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:
Lol. What a dumb poll. Of course not. There will be more moves.
The results are almost 75% No, this article didn’t need to be written.
How much are you expecting them to go over the luxury tax?
It doesn’t matter. Phillies are in so deep with this roster. JTR and Kyle are FA.
Gotta go for it now.
Von – Looking forward to tonight’s game, it should be a great matchup because Wheeler and Buehler have so much in common!
1) They are both righthanded pitchers
2) They both have last names that are 7 letters long
3) They are both pitching tonight
4) They are both in their 30’s
5)
Phillies need multiple more RP, even if Robertson is it, which isn’t a given.
Andrew Painter, Mick Abel, Gage Wood.
All three have the stuff to do the job. Kerkering’s stuff is garbage compared to each of Painter, Abel and Gage Wood.
Painter isn’t even close to being MLB ready.
Painter has the stuff to pitch in the pen today. He is not talking about being an every fifth day six inning starter. Those are two different things. Worry about your own underachieving prospects
Those underachieving prospects tuned Painter up for 8 runs in 10 innings and five home runs in his last two starts.
Paint it Black, Thumper.
Robertson is a 7/8th inning guy. They need a “real closer”. A bat would be nice, but isn’t a necessity.
Nope, and i’m not buying the explanation from up top that we have starters that can convert to relievers in the playoffs. We need an experienced arm down there, preferably a closer that allows everyone to bump down a spot, lengthening the bullpen. Duran & Harrison Bader for Abel, Johan Rojas & Otto Kemp? Something like that where we’re also getting a RH hitting OF’er that can catch the ball and platoon with Marsh/Kepler.
Taylor Ward?
“Johan Rojas & Otto Kemp”
ROFLOL!
These teams want the top Top 100 prospects for these controllable relievers.
Trading for relievers means the Phillies are on the way – quickly – to their next ten year rebuild.
Yeah Abel was the main piece in that hypothetical, but maybe you’re undervaluing 23-25 year old controllable talent. Rojas has elite speed, Kemp looks like a future big league utility guy. For a closer with 2 extra years of control and a rental. You can insert any prospect you want, my point was they need a bonafide closer so Kerkering, Strahm & Robertson can set up. And you’d imagine a team that had playoff aspirations like the Twins, would want MLB ready players.
I’m sorry, but as a fellow Phillies fan, I have to agree with Heels. Please share some of that NJ rec flower you’re smoking. You’re insanely overvaluing Rojas. I like Kemp, and I hope he works out, but I need to see more. Rojas and Kemp aren’t getting an elite closer from another team, let alone a closer *and* OF
Worst thing that happened to Philly was bostons win streak against weak fodder teams before the AS break.
Chapman/Refsnyder pairing wouldve been ideal for Philly, and, almost certainly available.
Even if you sweep this series it wouldn’t make boston back to sellers, team management is used to the sox stumbling out of the AS break, it’s how most years go.
Robertson signing is good because it adds a potentially reliable arm for the 7th and 8th innings and importantly, it cost nothing in terms of prospect capital. Not to be stung with prospects, but those resources are better applied on a bullpen arm of a higher caliber than Robertson. The Phillies will most certainly add another bullpen arm before the deadline.
The Phillies need a right handed power bat cause the occasional 13 run outburst does not cut it If schwarbomb, Turner and Harper slumber, the Phillies crumble,why? Nothing behind them. Wasting the best starting rotation in baseball. Robertson best stay in the 7th or 17 league leading blown saves will climb. A 1 2 3 closer is required.
It’s almost like Hays > Kepler.
Not a bad comparison my friend,go cheap and you will go home. Time for Dumbrowski to step up and do what is obvious.
Yeah Philly will add another arm to the pen before deadline.
No, one reliever isn’t enough. It also wouldn’t be enough for the Cubs if they had signed him, need another starter too.
Never Remember-What Mets’ fan is saying that?
The worst poll ever on here. Why would anyone other than a Mets fan think adding old man Robertson is anything but a thin band aid on a decrepit pathetic bullpen. Unbelievably bad poll Nick. It’s like you had nothing to put up so came up with this to fill space.
That’s a really weird take.
Typical from blackpink.
With aging (especially outliers) players, there’s always that season where they don’t have it anymore.
Robertson may not be enough, but they need to prioritize an outfielder and infielder first over another reliever
Fair question since Dombrowksi teams usually get derailed by the back end of the bullpen. Look at the Tigers. They should have won the series that year and not the Red Sox but their bullpen did them in.
WRONG
DUMBrowski’s Tigers could not hit, same problem the Phillies have. Two or three big guys and nothing but lineup filler – or not – around them. Big run totals followed by nothing the next two or more games and then an explosion, rinse and repeat.
Many people are putting a lot of faith in a 40 yo pitcher who hasn’t pitched in ten months. Strange attraction.
Robertson clearly knows how to pitch, but at $16M we now know why he lingered on the market so long.
My raised eyebrows are not about his ability to pitch. Rather, the fact that now he is older and he hasn’t pitched. Yes, he priced himself into near-retirement, but there is the fact he is very old and hasn’t done it in awhile.
“My raised eyebrows”..I more or less agree with your point. I do admit some sentimental, pro bias around Robertson, because I saw him pitch extensively at his best and in his prime.
That being said, age and inactivity generally take their toll on baseball players. But, if there’s an older inactive pitcher to roll the (expensive)dice on, it’s David Robertson.
He wont work out. His best days are in the past.
Based on last season, I disagree. Nice 7th inning guy.
I thought he got 6mm. 16million OMG. Thats a joke.
He was shrewd to hold out until now. This way he doesn’t have to go through the grind of an entire season while he could choose a team that had an excellent shot in the playoffs.
Fatal Attraction?
The two poll choices are not mutually exclusive. The Phillies can prioritize a big bat (as they should) and still be aggressive about adding a bona fide closer to the bullpen (as they also should).
Phillies will prioritize both or they have no shot at a ring.
Gah, I have a pet peeve about questions like this… (or maybe it’s headlines like this)… but if you read the headline and think “my answer is No,” then the way the survey is written, you actually need to choose “Yes.”
Headline – Will Robertson be enough? [no]
Survey – Should the Phillies keep adding bullpen help? [yes]
Nitpicky, I know, but, well… this is why I get invited to all the best parties.
David Robertson is a payroll bandit. I thought he got 6 million. now i see 16 at his age!
He got six million for the rest of the season. 16 prorated means that would be if he was signed for the whole season
Hell no
Enough?
To do what?