Gregory Soto’s first comments with O’s offer insight into why Phillies traded him

Gregory Soto was traded to the Orioles. (Melissa Tamez/Icon Sportswire)

Less than two hours before he was traded by the Philadelphia Phillies (with Tanner Banks essentially replacing him), Gregory Soto played catch with his son in the outfield at Citizens Bank Park, getting ready for Game 2 of what could be a World Series preview against the New York Yankees.

It’s the type of thing that could become a pretty depressing memory for someone who wasn’t expecting or hoping to get traded. But evidently, Soto didn’t fall into that category.

Granted, the team he got dealt to — the Baltimore Orioles — has very real World Series aspirations themselves. That helps. But it sounds like if anything, Soto was happy to be traded by the Phillies.

“For the last few months I’ve been looking for a new environment, a new team that can give me the opportunity to excel and play well, and I’m really excited, I’m really happy to be here right now,” Soto said Thursday via interpreter, according to Roch Kubatko of MASN.

“I was focusing on doing a good job over there whenever my name was called, but with that being said, we had conversations, my agent and I, with the team and if the opportunity popped up to go somewhere else, that was something we were willing to do. Things just happened to work out that way, where it happened now and I’m happy to be here.”

Evidently, Soto — who recorded 48 saves for the Detroit Tigers between the 2021 and 2022 seasons — hopes to get more chances to close games than he did with the Phillies. President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski essentially said as much after the Phillies traded Soto to the Orioles for pitching prospects Seth Johnson And Moisés Chace just before the deadline.

“Well, he pitched overall OK when you look at his numbers,” Dombrowski said of Soto. “We didn’t necessarily get him as a closer. I think a lot of times he envisions himself as a closer, which is fine. But when you look at it, he’s done fine for us by all means. We weren’t dissatisfied with him. But the way we use our ‘pen, I’m just not sure that there ever was a way that he felt comfortable in that regard.”

During the Dombrowski/Rob Thomson regime, the Phillies have preferred not to name a closer. Craig Kimbrel got a bulk of the opportunities in the ninth a season ago, and it sounds as though new acquisition Carlos Estévez will for the remainder of 2024. But even when it wasn’t one of those two, Soto wasn’t typically the next man up, with José Alvarado, Jeff Hoffman and Seranthony Domínguez getting opportunities before him.

Gregory Soto was traded to the Orioles. (Grace Del Pizzo/Phillies Nation)

Soto, though, did get some higher-leverage opportunities later in his time with the Phillies with Alvarado going through a bit of a rough patch.

He came in with runners on first and second and two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning against the Minnesota Twins on July 23. Soto threw a wild pitch, which allowed the runners to move into scoring position. He then walked Max Kepler on four pitches to load the bases. Soto ultimately induced an inning-ending groundout off the bat of Ryan Jeffers, but it wasn’t exactly a shutdown appearance.

The next day, July 24, Soto came in for the bottom of the ninth inning hoping to keep the game tied and send it to extras. He hit Trevor Larnach to start the inning. Larnach then advanced to second base on a wild pitch from Soto, before a sacrifice bunt advanced him to third. Kepler would win the game on an infield single, which was bad luck. But letting Larnach get into position to score the winning run on an infield single was Soto’s fault.

It’s one thing to want more high-leverage opportunities, but if you don’t take advantage of them when given the chance, it’s a bit perplexing to expect to continue to receive them. Perhaps we should have realized Soto might not be long for Philadelphia when he came in to pitch the top of the eighth inning against the Yankees on July 29, with the Phillies trailing 9-4. It wasn’t exactly a high-leverage situation. And by the end of the inning, it really wasn’t a high-leverage situation, as Soto gave up three runs in the frame, including a two-run shot from Yankees’ shortstop Anthony Volpe.

The hardest part of all of this to wrap your head around is the fact that Soto is now part of a bullpen where he’s once again behind at least Kimbrel for save opportunities, if not also Domínguez and Yennier Cano. Both Kimbrel ($13 million) and Domínguez ($8 million) have club options that the Orioles could decline for 2025, which will be Soto’s contract year. But at that point, Félix Bautista — last year’s Rivera AL Relief Pitcher of the Year Award winner — will be back from Tommy John surgery, and the undisputed closer for the Orioles.