One door opens and another shuts in the Philadelphia Phillies bullpen.
Two days after bolstering the pen with the signing of former Chicago Cubs reliever Brad Keller, the Phillies announced that traded veteran left-handed relief pitcher Matt Strahm to the Kansas City Royals.
Strahm, who was scheduled to make $7.5 million in the final year of his deal, exits after spending three seasons in Philly.
Strahm, 34, originally signed a two year, $15 million deal with the Phillies prior to the 2023 season after pitching one year for the Boston Red Sox.
Before that, Strahm spent four seasons with the San Diego Padres after pitching his first two seasons with the Royals.
He then signed an extension for 2025 that included a club option for 2026.
In three seasons in Philly, Strahm went 17-10 with 11 saves and a 2.71 ERA to go along with 257 strikeouts and 52 walks in 212.2 innings. He also compiled 6.6 wins above replacement while pitching mostly in the bullpen and picking up spot starts for the Phils.
Strahm appeared in 13 playoff games across three seasons for Philadelphia, accounting for a 4.66 ERA, eight strikeouts and two walks as well as a save in 9⅔ innings.
Who did the Phillies get for Matt Strahm?
In return for Strahm, the Phillies acquired right-handed pitcher Jonathan Bowlan.
Bowlan, 29, pitched 44 innings 3.86 ERA with 46 strikeouts and 17 walks for the Royals last season.
In three seasons with Kansas City, Bowlan is 1-4 with a 4.32 ERA, 52 strikeouts and 22 walks in 50 innings.
The trade will help save the Phillies money this season with Bowlan set to make only $820,000 in 2026 while under team control through 2032, according to reports.
Why did the Phillies trade Matt Strahm?
While the motivation to move Strahm likely is for financial reasons, his final days in Philly came with some consternation.
In the seventh inning of Game 1 of the National League Divisional Series, Strahm gave up a three-run home run to Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Teoscar Hernández that sealed an LA comeback win.
After relief pitcher Orion Kerkering’s errant throw to home plate in Game 4 ended the Phillies’ season in heartbreak, Strahm mentioned that the team didn’t do enough fielding practice during the postseason.
While meeting with the media on Oct. 16, Phillies President of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski responded to Strahm’ that the team didn’t do enough fielding practice during the postseason’s comments.
“Well, we did plenty and actually as it turns out we did do PFP during the postseason,” Dombrowski said. “(Strahm) didn’t do them, but we did them.”
Following the trade, Strahm posted a message on social media thanking the Philadelphia fans for their support and the community for making him welcome in the area.
“Thank you for everything, Philly. You’ll always be a special part of my journey,” Strahm said in the post.
Phillies trade for Kyle Backhus from Arizona
In a separate deal on Dec. 19, the Phillies acquired left-handed relief pitcher Kyle Backhus from the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for minor league outfielder Avery Owusu-Asiedu.
Last season for the Diamondbacks, Backhus was 0-3 with a 4.62 ERA, 22 strikeouts and eight walks while savings two games in 25⅓ innings. Backhus split last season between the Diamondbacks and the team’s Triple A affiliate.
Backhus, 27, is set to make $820,000 in 20026.
The trade helps the Phillies add left-handed depth to the bullpen after trading Strahm.
Owusu-Asiedu split last season between low- and high-A ball where he hit .258 with seven home runs, 71 runs, 44 RBI and 33 steals across both levels. While he only slugged .385, the 22-year-old had a respectable walk rate of 13.6%.
Phillies sign Brad Keller
Before the Strahm trade, the Phils bolstered their bullpen on Dec. 17 with the signing of free-agent Keller.
Keller, who agreed to a two-year contract worth $22 million and a $4 million signing bonus, will fill a role at the back end of the bullpen for the Phillies, and possibly set up for closer Jhoan Duran.
Keller, 30, started his career with the Kansas City Royals and spent most of it as a starter. He started transitioning to the bullpen in 2023.
In 2024, Keller struggled with the Chicago White Sox and Boston Red Sox. He was a spring invitee of the Chicago Cubs in 2025 and flourished. He saw his ERA drop from 5.44 to 2.07 and had 25 holds in 68 games for the Cubs. According to mlb.com, he ranked 17th in opponents’ batting average and 20th in WHIP.
Greg Giesen contributed to this story.
(This story was updated because earlier versions had inaccuracies.)
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.delawareonline.com ’
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