Why Phillies re-grade of trade deadline moves resulted in a lousy 'C-' originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here. The Philadelphia Phillies have been the best team in Major League Baseball since the start of August, as they've gone 21-7 in August and began September with a win over the Arizona Diamondbacks. It's natural to link the Phillies' recent success with their moves at the MLB trade deadline on August 3. The players they've added have certainly helped. But not to the degree that it might seem based on their recent play. The Athletic's Johnny Flores Jr. handed out a re-grade of the Phillies' deadline, which likely received high praise in the moments after their moves for Luis Arraez and Brooks Raley. But now, Flores is handing them a lousy C- grade that, unfortunately, makes sense. Phillies' lousy re-grade of trade deadline moves results in a poor C- grade for good reason "Trade deadline report card: C-," Flores writes. "A scintillating nine-game winning streak, plus a dramatic winner in Anaheim, has helped distract from what ended up being a largely mediocre deadline for the Phillies." At first glance, how could the Phillies' deadline be mediocre considering they have been one of the best teams in baseball since the deadline? Well, the recent success isn't really thanks to the new players on the team. Raley, meant to be a key reliever pickup, has a 3.52 ERA in 10 outings for the Phillies, much worse than his 1.96 ERA for the New York Mets before his trade this summer. Caleb Kilian, acquired in the Arraez trade with the San Francisco Giants, posted a 13.50 ERA in four outings for the Phillies before landing on the 15-day injured list. While there's potential here, it's not happening this season. MORE: Don Mattingly has uncertain future with Phillies in managerial job Lastly, and most important of their moves, is Arraez. Adding him forced the Phillies to move Bryce Harper back to the outfield, Bryson Stott to third base, and Alec Bohm to first base to clear the way for the contact-hitting infielder. In 26 games with the Phillies, Arraez has been a net negative, posting -0.2 bWAR with a .291 batting average and a .704 OPS, and 87 OPS+. Arraez has not been a positive contributor to the Phillies in the month since being acquired. However, his presence in the cleanup spot seems to have helped Harper put together an incredible August, as he's on a 35-game on-base streak and is scorching hot right now. But strictly looking at the value of the players the Phillies added at the deadline, it's hard not to feel underwhelmed with the deadline additions. There's still plenty of time to turn things around for Arraez and Raley, but overall, it's been disappointing enough to warrant a mediocre C- grade. More MLB news:
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