Philadelphia Phillies preparing to be busy at trade deadline
By Hayden Kane
If you are the general manager of a baseball team, you cannot afford to just come out and say that your team stinks and that everybody is available in a trade. Even if everybody else knows that is the case, such as it is for Ruben Amaro Jr. and the Philadelphia Phillies, you still have to at least pretend that you aren’t giving up on this season.
More from MLB
- Braves get dose of bad news on Max Fried as ace nears return
- Shohei Ohtani trade rumors live tracker: Every update so far
- MLB Rumors: Yankees mistake, Cardinals trade package, Cubs choice
- Inside the Clubhouse: What I’m hearing ahead of the MLB Trade Deadline
- After frantic trade day, Kiké Hernandez grateful for second chance with Dodgers
Not only would it be damaging in terms of public relations to make those kinds of statements; it might also hurt your leverage in trades. You need to at least give the perception that you are willing to keep these guys to ratchet up the offers from potential suitors.
That was the line that Amaro tried to walk in a recent interview with Philly.com, but he did drop hints that the Phillies will be willing to trade just about everybody.
"I can’t say there are any untouchables. Some guys are less touchable than others."
Well that answer could sure have been worded differently.
Amaro was also asked about the possibility of trading Jimmy Rollins or Chase Utley (if they signed off on the deal). Here is what he had to say:
"I mean it’s hard to speculate, because they are 10 and 5 guys (full trade protection). If someone comes and says we’d like to add Jimmy Rollins or Chase Utley, I have to do my job and listen. Explore."
If ever there was a team that was positioned to hold a true fire sale, it is the 2014 Phillies. It sounds like their general manager is starting to embrace that reality, even if that might spell trouble for his job security. Can’t be any worse for him than keeping everybody though, right?