When the Philadelphia Phillies traded highly-touted catcher Logan O’Hoppe straight up to the Los Angeles Angels for outfielder Brandon Marsh on Aug. 2, the price felt steep.
But while it’s entirely possible that O’Hoppe ends up being the better player of the two, the price that Dave Dombrowski paid to acquire a starting caliber center fielder under team control for the forseeable future looks downright affordable on Dec. 9.
Had the Phillies not acquired Marsh prior to the trade deadline, it’s unclear how they would have proceeded for the remainder of the 2022 season. Presumably, the plan wouldn’t have just been to continue hoping that the combination of Odúbel Herrera, Matt Vierling and Mickey Moniak was good enough to get by, but impact center fielders are few and far between.