Phillies Trade Rumors: Michael Young Available, Cliff Lee Not So Much

About an hour ago, Buster Olney tweeted this nugget of information:

PHI has reached out to other teams to let other teams know that players are available, including Michael Young. Cliff Lee not on the list.

— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) July 28, 2013

With the Phillies slide now at seven games (with the final game of their road trip being played right now), it's about time that Ruben Amaro made Michael Young available. If any player was going to be traded before the deadline on Wednesday, it was going to be Michael Young. In 97 games and 395 plate appearances, Young has a triple slash of .277/.342/.402 with 35 walks, 56 strikeouts, and seven home runs.

Also interesting is Olney's assertion that Cliff Lee is not available. I would imagine that Amaro thinks the Phillies can contend at some point during Lee's deal, so he wants to hold on to him. Whether or not that's pie in the sky is a question for another time. I can't lie -- I'm glad I don't have to watch Cliff Lee be traded right now.

So what should we take from this? The Yankees and Red Sox have expressed interest in Michael Young (the Rangers apparently have regained their sanity and are not going to bring him back), so we should be prepared for a Michael Young trade in the next few days.

Scar, take us home.

More from The Good Phight:

• Three Concepts in Search of a Recap: Tigers 10, Phillies 0
• Keep the Phaith: Why the Phillies Are In Better Shape Than You Think
• Lexington & Concord: Phillies sign Cuban RHP Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez
• The Air Was Thick With Rumors: Tigers 2, Phillies 1
• Cliff Lee Scratched, Phillies Listening to Trade Offers