On Thursday evening, Phillies President of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski spent 20 minutes talking about his own team on Zoom. He fielded questions about the two major trades he had swung in the 24 hours prior.
Fittingly, though, the final question he answered was about the New York Mets, owners of a 0.5-game lead over the Phillies in the NL East headed into August.
The two contenders to win the division – and foes from last year’s Division Series, which the Mets won 3-1 – had strikingly similar trade deadlines. They both coveted bullpen help. For the Mets, that meant a cushion in front of superstar closer Edwin Díaz. For the Phillies, it meant finding a superstar closer of their own, Jhoan Duran, after signing veteran David Robertson to assume a setup role.
In the outfield, the Mets needed a more stable option to play center field between Brandon Nimmo and Juan Soto. They landed on Cedric Mullins. The Phillies’ outfield picture was much murkier; the only thing that was clear was that they had to add some sort of production. Harrison Bader has been a suspect hitter in the past – including with the Mets last season – but has outperformed expectations dramatically this season.
The Phillies took a gamble that he can sustain his offensive resurgence for another few months. So, as Dombrowski held court after 6 p.m. came and went, the session ended with a question about his team having a strikingly similar deadline to its biggest rival.
“Of course, you’re paying more attention to clubs in your own division and there were a lot of similarities of our needs,” Dombrowski said. “…So you’re very aware of what they’re doing. But I don’t think we made any moves – in fact, I’m sure we didn’t make any moves – to prevent them from doing something. It was more because that’s what our specific need was and we like the players that we got first and foremost to help our club.”
The Phillies and Mets, separated by 0.5 games in a tight division race, each focused on the same two areas. New York was more active in the final days of trade season, though the Phillies took the biggest swing by far while also bolstering their bullpen in free agency earlier in the month by signing Robertson.
The Phillies subtracted Mick Abel, a top starting pitching option at Triple-A, as part of their package to land superstar closer Jhoan Duran. New York’s biggest deal landed them Tyler Rogers; the return included major-league bullpen piece José Buttó. Other than those ancillary pieces, neither team lost any short-term value in their deals.
An overarching look at the additions made by each team:
| Phillies (61-47) | Mets (62-47) |
| RP Jhoan Duran | RP Tyler Rogers |
| RP David Robertson (FA) | RP Ryan Helsley |
| OF Harrison Bader | RP Gregory Soto |
| OF Cedric Mullins |
Bullpen
Both the Phillies and Mets were looking for additional relief pitching at the deadline, but for much different reasons: after a disastrous offseason, the Phillies needed to stabilize a bullpen that has been insufficient all year long. With Díaz already in the fold, New York desired to build a super-pen behind a starting pitching rotation that has been shaky in recent months and did not see any upgrades.
Duran is as dominant of a closer as there is in today’s game. Now that Phillies manager Rob Thomson can slot him into the ninth inning, he can also slide everyone else down within the hierarchy, Robertson included. The 40-year-old righty, along with southpaw Matt Strahm and younger Orion Kerkering, make up a formidable unit of setup men, with lefty Tanner Banks among options in the middle innings. There are some question marks in terms of depth, but the Phillies have a few arms they can really trust now.
But so do the Mets, and they have more of them.
They already had Reed Garrett and Ryne Stanek setting the table for Díaz. Soto, an old friend of the Phillies, gives them some additional left-handed velocity. Right before the Phillies added Duran, the Mets traded a whole lot to San Francisco to get Tyler Rogers, the submariner who is both as durable as they come and extremely effective. Right after news of the Duran trade broke, the Mets added the highest-profile rental reliever on the market, former Cardinals closer Ryan Helsley.
| Player | Pre-trade 2025 stats |
| Jhoan Duran | 49.1 IP, 2.01 ERA, 1.17 WHIP |
| David Robertson | n/a |
| Tyler Rogers | 50.0 IP, 1.80 ERA, 0.86 WHIP |
| Ryan Helsley | 36.0 IP, 3.00 ERA, 1.38 WHIP |
| Gregory Soto | 36.1 IP, 3.96 ERA, 1.29 WHIP |
Duran is clearly better than any of the three relievers the Mets traded for when factoring in his long-term track record. While New York’s two high-leverage right-handed additions are rentals, Duran comes with another two years of control for the Phillies after this season. But Robertson, who has not pitched in the majors since September of 2024, is far and away the biggest question mark in this whole discussion. It is somewhat suboptimal given the preexisting instability within Thomson’s bullpen.
MORE: Duran’s dominance, by the numbers
Outfield
In any prior year, the Mets adding Mullins would clearly trump the Phillies’ acquisition of Bader. A mainstay in Baltimore, the 30-year-old Mullins has been one of the more productive centerfielders in baseball over the last several years. His All-Star season in 2021 proved to be a clear outlier, though, and his offensive profile is a bit confusing. He has generally profiled as a strong-side platoon outfielder; last season the left handed-hitting Mullins was unplayable against left-handed pitching. But this year, he has crushed lefties while struggling against right-handed pitchers.
Meanwhile, Bader has always been optimized as a weak-side platoon outfielder with excellent defense in center field. In Minnesota this year, he has been stellar defensively while playing a lot of left field. He has continued to hit left-handed pitching well, but also made significant strides against right-handers.
Bader’s production is actually a bit better against righties this year, though a potential promotion for Phillies outfield prospect Justin Crawford could limit Bader’s chances against them. If Crawford struggles in the majors – or never gets called up – Bader has played like someone capable of handling an everyday role.
How have Bader and Mullins compared in 2025 so far?
| Harrison Bader | Cedric Mullins |
| .258 AVG | .229 AVG |
| .339 OBP | .305 OBP |
| .439 SLG | .433 SLG |
| 12 HR | 15 HR |
| 117 wRC+ | 104 wRC+ |
At this point, Bader seems like a more significant addition than Mullins, particularly because of the Phillies’ desperation for outfield assistance. But as far as whole units are concerned, the Phillies lag behind New York and it is not even close. Soto and Nimmo are enormously better than any player the Phillies will have on the grass at any point in 2025. Once again, it is an example of the Phillies trying to fortify a unit that qualifies as a massive weakness while the Mets are merely filling a hole.
The Mets have a deeper lineup than the Phillies, and even after the Duran trade the Phillies are clearly managing a much more suspect bullpen. Can their enormous advantage on the starting pitching front make up the difference?