Phillies Rumors: MLB insider links PHI to three new outfield trade deadline targets

What will the Philadelphia Phillies do leading up to the MLB trade deadline on July 30? Could they make a blockbuster deal involving parting with top-ranked prospects from their farm system? Will president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski and general manager Sam Fuld take a more conservative approach? They could acquire players who will increase the club's depth while keeping their top young players with the organization.

The Phillies have been rumored to target players like the Chicago White Sox's Luis Robert Jr. which would require Philly to trade away one of their top prospects such as shortstop/third baseman Aidan Miller.

Now, there are new rumored outfield trade targets the Phillies have reportedly talked to teams about.

MLB insider links Phillies to three new outfield trade deadline targets, Jake McCarthy, Cedric Mullins and Jacob Young

MLB insider Jim Bowden recently commented on which other outfielders the Phillies have been discussing the availability of. He listed Jake McCarthy of the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Baltimore Orioles' Cedric Mullins and Jacob Young of the Washington Nationals as alternatives to Robert and the Miami Marlins' Jazz Chisholm Jr.

"They have two needs. One, they're looking for the long-term center fielder two-way guy. The second thing is a right-hand-hitting platoon guy with Brandon Marsh ..." Bowden said on MLB Network Radio. "So they've talked to the Diamondbacks about Jake McCarthy, who would be a nice fit. They've talked to Washington about Jacob Young, that would be a nice fit, not the superstar you're looking for. They've talked to the Baltimore Orioles about Cedric Mullins, that might be a nice fit there."

Heading into Sunday’s action, McCarthy has a .278/.365/.387 slash line with a .752 OPS in 82 games. The Scranton, Pennsylvania native has four years of arbitration remaining on his deal, so the Phillies would get several years with him as a member of their roster. He has played in 199 games in right field, 50 in left field, and 48 in center in his career.

Before Sunday, Young has a slash line of .257/.320/.319 and an OPS of .639 in 88 games this year. The 24-year-old outfielder is only in his second season in the majors. Unlike McCarthy and Mullins, he's a right-handed hitter which would work well if he was platooned with the left-handed hitting Marsh.

However, the young outfielder has only played in center with the Nationals. He played in 71 contests in left and 80 in right during his time in the minors. He has two years of pre-arbitration in 2025 and 2026 on his current contract.

Mullins is a good defensive center fielder, but his offensive numbers have decreased each year following a career 2021 season in which he hit .291/.360/.518 with a .878 OPS. The 29-year-old has a .215/.258/.380 line and an OPS of .638 in 89 games, and he has one year of arbitration remaining before he becomes a free agent in 2026.

McCarthy and Young's years of club control on their contracts means the Phillies may need to part with more than in a trade for Mullins, but may not need to deal one of their top prospects for either the Diamondbacks or Nationals outfielder.

Backup outfielder Cristian Pache hasn't been reliable offensively with a .200/.289/.270 line and a .559 OPS in 48 games before Sunday. Despite his durability, Nick Castellanos has underwhelmed with a slash line of .237/.293/.396 and a .690 OPS in 98 contests heading into Sunday. In 74 games, Johan Rojas is batting .232/.268/.298 with a .566 OPS and was sent down to the Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs for nearly two weeks in June.

Overall, the Phillies would benefit from trading for a good two-way outfielder without trading away their top-ranked prospects.