July 17, 2017
Another day, another Phillies trade rumor – don't worry, there will be plenty more between now and the MLB Trade Deadline in two weeks.
This latest rumor again involves the Miami Marlins, it's just probably not a player in whom you'd expect to see the Phillies show interest: second baseman Dee Gordon.
The #Marlins have 10 teams still in on reliever David Phelps, while #Phillies and #Bluejays showing sincere interest on 2B Dee Gordon
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) July 17, 2017
Apparently, it goes beyond just "showing sincere interest." Here's more from Bob Nightengale of USAToday:
The Marlins are drawing the most attention with veteran reliever David Phelps, with the New York Yankees, Red Sox, Brewers, Cubs, Colorado Rockies and Texas Rangers showing the most interest.
And the Toronto Blue Jays and Philadelphia Phillies have engaged in preliminary trade talks for Gordon. [usatoday.com]
And according to Nightengale, he sees Gordon-to-the-Phillies as a likely scenario to unfold between now and July 31.
Prediction: Phelps goes to the Red Sox, Gordon goes to Philadelphia, and outfielders Christian Yelich and Marcell Ozuna are traded this winter. [usatoday.com]
So why would the Phillies want to trade for an 29-year-old second baseman when they already have Cesar Hernandez on the roster and Scott Kingery on fire in the minors?
For starters, Gordon has a .337 OBP this season and 32 stolen bases. But he just doesn't seem to make sense for the Phillies, especially since he's under contract through 2021 (with a $14 million team option that season). That is, unless the Marlins are trying to substitute Christian Yelich with Gordon in the hopes of dealing him as part of a package that includes slugging outfielder Giancarlo Stanton.
Currently, the two-time All-Star is only making $7.8M per season. That number jumps to $10.8M in 2018. And then again to $13.3M the following season, with another $500K raise the year after that (2020).
It seems the Marlins have backed off the idea of packaging Stanton and Yelich since the latter's team-friendly deal could help them lure some top prospects, prospects who would otherwise be yanked off the table if Stanton's monster contract was included.
Or, perhaps, it's a package deal including Yelich and Gordon, as rumors linking the Phillies to the Marlins outfielder continue to "heat up" as the deadline approaches.
That, or the Phillies could just be trying to add another second baseman for some reason.
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