MLB trade grades: Phillies make offseason need even worse as Opening Day nears

It's been a busy Sunday for the Philadelphia Phillies.

USA Today's Bob Nightengale reported that the Phillies are interested in Jordan Montgomery, and have internally discussed pursuing the former Rangers ace with a multiyear offer. The Phils also signed Matt Strahm to a contract extension, which went under the radar.

If you didn't notice the Strahm extension, you almost certainly missed the minor trade Philadelphia made with the Colorado Rockies Sunday morning. I will preface this report with the obvious -- it's unlikely such a trade comes back to haunt the Phillies immediately. However, it eliminates an option for a problem they are reportedly pursuing a need for.

Also in Nightengale's report on Sunday was the following statement: The Philadelphia Phillies are on the lookout for a left-handed hitting outfielder. 

MLB trade grades: Why did Phillies deal away the one thing they need?

I am not one to question Dave Dombrowski often, but Cave is a left-handed hitting outfielder, and one who was performing quite well during spring training. Yet, Dombrowski flipped Cave to the Rockies for a player to be named later. Cave was hitting .324 in spring training, and while we can all agree spring training stats don't matter all that much, the Phillies don't have many options to fill this hole.

The Phillies traded Cave to the Rockies because he wasn't going to make the MLB roster and was out of options. Essentially, he would have been claimed via waivers had the Phillies not traded him to the Rockies instead.

Cave seems to have made some improvements in his approach at the plate, as his spring training numbers were far better than the .212/.272/.348 splits from the 2023 season. The Phillies don't necessarily believe that Cave has made the necessary adjustments, and his body of work doesn't suggest he's the kind of hitter Philadelphia is looking for as their left-handed hitting outfielder.

Let's hope they have another option in mind.

MLB trade grade: C