Ben Revere could be odd man out in big, not great Phillies outfield

The Phillies certainly have enough outfielders - look at that outfield, bursting at the seams with an appropriate number of defenders. In fact, some might say there are far too many. There's Ben Revere, Odubel Herrera, and a combination of Jeff Francoeur and Grady Sizemore. And that's before you flip over their minor league rock and see the squirming form of Domonic Brown, being out-squirmed at Triple A by the likes of Brian Bogusevic, Jordan Danks, and Darin Mastroianni. Also, Cody Asche is an outfielder now.

With all these outfielders running around securing Jonathan Papelbon's franchise lead in Phillies saves, the team is realizing their list of may be a little long. Maybe about 5' 9" too long, if Ryan Lawrence is any indication.

If Asche and Herrera are favorites to play regularly, in left and center, it's difficult to imagine Revere, Brown, Sizemore and Francoeur all on the roster, too. Someone has to go, and since the latter three are short on trade value, it actually makes perfect sense for the rebuilding Phillies to explore trading Revere.

Yes, who would want the leaping, jovial Ben Revere around this team when you could replace him with any one of several lifeless husks hanging in chambers beneath the stadium. None of them are going to do flips, but they can be dressed in Phillies uniforms and laid gently on the outfield grass in order to prevent the game from being delayed due to a lack of players.

Revere is prone to prolonged, far-reaching slumps and he frequently looks like he hates his ankle when he is using it. But his shift to left field this season has allowed for jokes about the capabilities of his arm to subside, as he has logged three OF assists already, something he seemed unable to do from center (although, wait - one of them was from center). He's 27, he's fast, and for a while last year he was going for the NL batting title.

But also, he could be worth something to a team like the Angels, who as Eric noted in last night's recap, can't go on pretending Matt Joyce is a thing in a post Josh Hamilton world. In the short term, Revere getting traded would be watching the team get even less watchable. On the other, if productive players now = better future returns even in theory, then this is exactly what we're looking for. I guess.

You know what you're going to get when you acquire Ben Revere now, as he is an established threat on the bases who at times can't seem to board them.