves a big jump to the Show.

In both cases, there's a lot of risk and a lot of upside. O'Hoppe is an overachiever, but where's the ceiling?
Marsh has been an underachiever, but flashed the ability to be a plus defensive CF with .750+ OPS.
Marsh was rushed, only 1330 PA before he was promoted,

wRC+: A+ 102 at 20 years old, AA 137 at 21, AAA 108 at 23 (110 PA) before he was promoted.
Missed a full season at 22. Should have spent that season in AAA ball.
BB rates 12.2%, 11.4%, 14.5%, in those three seasons, so you know he's not a free swinger.

He has a chance to be a leadoff hitter with a high OBP with some pop to go with his defense.
At 6'4 215 there's probably significant untapped power.

[fish]

I was really disappointed to lose OHoppe, but Marsh’s stats with the Phils have been on the upward trend - the last month he’s hit .294 with a .769 OPS, with numbers improving more and more over the last 15 and 7 games. I see the hope that they may have gotten the guy they wanted and that next year the final stat line will read better than a .240 hitter.

[flyers19rw]

Logan O'Hoppe was called up to the Angels last night

[David_Criss]

O'Hoppe was blocked by Realmuto. Marsh was blocked by Trout. This could be a very good trade for both teams.