Phillies Acquire OF Austin Hays from Baltimore

[Squire]

Phillies Get:
OF Austin Hays

Baltimore Gets
RHP Seranthony Dominguez
OF Christian Pache

https://x.com/Phillies/status/1816873738018947242

[julio]

So I guess we’ll call Hays “Ol’ Two For One.”

[xogfog]

Well, I guess more moves are coming for a bullpen arm. Hays is hitting lefties at a .328 clip.

[andyb]

Dombrowski is clearly playing a more sophisticated brand of chess than most of the pundits. This is an interesting trade. Hays is not great, but is a good platoon bat with one more year of control. Seranthony is potentially better, but is also potentially a free agent next year because he would not be worth his contract. Hays might also be a non-tender because his salary is getting up there. Pache has little value.

It is really a small deal but positions us for bigger deals. One has to think a left-handed OF bat is still in play. Maybe a Thomas/Finnegan deal with the Nats does not make sense, but a Winker/Finnegan one sure would (and would cost less than Thomas).

[julio]

The Phillies acquired OF Austin Hays from the Orioles for RHP Seranthony Domínguez and OF Cristian Pache. Hays will wear No. 9.

— Todd Zolecki ( @ToddZolecki ) July 26, 2024

Hays will wear No. 9.

I'm having flashbacks!

[Patchmk88]

What are people's opinions on Hays' defense? Will we see Marsh in CF against Righties and Hayes in LF? Hayes has been bad against RHP this year but is OPSing .727 against them for his career.

[andyb]

Hays is a decent corner OF. Not good enough for CF. I think we'll see some of Marsh in CF and Hays in LF, but we might also acquire another left-handed OF too in the next 5 days.

[Dirk41]

This doesn't seem like something that pushes anyone over the top. Something else should be coming.

Seranthony will go down as a good soldier from this era of Phillies baseball. His early dominant appearances are a highlight for me.

[MichaelJackSchmidt]

Yeah, mostly singles (13) and 8 doubles against LHP. So often the Phillies have men on base and Pache strikes out, maybe this move will help. It's not a great signing, but ok.

[Callison]

Super move for the Phils. Trading players that aren't contributing enough for a player that hits Lefties.

[Philsmania]

This doesn't seem like something that pushes anyone over the top. Something else should be coming.

Seranthony will go down as a good soldier from this era of Phillies baseball. His early dominant appearances are a highlight for me.

Sorry to see Seranthony go but his trend was heading downward the last couple of seasons. Still can't help but think that we lost the better part of 2.5 years from him after Kapler probably broke him in 2018 (overwork in what was his first season as a reliever).

[andyb]

Generally positive views from the Athletic.

MLB Trade Grades: In Austin Hays deal, Phillies, Orioles shore up weak spots

[Austinfan]

SD, Marte and Ruiz pretty much the same pitcher this year, none trustworthy in a 7th inning role.
think Lazar gets a shot while they wait for Walker/Turnbull unless Dombrowski has another move up his sleeve.

Basically says they didn't like what they saw from Wilson, Kennedy/Stevenson swap for him now that LF platoon is filled?

[Dirk41]

Prospects still in tact for a big swing, too. Can't see this being their biggest move

[Austinfan]

Not sure Marsh will play CF, with Hays, and Castellanos hitting, they really don't have weak spots in lineup until you get to 9th, and you can carry Rojas' bat given his glove.

Schwarber
Turner
Harper
Bohm
JT
Marsh/Hayes
Castellanos
Stott/Sosa
Rojas

[zambonir]

You just never know. They almost all get injured, they almost all have up-and-down years. He still wound up being a part of 2022

The Phillies don't need to be pushed over the top, they are the top. And the better team still doesn't always win of course. Addressing specific weaknesses is all you can ask. No way to know if it would have made a difference last year but they did not successfully do that year with Lorenzen (that added starter depth made no difference and he was not much of a reliever) and Castro (lol). This is already looking like 2022 where they will check off every box (if they get that LH bench, bat and with the premise that they don't need a starting pitcher).

I'm guessing the deal for a reliever will be the biggest one Dombrowski has made to date (given O'Hoppe was only a single player and didn't get traded for a rental or someone with just one extra year of control).

[andyb]

They are almost certainly going to get a left-handed bat. I would be shocked if Rojas is anything close to a full time player the rest of the way. He'll play against left-handed pitching and probably once a week against RHP. Plus defense most games when it makes sense late. This move does solidify his spot on the roster (short of getting another CF).

[zambonir]

I'm not convinced that's how it goes down. They just want a bench/PH guy who's a tick better than Clemens (who never really got a chance against after getting hurt) or Dahl but won't actually play that much more than Pache or the other last bench guy ever did. Then that LHB can also PH for Rojas when a late-game situation demands offense (and then Marsh can move to CF). Nothing really suggests they've wanted to insulate Rojas from RHP, they just want him in the field (and he has terrible reverse splits ironically).

It could happen, but who's out there that's right for a still-limited role? I wouldn't think Winker fits.

[phillychuck]

think Lazar gets a shot while they wait for Walker/Turnbull unless Dombrowski has another move up his sleeve.

Lazar has not been effective recently, and seems to not be able to pitch frequently. I'm not sure he's the answer to anything.

And ol' 2 for 1 is Hays without the 'e', even though he'll wear #9...

[zambonir]

The Inquirer actually misspelled it, assume they fixed.