Chase Utley's solid return from injury lures would-be suitors

PHOENIX - Major League Baseball's trade deadline arrived more than 10 days ago, but it doesn't mean major league teams are finished shopping for roster upgrades. The Phillies traded for a vital piece of their 2008 championship run in August: home-run hero Matt Stairs.

Teams can still trade for players this month - and have them eligible for postseason play - if they consummate a deal before Sept. 1. The catch is those players must be moved through waivers - either in getting claimed off waivers, claimed and traded for, or passing through waivers and then traded.

Chase Utley's successful first weekend back from a stay of nearly six weeks on the disabled list (4-for-10, with three doubles) has made him a popular target for contending teams. If he's healthy and capable of hitting better than he did in the first 2 1/2 months, Utley would bring a contending team both a capable bat at a premium position and a playoff-proven clubhouse personality, too.

According to multiple reports yesterday, Utley was placed on revocable waivers on Sunday. This isn't entirely surprising, as every team routinely places players on waivers at some point this month, if only to gauge value; teams can easily pull players back off waivers, even if the players are claimed. If a team claims a player, it has 48 hours from the time of that claim to work out a trade.

In Utley's case, it's highly unlikely he would be claimed. Before this weekend, he was hitting .179, was on the DL for an ankle injury he originally suffered in January, and was still owed approximately $5 million of his $15 million 2015 contract.

The more likely scenario is that he clears waivers. After that, Utley can be traded anywhere with his approval - as a player with at least 10 years in the big leagues and the last five with his current team, he has a full no-trade clause.

But this weekend, Utley echoed a sentiment he made on the topic last spring in an interview with MLB.com, saying he "would be more than happy to listen" if the Phillies approached him.

CSNPhilly.com reported Sunday that the defending world champion San Francisco Giants scouted Utley this weekend in San Diego. Giants All-Star second baseman Joe Panik is on the DL with a back injury - but is expected to return within two weeks.

The surging Toronto Blue Jays also have a vacancy at second base, with Devon Travis on the DL with a shoulder injury and not expected back until September. Ditto the first-place Dodgers, who placed Howie Kendrick on the disabled list yesterday with a strained left hamstring.

The New York Yankees, Los Angeles Angels and Chicago Cubs all have had interest, even before Utley was activated from the disabled list. Even the Washington Nationals - who had a scout at one of Utley's rehab games last week in Trenton - can't be ruled out, as they try to spark their own sinking team.

After starting at second base in two of the three games in San Diego, Utley started in place of Ryan Howard at first base last night in Arizona. If he continues to hit on this road trip, the possibility at least exists that Utley could find a home with a new team before the Phillies return to Citizens Bank Park after their series next weekend in Milwaukee.

"Who knows?" Utley said Sunday, when asked whether he expected to finish the season with the Phillies.

Utley, 36, has been with the Phillies organization longer than any active player. He was the team's first-round pick (15th overall) in the 2000 draft.

Before this spring, Utley repeatedly expressed a desire to finish his career with the Phillies; he signed a contract extension two years ago this month.

But like former longtime teammate Jimmy Rollins (and Cole Hamels, too), Utley has seen the front office change direction since last October, from trying to field a contending team to undergoing a massive rebuild. He'll be a free agent at the end of the season - there's simply not enough time left for him to reach 500 plate appearances on the year, and thus, a 2016 vesting option. It's difficult to imagine Utley holding up a potential deal if it means going to a desirable, World Series-contending team.

Utley will have a say in the process, clearly. But so will the Phillies.

Even though moving Utley would keep their rebuilding project moving along, with Cesar Hernandez getting everyday play at second base, it's also difficult to imagine the front office moving an icon, arguably the most popular player from the 2008 world-championship team, for a marginal prospect. Think on the lines of the Rollins trade.

But with Utley on waivers, the process has begun. Stay tuned.

When Chase Utley led off last night's game, it was only the third time the Phillies employed a first baseman as a leadoff hitter in 19 years. Kevin Frandsen and Michael Young led off games as first basemen in 2013. Before that, the last time a Phillies first baseman led off a game: Kevin Jordan, on May 16, 1996. From 1979 to 1983, Pete Rose made 253 starts for the Phillies as a leadoff-hitting first baseman . . . The Phillies acquired infielder Tyler Pastornicky from the Texas Rangers for cash considerations. He will report to Triple A Lehigh Valley . . . Double A Reading catcher Andrew Knapp, the team's second-round pick in 2013, was named Eastern League Player of the Week yesterday, while Triple A righthander Jerad Eickhoff, acquired in the Cole Hamels trade, was named International League Pitcher of the Week.

Blog: ph.ly/HighCheese