5 questions for... Steve Phillips
SiriusXM analyst and former Mets GM Steve Phillips talks with The Post’s Justin Terranova about this year’s Justin Verlander, the Mets’ dilemma and why the Nationals blew it.
Q: Can there be a Verlander-type deal this August?
A: The guy who might fit into a category like that this year is Josh Donaldson. He’s missed a large chunk of the season and is close to being ready to come back. If he shows he’s healthy and productive, he could be a tremendous difference-maker for a team. Think more American League because you could DH him. The Astros could certainly consider it, as well as the Yankees.
Q: The Mets didn’t sell, arguing they could contend next year. Can they?
A: The Mets are in a really tough place. They are going to be faced with the decision of spending beyond a comfort level around the pieces they really love. Then if we win we could make up some of the money we’ve sunk in and if we lost we are just going to have to sell, sell, sell. That middle place, though, is where they are and it’s not a great place to be. If it’s business as usual — trying to break even — it’s going to be really hard for them to compete with some of the needs they have.
Q: How did the Yankees make out at the deadline?
A: They improved and protected themselves in areas where they needed to. They built some depth into the rotation, added some veteran presence and got predictability down the stretch which sometimes is better than youthful impact. The avoidance of the clunker is critical when you’re trying to make up ground. There’s not a lot of margin for error. The other big move was adding the big lefty (Zach) Britton to the bullpen while keeping him away from everyone else.
Q: Give me one big winner, one loser from deadline?
A: Pittsburgh got hot and that can be a dangerous thing for a general manager, but Neal Huntington did satisfy his fan base by going for it and did it for players he could control, not rentals. That was a terrific small-market move. The Nationals whiffed. They should have traded everyone. The chance of them making a run wasn’t worth the risk of not. They looked at this like a crisis, where they could have looked at as an opportunity.
Q: Is this time of year you miss being a general manager?
A: The trade deadline and the winter meetings are the things that I miss and I think most GMs do when they get out of the game. That’s the fun. The rest of it can be a bit of a grind. But that feels like a chance to compete and the results matter so much. There’s no better feeling than walking into a clubhouse after you’ve improved a team for the final two months of the season.