Phillies Rumors: Jeff Passan provides timeline on potential outfield trade

The MLB trade deadline is less than 45 days away. The Philadelphia Phillies are the top team in the National League and one of the top in baseball, behind just the New York Yankees.

Those two facts have been the catalysts for the early-ish, almost feverish rumor activity around the Phillies. Word on the street is that president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski and general manager Sam Fuld are looking to strengthen the roster, specifically the outfield, with eyes on a long postseason run.

The Athletic’s Jim Bowden was the first to confirm, via other executives, that the Phillies are asking around about outfield upgrades. ESPN’s Jeff Passan then dropped some names the Phillies might be targeting for the outfield.

Phillies Rumors: Jeff Passan provides timeline on potential outfield trade

Unfortunately, it’s Passan who has put somewhat of a damper on the early trade deadline frenzy among the media and fans.

“You know the Phillies, I think are patrolling right now,” Passan said on a recent appearance on MLB Network Radio. “They need some outfield help and they’re taking temperature on the market. I’m not sure there are gonna be a lot of early moves necessarily guys."

As much as fans want the front office to do something — and something big — we had better pump the brakes on expecting anything to happen in the immediate future. There’s still six weeks until the July 30 trade deadline and there are still plenty of teams who have yet to decide if they’re going to be in the playoff race, thanks to the expanded playoff format and the three Wild Cards.

We'll likely have to wait until well into July before we see anything concrete come of the abundance of rumors.

Even Dombrowski says it's way too early (subscription required), with an emphasis on the "way," in a recent interview with The Athletic's Matt Gelb, saying, "I think it’s way, way, way, way, way too early."

Sure, there are teams like the Chicago White Sox, Miami Marlins, Oakland Athletics and Colorado Rockies whose seasons were over before they started but there are too many teams still with a chance to make a run. The trade market simply isn't deep enough to make the available trade options more affordable.

So, it looks like, for now at least, Phillies fans will have to be patient and sit on their hands while the front office works away in the background.

But it's still okay to dream.