Phillies More Likely to Be Active Around Waiver Trade Deadline

Despite the whisperings surrounding Jeremy Hellickson and Vince Velasquez, the Phillies are not expected to earn a major haul at the trade deadline this year. They currently have too few legitimate trade pieces entering the final hours of the trade deadline, and the prices of those pieces are not overwhelming.

However, the Phillies damage may be done next month heading up to the waiver trade period.

Historically, the waiver trade period is either extremely exciting or severely quiet. In 2008, the Phillies acquired relief pitcher Scott Eyre on their road to the World Series in mid-August. Philadelphia has also acquired players such as Mike Sweeney and traded guys like Chase Utley in August.

With Andres Blanco and Peter Bourjos on the disabled list, the Phillies will be in a tough spot to move their productive role players. Should both players return from their minor injuries and perform adequately, each could be a prospective bench piece for a team looking to make a run at the playoffs.

Should a team such as Baltimore, Chicago, or Boston lose their utility man, Andres Blanco is the guy. If a team feels they need speed and defense off the bench, Peter Bourjos is your guy.

Same could go for rotation and bullpen arms. August will be the time we see David Hernandez, Andrew Bailey, and possibly Jeanmar Gomez move. Should Jeremy Hellickson not be moved by the approaching non-waiver deadline, the Phillies can wait until a team loses a pitcher to injury and command a higher asking price.

It’s all a mixed bag of rumors at the moment. If injuries hadn’t taken out Charlie Morton, Blanco, and Bourjos, we could be talking about a much different situation for Matt Klentak at his first trade deadline.

Next: Rangers Linked to Vincent Velasquez at the Trade Deadline