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SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA – MAY 23: Manager Rob Thomson #59 of the Philadelphia Phillies signals the bullpen to make a pitching change against the Athletics in the bottom of the seventhj inning at Sutter Health Park on May 23, 2025 in Sacramento, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)

The Philadelphia Phillies need bullpen help. Every team needs bullpen help, of course – such is baseball. However, in light of former Tampa Bay Rays right-handed Jose Alvarado’s 80-game suspension for use of a banned substance, the Phillies most definitely have a vacancy in their high-leverage positions right now. And a different Rays righty might fill the void.

In his 2025 MLB trade deadline preview round-up, ESPN’s Jeff Passan lists the Phillies as “acquirers” at the trade line, with their specific objective being to “fix the bullpen”. As for who they could acquire to do so, Passan cites current Rays’ closer Pete Fairbanks as being the “best fit”.

Maybe it’s Fairbanks. Maybe it’s [Washington Nationals reliever Kyle Finnegan]. Maybe it’s both. Or even more. The Phillies’ bullpen has been one of the worst in baseball. Even if it was much better in May, their only reliever with a sub-3.00 ERA was Orion Kerkering. And with Jose Alvarado down for 80 games and out for the postseason following a PED suspension, the need for help is that much more grave.

Philadelphia’s bullpen torpedoed its playoff run last year. And with Alvarado and Jeff Hoffman  missing, the onus is on president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski to find enough arms that can generate swing-and-miss against the gauntlet that is the NL.

Phillies Need A New Closer

Ever since Alvarado’s suspension caused the team to be short-handed, there have been names bandied about for his replacement. Passan’s belief that the Phillies will seek to be buyers on the market is widespread.

Others to be named in the recent past have included Ryan Borucki of the Pittsburgh Pirates and current free agent David Robertson (for whom a return to Philadelphia “wouldn’t be a surprise”), as well as promoting current Phillies set-up man Tajuan Walker to the closer role. Fairbanks is the latest name to be linked to the Phillies; however, it is not the first time he has been linked with a trade away from the Rays.

Since the Rays picked him up from the Texas Rangers back in the 2019 season, Fairbanks has become the Rays’ closer through a dominant two-pitch mix. His convention-defying fastball – which is almost arrow-straight, showing little of the movement one would expect – is nevertheless fast enough and deceptive enough to consistently get by hitters, and his 12-to-6 breaking ball yields only a .103 batting average against. And that is before the 95 mile-per-hour change-up.

Fairbanks has long been a name rumored to be of interest to the New York Yankees. However, given that the Yankees are a divisional rival of the Rays, the Florida franchise might be disincentivized from dealing one of their better players there, and improving the enemy. This is not to say, however, that the Rays will abstain from dealing him somewhere.

Similar to the Yankees, the Phillies have money to spend, have no rebuilding plans and have vacancies in the bullpen. They just need the Rays to be willing to trade Fairbanks away for prospects. All the signs, though, suggest that they will.

Fairbanks Likely To Be Available

Passan’s article lists the Rays as being “tweeners”, his term for teams that are thought to not yet be decided on whether they will be buying or selling. As time goes on, though, their recent form and decisions indicate they may well look to move some veterans. With their 30-29 record speaking to their inability to shake the .500 mark, and a 6.5 game gap to the American League East-leading Yankees that is only getting bigger, the Rays are not exactly contenders for anything at the moment – and they do have a history of selling.

One need look back no further than just last season when, with a flurry of trades, the Rays flooded the market. Each of Randy Arozarena, Isaac Paredes, Shawn Armstrong, Andrew Kittredge, Amed Rosario, Aaron Civale, Zach Eflin, Phil Maton, Tyler Zuber and Jason Adam were traded last July alone, and since that time, they have also traded Jeff Springs and Jose Siri. Indeed, Fairbanks was widely expected to be a part of that July 2024 cull.

If a player is getting older, pricier or both, the Rays are willing to move them. At 31 years old and with a $7 million option for 2026 that would almost double the $3.67 million he is making this year – especially if he his incentives that will grow the cost to $11 million – Fairbanks is both of those things.

Fairbanks is also an indisputably good major league reliever, with two plus pitches and a third starting to break though. Passan’s conclusion that the trade would be a “perfect fit” therefore stands up to scrutiny. Any team needing a proven closer should be far down the road in negotiations with the Rays already – before the Yankees move in.

Mark Deeks I am continuously intrigued by the esoterica and minutiae of all the aspects of building a basketball team. I want to understand how to build the best basketball teams possible. No, I don’t know why, either. More about Mark Deeks