Moves that need to happen before July 31st

[Omar 382]

Trade M Young. Either boston or new york need a guy who can play third base and fill in at first. i'm not sure how much we could get back (one atricle i read mentioned chamberlin and jackie bradley jr./bryce brentz as possible options. bradley jr. looks like he would be hard to pry away, but if the sox are that clueless, i would take him in a heartbeat. if you look at how much texas overpayed, it's not ridiculous to think that the red sox might pull the plug). Anyway, after m young is gone, call up asche. he has caught fire in the minors, (8 for his last 13 with 2 hr's) and now has a .818 ops on the year. the phillies owe him an extensive look at 3b. also, we can trade young without weakening our bench, one reason i am opposed to frandsen starting.

Next, we have to trade papelbon. i don't know who wants him, whether it's detroit or boston, or whoever. teams overvalue closers, and we could a get a considerable amount of good prospects back. we would probably have to eat somewhere around half of his contract, but i am fine with that with the prospects we are getting. Anoint bastardo the new closer. he has a 2.52 era in 35.2 innings this year, and actually strikes out more people than paps. it might be bumpy at first, but in the long haul, trading paps is the right way to go

Lastly, only trade utley if a team blows you away. He has had a good year this year, and if we lost him our offense would regress greatly. his 134 ops+ easily leads the phils,(among those with qualifying ab's) and he still plays above average defense at second. that being said, his knees could crumble at any second, and if the a's or someone else want to take him off our hands and give us a good return, i'd be all for it. but don't just trade him because he's in the last year of his contract. we need a good return, or it's not worth it. if he does go, i guess fransden could play second base for the remaining two months of the regular season

 

[Caligula]

No, Utley needs to go to prevent him from being resigned. You do not sign a soon to be 35 year old, injury prone player, with two bad knees to an extension when you already have over $100 million counting towards next year's payroll.

 

[Omar 382]

No, Utley needs to go to prevent him from being resigned. You do not sign a soon to be 35 year old, injury prone player, with two bad knees to an extension when you already have over $100 million counting towards next year's payroll.

i don't want the guy resigned unless it's a one year deal in the 5 to 8 million dollar range. just because we don't trade doesn't make it a definite that he will be resigned. if nobody is offering enough (1 above average prospect, 1-2 decent prospects) then it's better to hold on to him.

 

[SickFelonIsGOAT]

Trade everyone possible on the MLB club except Ruf, Brown, Hamels, and maybe Lee and Revere. Everyone else needs to go. Youth movement time, and cash room to make moves in the offseason if possible.

 

[Omar 382]

Trade everyone possible on the MLB club except Ruf, Brown, Hamels, and maybe Lee and Revere. Everyone else needs to go. Youth movement time, and cash room to make moves in the offseason if possible.

i don't know how many takers we will have for d young, rollins, ruiz, and howard. not to mention, who do you plan on starting in their absence?

 

[Retroram52]

Knock on the Yankees door and see if they'll bite.

 

[SickFelonIsGOAT]

i don't know how many takers we will have for d young, rollins, ruiz, and howard. not to mention, who do you plan on starting in their absence?

Anyone, and trade for anything they can get.

 

[Caligula]

The Phillies are stuck with Howard. That contrast is beyond ugly.

 

[unblowupable5]

The Phillies are stuck with Howard. That contrast is beyond ugly.

^ This. We're stuck with Howard until the end. We'd all like to see him go, but it's not even worth fantasizing about unloading him. Who would want him at this point considering the $ tied up with him?

At his point in his career, the maximum I'd consider holding on to Utley for would be 2 years, at less than $10mil per. If the Dodgers are as interested as they are rumored to be, let them overpay. He can come back and retire as a Phillie if its that important. Papelbon, Lee and anybody else not named Hamels or Brown should be moved if the right deal comes along.