With the Philadelphia Phillies still playing better baseball, there’s really no debate that they have to go out and make the necessary moves at the trade deadline to continue improving.
Right now, unless the Phillies want to tank the year and move on from some of their top players, the better idea would be to keep this current core intact and just try to add to it. Even if it fails this year, the Phillies can go back to the drawing board and see what’s needed for them to improve in the near future.
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If that means moving on from certain players, so be it. For now, though, with a chance to make the postseason, there’s really no reason not to at least go out and try to make the moves they need to.
There are a few players who would be better than others, and one of them is a Phillies fan favorite, none other than Mike Trout. Trout might not be the same player that he once was, but he’s still one of the better players in Major League Baseball and would be a perfect fit on a team like the Phillies if he’s healthy.
Unfortunately, there are questions about whether he’s going to be traded, though others believe it’ll happen, and the Phillies are the perfect landing spot.
“If you start a lineup with Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber, and Mike Trout, you pick the order Don Mattingly, pick it out of a hat, it doesn’t matter,” said Joe Giglio, H/T Heavy. “If you start this lineup with these three future Hall of Famers, and this pitching staff, and this closer, you can win the World Series.”
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If Trout gets traded, it would make sense if the Phillies are one of his top landing spots. The question then would be whether the Los Angeles Angels are willing to send him where he wants to go, as doing right by him would make sense at this stage of his career. Despite that reality, it was recently reported that he isn’t going to be traded, so a lot of this will fall on that.
“No, Trout will not be traded,” Bob Nightengale wrote. “He has zero interest in waiving his no-trade clause. The reality is that with about $160 million remaining on his contract through 2030, no team would even touch him unless the Angels ate nearly three-quarters of the contract. And that’s not happening.”