Phillies: Time to go all in with an Anthony Rendon trade?

A Phillies megadeal for Anthony Rendon would make them serious World Series contenders, but is a rental worth the price?

The Phillies have finally opened their championship window after spending most of the first two months in first place. While still balancing between winning and developing young players, the direction of the franchise has been clearly stated through the early demotion of Nick Pivetta and acquisition of Jay Bruce.

If the Phillies are truly all-in, then they’ll have their farm system open for business this summer for the one and now only trade deadline on July 31.

Philadelphia has three primary needs going into the summer: a starter, a veteran reliever, and a consistent bat. The reliever could come in the form of a trade or simply the return of an injury-ravaged bullpen, seeing the likes of David Robertson, Pat Neshek, Adam Morgan, and Tommy Hunter all go down.

Phillies general manager Matt Klentak will also look for a starting pitcher such as Zack Greinke, Madison Bumgarner, or Mike Minor. Each of those pitchers will command a high price point, but as stated earlier, the Phillies have gone all-in.

The final piece would be a consistent bat, something lost through Andrew McCutchen‘s season-ending ACL injury.

There are two holes the Phillies could address, and they both revolve around Scott Kingery. Klentak could either move Kingery to third base and acquire a center fielder or keep Kingery in center and add a third baseman.

So far Kingery has played above-average defense at both positions and his bat has become a mainstay in the lineup. With few quality center fielders who can hit expected to be available this offseason, the Phillies could target a big name third baseman that would take their offense to the next level.

Adding a superstar such as Washington Nationals’s third baseman Anthony Rendon would instantly make the Phillies championship contenders. Similar to the Manny Machado deal made by Los Angeles last offseason Philadelphia would simply be the rich getting richer, adding a .320 hitter with 30 home run power.