2018 Trade Deadline rumors/speculation

[EDmuch]

I will say this much: our team is in such a state of flux (positive flux) that it is really hard to pinpoint exactly what it is that we need (other than Machad0 that is).

[phillychuck]

I'd like to see them make a big play for Realmuto. Alfaro and three decent prospects might do it. Alfaro, Grullon, De Los Santos, Kilome? Might not be enough.

I don't think the Marlins can afford to keep him.

[Patchmk88]

Ahh. I’ll stick with Alfaro. I think that he could end up being a stud with a little more seasoning. He has the best arm in baseball and a lot of pop in his bat. If he improves his plate discipline and catcher work, he’ll be an all star.

[California_Dreamin]

PC..huh???? That would be a terrible trade. Two of those players have already had some success in the majors and the other two might. Catching is one place where the organization is deep, lets let them grow.

Where I would have suggested going all in was for MM. I never thought of him as a rental, I believe a half season with this organization would have convinced him to stay. They have already fallen in love with him here in SoCal and are no longer thinking of him as a rental. Even talking about moving Saeger to 3rd base so they can play MM at short.

I had no idea what a truly great and humble guy he was till he came West. With MM the Phils might well have become the favorites to get to the WS this year, and I have always believed if you have a chance to go for it, you do. Machado and the Phillies would have been a match made in heaven.

Opportunities like that rarely if ever come along and the Dodgers understood this. Look, I am incredibly happy with how the Phils are doing and like them more every day as they grow. But I believe they will live to regret not going harder for MM as I think he will stay in LA and a golden opportunity was lost to acquire one of the best half dozen players in the game at a position that the team truly needed to fill.

[zambonir]

"They" are just dreaming until it actually happens. Fortunately we don't have to talk about whether or not Manny is going to stay or come to Philly again until October. I trust the call the FO made on that, though the better this team looks the more you do wish they'd been more willing to overpay just for the rental.

I'd look at Realmuto in the off-season but I wouldn't make a deal like that in the heat of deadline. Heck, let the Nats strip their farm for him. I get it though, he upgrades two areas in a way that no SS or 3B (or probably, RF) can.

[phillychuck]

CD--Realmuto is a consistent 3.5 WAR catcher who will improve to 5 or 5.5 WAR this year. He's worth a LOT.

Sign Machado in the off-season.

[bigegypt0417]

I'd like to see them make a big play for Realmuto. Alfaro and three decent prospects might do it. Alfaro, Grullon, De Los Santos, Kilome? Might not be enough.

I don't think the Marlins can afford to keep him.

I would entertain that trade if you take Grullon out and add a lottery ticket.

I think people don't realize how good he's been and is still 27...

[zambonir]

Yeah, I think that's right about Grulion. Realmuto is good enough that you don't care about losing Alfaro, just like you don't care about losing Williams/Altherr if you get Harper. But you want to hang on to a promising defensive back-up given Knapp is never going to be that.

But I'm not sure you trade your primary catcher, however green/flawed, in the middle of a season with so much good young pitching on your team. And if you were willing to give up that much, may as well have gotten Machado (even though Realmuto's not a rental).

[California_Dreamin]

PC... I know in Philadelphia the prevailing attitude is that all they have to do is sign MM in the off season. Now that he is in LA, I doubt it will be that easy. He is wearing Kobe's number [loves Kobe Bryant], will get a hero's welcome when he gets to LA next week and has truly bonded with his teammates, something he indicated was important to him. I think he would have loved his Phillie teammates, now he will not even know them when he has to make a decision this winter.

And yes, I believe the Dodgers will match the Phillie offer, MM is not only that good but so incredibly likeable. I really didn't know much about him till the trade except that he was so talented. He would have owned Philly, much like Utley did.

[zambonir]

It's an advantage, for sure. But the Dodgers can only match up to a certain point. Andrew Friedman is not going to give out the biggest contract in baseball history if it hurts his team's big picture.

And "they" have also said he wants to play for the Yankees, and that he wants to be on the East Coast, with spring training in Florida. I realize living in LA can change a a lot of minds but this isn't close to over.

[Philsmania]

O's were smitten with Diaz. Not much the Phillies could have done.

[Austinfan]

If Machado is smitten with Kobe, he's been interested in LA for a while, and if they had plans to sign him, they probably knew that through the grapevine.

[zambonir]

Yeah, if he can go watch Kobe play basketball every night in the winter I don't know how anyone can compete with that.

[Patchmk88]

I heard Kobe will invite him over and let him watch Kobe put up shots in his personal gym.

[EDmuch]

With Charlie Blackmon signed, MM up in the air with the Dodgers, and Donaldson still ailing, the great Super Free Agent Class of 2018 has lost a lot of its luster.Yeah, Harper and .220 batting average is still there. But for position players there are not a lot of shiny toys for Middleton to sign. Marwyn Gonzalez? Not sure that would satisfy Middleton. Dozier is a second baseman and we are ok there. Most of the remaining "big name" UFA's will be pitchers. So I am not sure what the off-season holds for us if MM resigns with the Dodgers.

[EDmuch]

MLBTR says we are now heavily linked to Adam Jones from the O's and Escobar from the Twins. I hope we get Escobar. He is what we need as SS in terms of offensive production. It could also be nice to have him hanging around during the UFA period if MM is not on the market. I agree with those who suggest we could plug Escobar in at SS and use Crawford as a late inning defensive replacement for him while sending Kingery back to AAA to play every day.

MLBTR's comments about Jones, however, bother me. It suggest that Jones would replace Williams and Williams would return to his bench role. This I think would be a mistake. I can see Williams' confidence growing every day as he learns to face each day's new situation and pitchers and adjust to the challenges. Williams is showing real potential to be an every day outfielder and that would be hampered by reducing him to a bench role, particularly for Jones, who, as MLBTR notes, is not hitting as well as Williams.

[mdougherty12]

An Adam Jones/Nick Williams RF platoon would make sense based on their splits.

[phillychuck]

Escobar can play 3B and OF, too, which makes him even more useful.

[Slinging_Southpaw]

He wouldn't bring big headlines, but a player I'd like to see the Phils pick up is Robbie Grossman(OF). I can't believe he'd cost much, but is a switch hitter(hitting better against Lefties), will take a walk and is controllable through 2020.

[allentown]

Just another reason why the Phillies never had a chance to extend Machado and he'd just have been a rental.