Phillies Reportedly “Refusing To Even Entertain The Thought” Of Trading No. 1 Prospect Andrew Painter
Philadelphia Phillies' pitcher Andrew Painter delivers in the first inning during a spring training baseball game against the Minnesota Twins, Wednesday, March 1, 2023, in Fort Myers, Fla. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
The Phillies are holding the line when it comes to their top young prospect.
With the 2025 MLB trade deadline nearing, the Philadelphia Phillies are attempting to make a big splash to help improve their roster. While relief pitching seems to be the top priority for the Phillies, it’s going to come at a cost, and many feel the top arm available is Minnesota Twins closer Jhoan Duran.
However, it’s being reported that the Twins’ current asking price for Duran from all teams is sky-high, and Phillies President of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski isn’t budging.
According to the Athletic’s Phillies reporter Matt Gelb, the Phillies are “refusing to even entertain the thought,” of trading top prospect and #8 overall prospect Andrew Painter. The Twins reportedly will not do a trade for Duran that doesn’t involve Painter.
It seems to be a stalemate for both teams as the Phillies do not want to move Painter, who is one of the best young pitchers across the major and minor leagues, and the Twins want a big-time return for their shutdown closer with two and a half years of control remaining.
It’s not only Duran whose price is large, as just this afternoon, the New York Mets made a move, trading their No. 10 and 12 prospects, Blake Tidwell and Drew Gilbert, as well as right-handed pitcher José Butto, to the San Francisco Giants for right-hander Tyler Rogers.
While Rogers isn’t the worst pitcher in the world, him being worth that high of a price shows that the reports of Duran being worth teams’ top prospects as real. While the deadline is just over 24 hours away from finishing, the price doesn’t seem to be coming down for many trade options.
The Phillies currently have a 96% chance of making the playoffs and a 10.7% chance of winning the World Series, the World Series odds being the second best behind only the Dodgers. The Phillies need improvements if they want to improve those odds, but how much are they willing to spend for it?
Matt Brown
Matt has been a Philadelphia sports fan all his life and spent four years at Penn State University majoring in Broadcast Journalism and minoring in Sports Studies. He previously covered Penn State’s field hockey, men’s and women’s basketball, and baseball teams while writing for a Penn State blog called Onward State. He has now covered the Phillies, Eagles, and Sixers for Philly Sports Reports since October 2024 and wants to pursue a career in Sports Journalism.
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