Phillies Rumors: Crazy Deals For Rumored Big Name Targets

The Phillies probably do want a pitcher like Tigers ace Justin Verlander, but is the price too steep?

Justin Verlander is still an ace. But at his age (turning 34 in Feb.), and with his contract (at least $84 million over 3 seasons), the time is now for the Tigers to trade the star starting pitcher.

With 10-5 rights, like Mauer,  Verlander has the right to veto any trade involving his services. At this point in his career, Verlander would more than likely prefer a team in line to win now, but I wouldn’t completely rule out the Phillies.

Of the teams listed in the report, we can rule out the Cubs (not adding the salary), Blue Jays (rotation set), Angels (poor farm, lack of money), Rangers (not adding the salary), Twins (not ready), Pirates (shifting towards rebuilding, not giving up prospects), and Marlins (not in position to give up young players, salary too steep).

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BoSox Injection

That leaves the Red Sox, Yankees, Astros, Braves, Dodgers, and Phillies. I’m going to go out on a limb and say the Yankees are not giving up prospects from their recently revamped farm, and spend money in free agency if they do add talent from outside.

The Dodgers could always swing a splash, but they’ll more than likely be looking a younger, controllable starter (Archer, Gray, Quintana, etc.) – the same goes for the Braves, who’ve already added the two oldest pitchers in the game (Bartolo Colon, R.A Dickey), and are probably looking for a younger starter to build around Julio Teheran and Mike Foltynewicz.

So now that leaves the Red Sox, Astros, and Phillies. All of which have the prospects to give Detroit a fair (if not more than fair) return. But there is one thing that sets the Phillies apart from both teams, money.

While both Boston and Houston can satisfy the Tigers with return value, and could eat a large chunk of Verlanders contract, what they cant do is take on his entire contract.

That’s pretty much the only way the Phillies can get Verlander. Hope Verlander is holding out for the best return for the team that drafted, developed, raised, and paid him – while eating all $84 million over the next three seasons – and giving up young talent as well.

While this would certainly make the Phillies better, and would give them a potential top NL rotation, the timing just might not be right for this particular move. However, we can never say never with starting pitching.

Potential Deal: Tigers send SP Justin Verlander to Phillies for Roman Quinn, Jake Thompson, and cash or a PTBNL.