With José Alvarado suspended, the Phillies will need to boost the bullpen with a trade. But it will cost them.

José Alvarado skipped town Sunday without giving a public explanation for the failed drug test that resulted in an 80-game suspension from Major League Baseball. He didn’t tell many of his Phillies teammates, either.

Maybe he’ll get around to it when he returns Aug. 19.

Until then, we’ll all just have to take the word of Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski, who met with Alvarado and said he came away believing it was “not something he did knowingly.” Swell. Chew on that for three months.

It doesn’t matter anyway. Not really. Because by the time Alvarado jogs in from the bullpen again, the all-in Phillies will have replaced him, at least to the extent that a lefty reliever who throws 100 mph can be replaced.

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Take a moment, then, if you’re inclined, and be outraged by Alvarado’s carelessness, or selfishness, or whatever led him to take a weight-loss drug that triggered a positive test for exogenous testosterone, a substance that is banned by MLB.

Then, pivot quickly to who might face Juan Soto or Freddie Freeman in the eighth inning of the taut postseason games in which Alvarado won’t be eligible to appear.

And what it will take to acquire that pitcher.

“It’s obviously a big loss for us in our bullpen,” Bryce Harper told reporters Sunday. “He’s one of our top arms down there. Just got to go forward and not really worry about it.”

There never would’ve been a good time to lose Alvarado’s 2.70 ERA, 25 strikeouts, and only four walks in 20 innings. Or the four hits (all singles) that he allowed in 19 at-bats against left-handed batters. Or his team-leading seven saves.

But it’s May, a week before Memorial Day. Trades don’t tend to get made this early in the season. There’s a deadline for a reason, and deals rarely go down two months before July 31.

There are exceptions, one of which will resonate with Phillies fans. In 2005, after what then-general manager Ed Wade called the “unforeseen development” of reliever Tim Worrell leaving the team for personal reasons, the Phillies swapped infielder Plácido Polanco to the Tigers for reliever Ugueth Urbina and utility infielder Ramón Martínez in the first week of June.

Guess who was Detroit’s general manager at the time.

Yep, Dombrowski.

Twenty years later, could he make a similar move? Alvarado’s departure surely qualifies as “unforeseen,” with Dombrowski claiming to have not been made aware of the failed drug test until after a series in Tampa earlier this month.

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Could the Phillies deal from an apparent area of surplus — say, starting pitching, especially after Mick Abel‘s dazzling major league debut Sunday — to fill an immediate void?

“We do have an abundance of starters, which is a good place to start,” Dombrowski said. “How that affects the decisions we make, I guess that’s more as time goes on. We’ll see what happens.”

Let’s examine some possibilities, short- and long-term:

Even before losing Alvarado, the Phillies seemed to be short one late-inning reliever in a bullpen that ranks 23rd in the majors with a 4.57 ERA.

So, when Ranger Suárez recently came back from a spring-training back problem, it made sense to wonder if he might be more helpful in the bullpen, especially because Taijuan Walker pitched well as his rotation stand-in.

How about now?

“I’m not going to speculate on that type of stuff,” Dombrowski said. “I doubt that we’re going to touch our starting pitching at this time — you know, our five starters. I just, I doubt that.“

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Suárez has experience coming out of the bullpen. In 2021, he had a 1.12 ERA in 27 relief appearances before moving to the rotation. A year later, he saved the pennant-clinching game against the Padres at Citizens Bank Park.

It’s complicated, though. Suárez is eligible for free agency after the season. A move to the bullpen could potentially diminish his earning power. Asked recently if he’d consider it, he said through a team interpreter, “That’s a tough one. I obviously want to be in the rotation all the time. ... But if it’s for the team’s sake, if it’s to win something, if it’s to get the World Series, then I’m willing to do anything.”

Abel tied a franchise record for strikeouts in his major league debut with nine against the Pirates — and still, the Phillies planned to option him to triple A after the game. They regard the 23-year-old as a potential piece of their future rotation — for good reason.

But what if Abel — with a fastball that scrapes 99 mph but a slider and curveball that occasionally look similar — can be a short-term answer in the bullpen?

If trades in May were uncommon before, they’re as rare as a comet in the expanded postseason era. Because with three wild cards available, teams are reluctant to wave the white flag after a slow start.

Entering the week, 11 National League teams and 13 clubs in the American League either possess a playoff spot or are within six games of the third wild card.

The Orioles expected to be among the contenders. Instead, they’re buried beneath a 15-30 start that prompted the firing of manager Brandon Hyde over the weekend. They lost their first two games under interim manager Tony Mansolino.

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If the Orioles punt on the season, closer Félix Bautista could be available before the deadline. After missing last season because of Tommy John elbow surgery, the 6-foot-8 righty has a 2.77 ERA and is 7-for-7 in save chances. His fastball is back, too, averaging 97 mph.

But the starting rotation-needy Orioles’ asking price will be steep because Bautista is under club control through 2027.

The Athletics would similarly seek a prospect-packed return for closer Mason Miller. It’s possible, though, that they won’t be sellers. Through the weekend, they were 3½ games out of the final AL wild-card spot.

When the season opened, Cardinals closer Ryan Helsley was considered a potential trade candidate because he’s eligible for free agency in the winter. But St. Louis is off to a solid start, two games off the Cubs’ pace in the NL Central and two back in the wild-card race.

The Rays, with looming free agent Pete Fairbanks occupying the closer role, are only four games out of a playoff spot in the AL.

After a 13-20 start, the Twins rattled off 13 consecutive victories before finally losing Sunday, a hot streak that cooled any speculation that closer Jhoan Durán could be on the trade market in July.

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Some of those teams may fall out of the race before the end of July. But it’s a long way from here to there. The Phillies will almost certainly take the next few weeks to explore internal options, including starter-turned-reliever Seth Johnson in triple A.

And leave it to Harper to offer a dose of reality: Every team knows the Phillies need bullpen help. With Alvarado out of the picture, their desperation only increases.

“It’s tough when a guy goes out of the clubhouse in that way because ... teams know that we need it,” Harper said. “Obviously, Dave does a good job getting value for value. But also, it’s a tough situation to be in because teams do know that we’re hurting and we need something.”