The Phillies agreed to a
one-year deal with veteran closer
David Robertson yesterday and will pay him the prorated portion of a one-year, $16MM contract to step into their bullpen down the stretch. Clubs around the game balked at the 40-year-old’s asking price in free agency over the offseason, but with the trade deadline looming, teams began to circle back as they now viewed Robertson as a way to upgrade their roster without surrendering prospect capital.
It’s not hard to see why the Phillies would find Robertson attractive. Philadelphia’s bullpen was a major strength last year but they entered 2025 with a significantly weaker group after both
Jeff Hoffman and
Carlos Estevez departed for the AL via free agency. Offseason addition
Jordan Romano has an ugly 6.88 ERA across 39 appearances in a Phillies uniform after being added to serve as the club’s closer.
Jose Alvarado’s excellent start to the 2025 season was shut down abruptly when he tested positive for PEDs. That resulted in an 80-game suspension and also leaves him ineligible for the postseason, meaning the Phils would have had to rely on
Matt Strahm and
Orion Kerkering as their back-end tandem in the playoffs this year. Both are impressive relievers in the midst of solid seasons, but neither profiles as a true shutdown closer.
Robertson can offer that sort of pedigree. A veteran of 16 MLB seasons who first got his start back in 2008 as a member of the Yankees, Robertson has collected 177 saves in his career with a 2.91 ERA and 2.94 FIP. His work in his late thirties was somehow even more impressive, as he posted a 2.82 ERA with 40 saves, a 3.24 FIP and a 31.1% strikeout rate across his age-37, -38, and -39 campaigns in the last three years. Last season’s campaign with the Rangers saw him look as sturdy as ever; he struck out 33.4% of his opponents while pitching to a 3.00 ERA and 2.65 FIP in a setup role for closer
Kirby Yates. Those are the numbers of a star reliever, the sort of player who can anchor a pitching staff in the postseason, and exactly the sort of player the Phillies need right now.
With that being said, the addition is not one that comes without risk. No pitcher on the wrong side of his 40th birthday is a slam-dunk to repeat his prior performance, and while Robertson could still be an excellent late-inning reliever even if he took a step back this year, it’s worth wondering how much he’ll be able to offer. Perhaps taking the first half off will allow Robertson to pitch like a younger man down the stretch and into the postseason, but there’s plenty of examples of pitchers who have struggled following an extended layoff.
That’s even more true when it comes to generally healthy players who miss Spring Training and don’t get a proper ramp-up for contractual reasons. Likely future Hall of Famer
Craig Kimbrel had one of the worst seasons of his career as a member of the Cubs back in 2019 when he waited until after the draft in June to sign so he wouldn’t be attached to draft pick compensation. Just this year, stalwart veteran
Kyle Gibson surrendered 23 runs in four starts for the Orioles after signing during the season and requiring an accelerated ramp-up process. Perhaps some of those woes can be avoided by giving Robertson plenty of time to prepare in the minor leagues, but any time he spends ramping up is time the big league club will have to spend without a much-needed closing option.
Between a potentially lengthy ramp-up and the uncertainty surrounding any midseason signing, should the Phillies continue to be aggressive about adding to their bullpen over the coming days? They waited long enough to sign Robertson that he surely won’t be in Philadelphia ahead of the July 31 trade deadline, so any acquisition they make will have to happen before they have full information on Robertson’s readiness to face big league pitching. The price of late-inning relief pitching figures to be exorbitant this summer with so few true sellers, and a recent injury to
Alec Bohm in conjunction with the struggles faced by
Max Kepler and
Johan Rojas this year leave the Phillies in need of another bat this summer as well.
Any resources dedicated to adding additional relief help would limit the resources available to add another bat at third base or in the outfield, so it’s fair to wonder if president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski would be best served hoping Robertson can lock down the ninth and focusing on the offense. On the other hand, a number of key players (
Ranger Suarez,
Kyle Schwarber,
J.T. Realmuto) are all ticketed for free agency after the 2025 season. This year could be Philadelphia’s best shot at winning a World Series with this core of players, and hinging those aspirations on a question mark in the ninth inning could be hard to stomach for fans.
How do MLBTR readers think Philadelphia should approach the deadline with Robertson now in the fold? Should they consider the bullpen more or less settled and prioritize adding offense, or is Robertson too much of a risk to count on? Have your say in the poll below:
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