Report: Philadelphia Phillies not interested in Shane Victorino trade
According to reports, the Philadelphia Phillies are not interested in a trade with the Boston Red Sox for right fielder Shane Victorino.
The Philadelphia Phillies are in rebuilding mode. The team is looking to embark on a youth movement of sorts. In their way are the hindering 2015 salaries of Ryan Howard ($25 million), Cliff Lee ($25 million), and Cole Hamels ($23.5 million). So naturally, the addition of $13 million to the franchise’s payroll in the form of a 34 year old MLB veteran right fielder is not a priority. According to reports, Philadelphia is uninterested in trading for former roster member Shane Victorino.
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Howard has become a detriment to his team in recent years, although Lee and Hamels are still valuable pieces to the rotation. However, the former will be another year older (37 on August 30th), and Hamels has expressed a strong desire to pitch elsewhere.
The latter appears to be the most pressing issue regarding veteran presence in the Phillies organization right now. Despite Boston‘s eagerness to shop around their aging outfielder, very few teams in the same position as Philadelphia are going to seriously consider pulling the trigger on a deal.
Suffice to say that Victorino is not a bad pick up for anyone, at least when healthy. Although injuries limited the two time World Series champion to 30 games in 2014, his previous season saw the man hit .294 with an OPS+ of 118 in 477 at bats. He even won his fourth Gold Glove award to boot.
The issue is that he will command such a salary figure in 2015. And while $13 million is not a huge hit, it can be sizable to just about any team this close to the start of regular season play. Rewind four years, and this deal would make perfect sense.
However, no team, regardless of wealth (Yankees, Dodgers, Red Sox; we are all looking at you), has access to a time machine. Injury concerns forever change the outlook of a season for any player, especially one who has seen his numbers fall nearly every year following 2011. In that sense, one can clearly see why Darin Ruf (28), Ben Revere (26), and Domonic Brown (27) will adorn the outfield in Philly next season.
They will collectively make $7.2 million in 2015.
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