It is never too early to start talking about the trade deadline, especially when we can talk about would-be contenders that might unexpectedly end up being sellers rather than buyers at the deadline. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be taking a look at many of these such teams, and there is a surprisingly large amount, and what exactly they might be looking to sell if they don’t turn around their season in a hurry.
First up is the Philadelphia Phillies since they were so nice to volunteer for the job by way of GM Ruben Amaro Jr. publicly stating that he would raise the white flag come late-July if it looked like the Phillies were out of contention.
So, Ruben, what are you selling? Because we are most definitely buying!
Big Chips: Cole Hamels, Hunter Pence, Shane Victorino
If Ruben Amaro Jr. is smart, he’ll raise the white flag and start selling off some his high priced talent in a hurry should the Phillies season cross the point of no return. First and foremost on the trading block would be Cole Hamels. With the Phillies already committed to over $112 million in payroll next season, before accounting for any options or arbitration, let’s face it, Hamels is as good as gone when he hits free agency. But Amaro could cash out now with Cole who should still fetch a high price despite being a rental player since frontline starting pitching is always a premium commodity at the trade deadline. With the Philadelphia farm system as low on talent as it is, they would be making an epic mistake to not restock the talent pool with the biggest asset they have.
The same could be said about impending free agent Shane Victorino as well. He’s having a rough season, but there are few contenders out there that he couldn’t help, surely someone will be willing to hand over some nice prospects for a quality leadoff man and center fielder (hello, Nationals!).
But if Amaro really wants to just take some dynamite to this thing, the guy for him to move is Hunter Pence, who he only just acquired last trade deadline. While he won’t be able to recoup the treasure trove of talent he gave to Houston last July since Pence is a year closer to free agency and off to a slow start, Pence has shown he can be an impact bat and thus might be the only player the Phillies would be willing to part with that could return a bigger package than Hamels.
Money Moves: Chase Utley
The Phightins have more than few bad contracts they’d like to get out from under (I’m looking at you, Ryan Howard), but Utley’s is the only one that has even half a chance of getting unloaded. Utley hasn’t played all season due to knee problems, but he is close to returning, which gives him enough time to hopefully prove that he can regain his old form or something close to it. After that, it just takes some sucker of a team to believe that his knee isn’t made out of pudding and the Phillies have a perfect way of saving several million this season and over $15 million next year.
Solid Pieces: Joe Blanton, Ty Wigginton, Antonio Bastardo, Chad Qualls
Yeah, I know, I’m shocked to see Blanton named here too, but he’s having a good season thus far which should have Ruben Amaro chomping at the bit to sell high on him. Blanton is nothing special, but he’s a rental player with post-season experience that can eat some innings for someone. That profile always does well on the trade market.
What also does well on the trade market is Ty Wigginton, who has already been dealt at the deadline twice in his career. He’s an average hitter at best, but with his ability to play almost any position on the field, he’s ideal bench depth or, like he is for the Phillies now, a stopgap measure should major injury strike.
Chad Qualls is your token grizzled veteran reliever with closing experience who mostly just gets by on guile now. Guys like him are a dime a dozen at the deadline, yet they still always find a way to get flipped for some middling prospect.
If Philly is serious about rebuilding, don’t be surprised to see them take offers on Antonio Bastardo. He’s relatively young, misses a ton of bats and could profile as a closer in the near future, which the Phillies don’t need thanks to the monstrous contract they gave Papelbon. Bastardo also is under team control for three more years, so he could fetch two solid prospects as the Padres just did for the very similar Ernesto Frieri.
X-Factor: Domonic Brown
Even if they don’t become sellers, the Phillies might still move Brown. Once considered a top prospect, Brown can’t break his way onto the roster since he can’t actually catch a baseball. He just has no future in Philadelphia, so they might as well move before his value turns into dust. Flipping him to an American League team that can use Brown as a DH for another good but blocked prospect would make a world of sense.
Warm Bodies: Jim Thome, Placido Polanco, Juan Pierre
If healthy, there is always a team willing to bring Thome on board, though the Phillies may not deal him unless he asks, out of respect.
Placido Polanco doesn’t bring much to the table anymore, but any contending team that loses their starting second or third baseman, they could do a lot worse than Polanco.
The mere fact that Juan Pierre has anything resembling trade value is a minor miracle. If Ruben Amaro can get a bucket of baseball for him, he should accept immediately and smoke a victory cigar.
But what they’ll probably do is… sell off his impending free agents. Amaro’s recent comment show that he is aware that the team’s window to contend is coming to a close, but a full blown fire sale and rebuilding effort seems unlikely. There is still plenty of talent on the team to contend in 2013, so the focus should be not on restocking the farm with as much talent as possible, but on getting some young, cheap talent that is close to big league ready while saving some money, thus giving Amaro some flexibility to dive into the 2013 free agent market and make some bold moves to get the Phillies back into contention.
