Angels 'monitoring' Chase Utley's progress

There have been far more rumors and links than actual trades for the Phillies this year, though the team is considered one of the more obvious sellers on the MLB market entering the trade deadline. One area in which the team has been scouted has been its outfielders; not only has bench piece Jeff Francoeur's progress attracted attention, but also, Ben Revere's name has been mentioned in relation to both the Pirates and Angels in the past few weeks.

But the Angels have apparently not limited their evaluations of Phillies players to Revere, according to MLB.com's Alden Gonzalez.

"And lately [the Angels have] been monitoring the rehab of veteran second baseman Chase Utley, who's nursing inflammation in his right ankle but could return by the end of the month."

Utley, Gonzalez notes, is probably not going to hit the 500-PA threshold to which a $15 million vesting option is attached this season, as well as 2017 and 2018. Having been nursing an ankle issue for several weeks, Utley is only now entering the stage of his recovery that would allow him to begin rehabbing in the minor leagues.

The 36-year-old second baseman's numbers were not stellar beforehand, as he struggled to keep his batting average over .200 and could summon an OPS of only .532 after 249 PA this season. His best month of 2015 was May, in which he hit .256/.330/.378 with 6 2B, 1 HR, 8 BB and 14 SO. In the American League, Utley theoretically would serve as a lefthanded-hitting infield option for the Angels and also would get slipped into the lineup as a DH.

Despite Ken Rosenthal's report on July 15 that Utley was on the mend and had even fixed a flaw in his swing, it would seem unlikely that the second baseman would be included in a deal - and even should a deal progress, he has been reluctant to accept trades in the past because of his 10-5 rights.