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Phillies trade rumors: Jose Bautista claimed on waivers

By George Stockburger

NEW YORK, NY - JULY 25: Jose Bautista #11 of the New York Mets follows through on his sixth inning two run home run against the San Diego Padres at Citi Field on July 25, 2018 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - JULY 25: Jose Bautista #11 of the New York Mets follows through on his sixth inning two run home run against the San Diego Padres at Citi Field on July 25, 2018 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images) /
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Phillies trade rumors have been dead quiet for a couple weeks

The latest Phillies trade rumors has many fans excited as the team has reportedly claimed New York Mets third baseman Jose Bautista on waivers.

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports that the Phillies and Mets have until Tuesday to work out a deal involving Bautista before New York has to revoke the waiver.

Bautista sat out the first month of the season waiting for a deal, and eventually signed a minor league contract with Atlanta. After playing just a dozen games with the Braves, Bautista was cut and later signed by the Mets.

The former league leader in home runs is hitting just .199 this year with 11 home runs and 42 RBI, but he’s playing on a very bad Mets team playing 14 games below .500 this season. However, he has a .738 OPS over the last two weeks with three home runs.

Adding Bautista to the bench could replace recently-acquired first baseman Justin Bour, who injured his oblique this week during the Phillies road trip. Bour says he doesn’t expect to be out for an extended period of time, but oblique injuries are one of the trickiest to manage.

Bautista has primarily played right field this season, but has experience at third and a little at first.

Bautista was once linked to other Phillies trade rumors when in 2013 it was reported he’d be coming to Philadelphia for prospect Dominic Brown in a report from Howard Eskin. That deal obviously did not come into fruition, and Bautista went on to hit 35 home runs for Toronto in 2014.

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Having Bautista would not only add pop to the Phillies bench in a hitter-friendly ballpark, but add another veteran voice with playoff experience. Should the Phillies pull a deal for Bautista it would be the sixth deal made by general manager Matt Klentak this summer, following Asdrubal Cabrera, Wilson Ramos, Aaron Loup, Luis Avilan, and Bour.

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