The Philadelphia Phillies, on New Year’s Day, pulled off a trade with the Chicago White Sox, sending left-handed relief pitcher Tyler Gilbert to the Chicago White Sox in exchange for minor league hurler Aaron Combs. Gilbert had already been designated for assignment by the Phillies back on December 22, and in the end, Philadelphia managed to acquire a 23-year-old right-hander who was drafted in the eighth round of the 2024 MLB Draft.
The Phillies no longer had a place for Gilbert on the 40-man roster after trading for Jesus Luzardo from the Miami Marlins; it’s not quite clear what role Luzardo is going to play for the Phillies yet in 2025, but as a fellow lefty himself, there is a chance that he could be deployed as a bullpen arm after missing a good chunk of 2024 due to a lumbar injury. Thus, it was for the Phillies’ best to at least get something of value from a 31-year-old reliever who didn’t pitch too often in 2024 anyway.
Regardless, for a White Sox team starved of talent, taking on Gilbert for the low cost of a lottery ticket in the form of a pitching prospect isn’t too bad of a gambit. The 31-year-old lefty put up an ERA of 3.24 in 2024, although he did pitch in just 8.1 innings and his peripherals were worrying, striking out just 4.32 batters per nine innings. His track record in the strikeout department isn’t the best either, as he has a low strikeout rate even to begin his career in the big leagues.
The White Sox made room for Gilbert on their 40-man roster by designating infielder Braden Shewmake for assignment. Shewmake had a nightmare 2024 campaign, putting up a ghastly .337 OPS en route to tallying -0.7 WAR in 67 plate appearances.
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Phillies and White Sox continue bid for improvement in 2025
Improvement looks a lot different for the Phillies and White Sox heading into 2025. For one, Philadelphia just won the NL East in 2024 and was a force to be reckoned with, especially to begin the year. Alas, they lost a bit of steam in the middle of the season. They’re now looking to bolster their depth to avoid meeting the same fate.
Meanwhile, any upward motion for the White Sox would be an improvement. This is the same team that went 41-121 this past season (the worst win-loss tally in a 162-game season in MLB history) and they lost ace Garrett Crochet in a trade — making the team even worse.
