Let’s round up any rumors about the Phillies

The Phillies, historically, have been a quiet team around the deadline. Not quiet in terms of moves being made, but quiet in terms of rumors being started. There is usually an airtight lid kept on people in the front office, which doesn’t help those of us starving for any morsel of knowledge about what the team is trying to do. Having them play as poorly as they did this weekend since many are looking outside of the organization for some kind of jolt to break the current malaise that seems to have settled in.

So, let’s scour the internet and try to find anything we can about the Phillies to post and talk about here.

A loose connection here as the Phillies seem to be in need of a right handed bat to roam the outfield now that Bryce Harper has looked at least competent at first base and Kyle Schwarber shifts to the DH role. Tommy Pham and Mark Canha are both right handed, both play outfield, so dots have been connected. With regards to Canha at least, I’m not so sure he’s that much of an upgrade that the team couldn’t just roll with what they’ve got. There have been at least whispers that Pham’s personality wouldn’t mesh quite well with what is going on in the clubhouse right now, but so long as the fantasy football draft has been completed, I’m sure that isn’t much of a concern.

This is the one I’ve seen most often and probably makes the most sense. He’s had a solid season with the bat this year, giving the Red Sox a slugging percentage above .500. His defense is down a bit this season, but that might be attributed to having to roam center field more often than he has in the past. Put him back in left and you’ll see a marked improvement over what is already there.

The biggest things I wanted to point out with Duvall are his under the hood numbers. There is some concern that this year might not pan out as well as others. A few of the things one would look at when considering a hitter - hard hit percentage, average exit velocity - are down from years past. Positives do present themselves in the form of barrel rate being up and strikeout rate being down, but if the Phillies do pull the trigger on landing Duvall, don’t be surprised if he’s not everything you want him to be.

Apparently, the Phillies were scouting Eduardo Rodriguez this week, an idea that makes sense. If any of the bats they are looking to get can’t be had, it might make sense to pivot to strengthening the best part of the team and leaning on that to help get to the playoffs. Rodriguez would satisfy the idea that when you are trading for a starter at the deadline, you’d rather trade for someone who would start a playoff game. Other than that, just roll with what you’ve got.

The questions that come with Rodriguez concern his contract. He can opt out after the season, which might depress his market. No team is going to give up top prospects for a pitcher like Rodriguez who can leave when the season is over. Texas gave up a top 100 prospect for Max Scherzer as they knew he’d be around in 2024. Will Rodriguez give any team trading for him those same assurances?