Currently sitting at 17-14 and in second place in the National League East, the Philadelphia Phillies aren’t off to the dominating start that many fans had hoped. However, their uber talented roster is sure to click as we get closer to July and the Phillies and other contenders look to improve at the trade deadline.

It’s a repeating cycle in Major League Baseball. Teams in the playoff race are willing to fork up some of their organization’s top prospects to teams building for the future. In the Phillies’ case, they have been known to always be interested in an extra bullpen arm or two.

This year is no different, as their less-than-trustworthy bullpen has costed them wins on more than one occasion so far. Contenders can never have enough quality relievers, and are usually interested in soon-to-be free agent rentals for the second half of the season. The Phillies love trading for rental relievers, think about Carlos Estévez, David Robertson and Ian Kennedy in recent years. They’ve given up some high-quality prospects for those guys, although they may be more hesitant to do so this year.

Phillies prospects Andrew Painter and Aidan Miller are untouchables this trade deadline

The Phillies struck gold in the 2021 and 2023 drafts, spending their first-round picks on right-handed pitcher Andrew Painter and shortstop Aidan Miller. MLB Pipeline ranks Painter No. 1 and Miller No. 2 in the Phillies’ top prospect rankings, with each also being included in the Top 100 prospect rankings.

Recovering from his 2023 Tommy John surgery, Painter has pitched solid in a few tune-up starts for the Low-A Clearwater Threshers, with a 3.97 ERA and 12 strikeouts to just one walk in a limited 11 1/3 innings over four starts. Miller is starting slow at Double-A Reading, though he’s seemed to have overcome his early-season struggles at least a little bit, with a walk rate of 14.6 percent and strike out rate of 16.7 percent, both improvements from the first few weeks of the season.

It’s easy to see why the Phillies’ brass is reluctant to give one of these top prospects up in a deadline deal for a reliever, per USA Today’s Bob Nightengale. He recently mentioned that the Phillies have shown interest in St. Louis Cardinals closer Ryan Helsley.

“Yet the Phillies are adamant they will not include top prospects Andrew Painter or Aidan Miller in any trade,” according to Nightengale.

Helsley is a pending free agent after the season and has recorded four saves in six opportunities this year after leading the league with 49 saves in 2024.

No. 3 prospect outfielder Justin Crawford is not listed as an untouchable by Nightengale, which we further know by the fact that the Phillies included him in trade talks with the Chicago White Sox for pitcher Garrett Crochet last year. Some fans are more reluctant than others to part with top prospects, but the reality is that you need to part with them to get impactful deadline deals done.

With Painter expected to make an impact with the Phillies this summer and Miller being a year or two away, the Phillies are banking on their youngsters bringing their solid minor league production to Philadelphia and nowhere else.