MLB rumors: 5 teams who should trade for Yasiel Puig

3. Philadelphia Phillies

When Andrew McCutchen went down with a torn ACL, the Phillies moved quickly to acquire Jay Bruce. Bruce delivered nicely immediately, with four home runs in his first three starts for Philadelphia and 11 RBI in his first four starts, but he faded after that (.222, six home runs, 18 RBI over 103 plate appearances from June 9-July 16). He also went on the IL with an oblique strain last week, and is looking at a 3-4 week absence in total.

With seven wins in their last 10 games entering Thursday, the Phillies are a half-game back of the second Wild Card in the NL while moving a little closer to the NL East-leading Atlanta Braves (5.5 games back). They seem to fully immersed in the market for pitching, and they absolutely need to be, but there’s now a void in the outfield that needs to be filled.

Philadelphia hosts Atlanta for a three-game series this weekend, so that division lead could be as small as 2.5 by next Monday morning. In any case though, the Phillies are buyers. Adding Puig, even though he has little experience playing left field (seven career games, three career starts, none since 2016), would be a nice move. as bold as it might be considered ancillary, for a team that has to be boldly all-in to make the playoffs this year.