Phillies trade rumors: Among top ten teams in Paul Goldschmidt hunt

The hot trade candidate this offseason will be Diamondbacks first baseman, Paul Goldschmidt. The Phillies are quite high among his potential destinations.

This season could be one of drastic change for the Phillies. They caught a whiff of the playoff hunt before a major collapse to end the year. The front office knows they need to make significant changes during the offseason in order to prevent a similar collapse next season.

One of the biggest names potentially on the trading block this year is Diamondbacks first baseman, Paul Goldschmidt. Arizona is reportedly willing to listen to trade offers for all of their players, including Goldschmidt. If Philadelphia is looking to make a big move this offseason, trading for Goldschmidt would be an interesting way to do that.

R.J. Anderson of CBS Sports evaluated the market for Goldschmidt, ranking which team has the best chances at landing him. Philadelphia wound up cracking the top ten of Anderson’s list:

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Let’s stay in-state by throwing the Phillies on here. Jokes about their desire to build a roster of first basemen aside, it’s hard to see them rolling into next year with Carlos Santana and Rhys Hoskins assigned a position other than first base.

Philadelphia was the highest-ranked team among the National League East and fourth-highest NL team at No. 10.

The Houston Astros, New York Yankees, and Tampa Bay Rays were the three favorites on Anderson’s list.

Anderson points out an obvious hurdle to any Goldschmidt deal; the two first baseman already employed here. Hoskins is a building block for the future while Santana is just one year removed from signing a three-year, $60 million contract. Adding Goldschmidt to the equation only makes the situation even more complicated.

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Hypothetically, if Philadelphia were to acquire Goldschmidt, this would leave Hoskins and Santana away from their natural position. It doesn’t make sense to move a three-time Gold Glove winner from his natural position. Hoskins was just downright bad last year in left field, and it’s hard to expect him to get radically better over one offseason. The team toyed with playing Santana at third base towards the end of the season with surprisingly good results, but it wasn’t nearly enough of a sample size to inspire confidence moving forward. Whatever happens, this would leave a lineup comprised of one-thirds first basemen.

The other hurdle is how much Arizona is willing to give up Goldschmidt for. They will fetch as high of a price as they can even though he is on the last year of his contract. There will also be plenty of other teams inquiring about a potential deal, which could further drive up the price. This year Philadelphia was not willing to give up Sixto Sanchez in a potential Manny Machado trade; who knows if they would be willing to for a full year of Goldschmidt.

If Matt Klentak could work some magic and bring Goldschmidt in, they would instantly add a perennial MVP candidate to the roster. Anytime you have the chance to make that kind of addition, you pursue it as much as you reasonably can. You can deal with the ripple effects of that later.