Phillies entertain offers as trade deadline nears
This is the time of year for ambitious phone calls, missed connections, and irrational fantasies. The trade deadline is in 11 days. Other teams have called Matt Klentak, and the Phillies general manager said trade dialogue has intensified in recent days.
This is the time of year for ambitious phone calls, missed connections, and irrational fantasies. The trade deadline is in 11 days. Other teams have called Matt Klentak, and the Phillies general manager said trade dialogue has intensified in recent days.
"Truth be told, a lot of those conversations go nowhere," Klentak said. "None of them have led to anything. Some are fairly superficial. Some are fairly detailed. We'll just continue to take the calls and see what may happen."
The targets are familiar: Jeremy Hellickson, Jeanmar Gomez and Peter Bourjos. The Phillies should find a suitor for one or all of them. Beyond that, a general manager can learn something this time of year about how other teams view his whole roster. That, Klentak said, has been enlightening.
"I take it as a very positive sign that other clubs have interest in a lot of our players," Klentak said. "And it's not just the pending free agents. This time of year there are plenty of teams fishing on our younger, more controllable players, too - who I don't have any great desire to trade. But that doesn't stop a lot of the GMs from calling and asking about them.
"I think that's a good sign. It kind of confirms what we all see with our eyes, that we've got some pretty darn good young players on this team."
Klentak would not handicap the odds of a trade between now and Aug. 1. Financial considerations, he said, are not a "driving force" in this year's chatter. The Phillies are prepared to eat salary if it improves the return.
"One of the most important parts of the baseball-operations job is to balance the present with the future," Klentak said. "If there are opportunities out there that make sense, and appropriately balance the present and future, we will pursue those. If they don't work on both fronts, then we won't."
Howard Center
Team and city officials christened the Ryan Howard Training Center at 17th and Fitzwater Streets in a Thursday afternoon ceremony. The indoor facility, nine years in the making as a part of Major League Baseball's Urban Youth Academy, will serve as a year-round training area for inner-city ballplayers.
Howard and his wife, Krystle, donated to the project in its final stages.
"It's been our passion to give back to our community, especially when it relates to baseball and education," Howard said at the ceremony, which was attended by Mayor Kenney. "It's an extreme honor to be part of something we hope will help thousands and thousands of kids."
Extra bases
Zach Eflin will face Pirates ace Gerrit Cole at PNC Park on Friday as the Phillies begin an 11-game road trip. Aaron Nola will pitch Saturday and Vince Velasquez will go on Sunday.
@mattgelb